Sherlock Holmes on Screen in the 21st Century: Analyzing the Processes of Adaptation in BBC's Sherlock
| Thesis title in Czech: | Sherlock Holmes na plátně v 21.století: Analýza procesů adaptace v Sherlockovi od BBC |
|---|---|
| Thesis title in English: | Sherlock Holmes on Screen in the 21st Century: Analyzing the Processes of Adaptation in BBC's Sherlock |
| Key words: | Arthur Conan Doyle, adaptace, Sherlock Holmes, TV seriál, Studie v Šarlatové, |
| English key words: | Arthur Conan Doyle, Adaptation, Sherlock Holmes, TV series, A Study in Scarlet |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2011/2012 |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK) |
| Supervisor: | PhDr. Zdeněk Beran, Ph.D. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 19.06.2012 |
| Date of assignment: | 20.06.2012 |
| Administrator's approval: | not processed yet |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 13.02.2013 |
| Date and time of defence: | 22.06.2015 00:00 |
| Submitted/finalized: | no |
| Opponents: | PhDr. Soňa Nováková, CSc. |
| Guidelines |
| This BA thesis shall compare the two different media used to tell the Sherlock Holmes novels and stories, the original texts and the new visual media, specifically the two Sherlock Holmes films with Robert Downey (2009 and 2011) and the 2010-2012 Sherlock Holmes BBC TV series in order to see how the original texts are changed by being transformed into visual from textual, what is lost or gained, and how they are adapted for the contemporary audience. One of the main points is the narrative structure which has underwent various changes: the novels and stories are experienced by the readers through the narrative of Dr. Watson who writes them as records of his memories intended to be read by the readers. As such some facts may be intentionally omitted from or simply forgotten, restricting the content to only what Watson has experienced himself (him being the focalizer), the scope of his own intelligence which limits how much insight he gains into the murders, events and people around him, how he remembers it and in what way he writes down their adventures. The texts are always full of his own personal commentary and especially his fascination and admiration of Sherlock, all of which make them very subjective. However the two films and TV series cannot do the same and reproduce the same subjective narrative framework because they are visual, not textual. Because of that they can create new narrative frameworks through the use of camera and film techniques, such shifting to an omniscient camera that can jump from one scene to another with different characters like the BBC TV series does, or focusing on Sherlock Holmes himself instead of following the figure of Dr. Watson as the films do. The plot can also flow at a different pace through the use of specific scenes, camera angles and music (eg. more dramatic and action-filled or using the Hollywood plot formula) or new ways of conveying the characters can be created, some of which are closely tied to the modern age and its inventions, bringing technology into play and digitalizing some aspects. For example the BBC TV series creates the 'Mind Palace' that represents Sherlock's mental database which is portrayed by words floating around him through which he navigates with his hands as if it were a PC three dimensional screen with which he is interacting, thus digitalizing his mind, making it resemble a computer. Therefore similar scenes shall be compared and analyzed to see what is lost and gained through the new media. |
| References |
| Robert Stam and Alessandra Raengro.Literature and film : a guide to the theory and practice of film adaptation.Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. Mireia Aragay.Books in motion: adaptation, intertextuality, authorship. New York : Rodopi, 2005. Wendell Aycock and Michael Schoenecke. Film and literature : a comparative approach to adaptation. Lubbock, Texas : Texas Tech University Press, 1988. Jack Boozer.Authorship in film adaptation. Austin : University of Texas Press, 2008. Leslie Haynsworth. "Sensational Adventures: Sherlock Holmes and His Generic Past." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 44.4 (2001): 459-485. Project MUSE. Web. 14 May. 2012. Nils Clausson. "The Hound of the Baskervilles: Modern Belgian Masters, Paralyzing Spectacles, and the Art of Detection." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 52.1 (2009): 35-48. Project MUSE. Web. 14 May. 2012. Catherine Wynne. "Sherlock Holmes and the Problems of War: Traumatic Detections." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 53.1 (2010): 29-53. Project MUSE. Web. 14 May. 2012. Huh, Jinny. "Whispers of Norbury: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the Modernist Crisis of Racial (Un)Detection." MFS Modern Fiction Studies 49.3 (2003): 550-580. Project MUSE. Web. 14 May. 2012. Jesse Oak Taylor-Ide. "Ritual and the Liminality of Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 48.1 (2005): 55-70. Project MUSE. Web. 14 May. 2012. Pascale Krumm. ""A Scandal in Bohemia" and Sherlock Holmes's Ultimate Mystery Solved." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 39.2 (1996): 193-203. Project MUSE. Web. 14 May. 2012. James Krasner. "Watson Falls Asleep: Narrative Frustration and Sherlock Holmes." English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920 40.4 (1997): 424-436. Project MUSE. Web. 14 May. 2012. |