Homework - Sherlock Holmes Shot types

Right at the start of the clip you see a part of Dr Watsons shoulder which shows his point of view, it shows what he is seeing. This isn't an over the shoulder shot, Instead I think it's a medium shot because it is focused on the two men in the shot, Sherlock and Moriarty. The shot then switches to an over the shoulder shot as Sherlock and Moriarty begin to engage in conversation and it regularly switches between the two of them. This is to show the facial expressions they both make as they talk which portrays the emotions of the characters which in turn, helps the audience see what they're feeling and understand the characters a bit better. When Moriarty begins to tell Sherlock what he would do to him ("I will burn you, I will burn the heart out of you!") the camera zooms in to emphasise the threat and create tension between the two of them. Throughout the whole conversation, the background scenery and the shoulder that you can see is blurred, the only thing in the shot that is not blurred is the person that the camera is focused on. I think this is to kind of guide the audience into what they should be looking at. To help the over the shoulder shots look seamless and fluent, the person has to stay the same side of the screen at all times, for example, if Sherlock is the on right of the screen when you are looking at his face, then he also must be on the right side of the screen when you are looking at his shoulder and can see Moriarty's face.

After the conversation, Moriarty leaves and it switches to a masters shot. This is a shot to show where the characters are and to also show the proximity of the actors. It then switches to a close up of Sherlock's face with a part of Dr Watson in the bottom right of the screen, Sherlock then turns towards Dr Watson and a look of concern spreads across his face. I think the close up of Sherlock's face is done really well as Sherlock is supposed to be "heartless" as it says previously in the clip but the shot shows that he cares about Dr Watson. Sherlock then proceeds to rip of the coat which Dr Watson is wearing as it contains bombs and the shot switches to a masters shot as Sherlock threw the coat away from them to show the proximity of the two men, but also the proximity of the coat and them. That same masters shot is used a lot to show both Sherlock and Dr Watson as they are both doing different things at the time. Dr Watson is breathing heavily as he just had a traumatic experience while Sherlock is pacing up and down. The camera shot switches to a medium shot of Sherlock and he paces and he walks towards the camera turning into a close up, this shows the viewers that Sherlock is stressed but also thinking about what to do next.

 

As Watson begins to stand up it switches to a close up of him as a red laser is pointed on his chest. It then switches back to that same masters shot that it has been using to show that there is also not just one laser pointing and Dr Watson, but multiple pointing at both of them. Moriarty enters again but neither Dr Watson or Sherlock turn to look but instead stay looking the same direction they was before he walked in. Again, Moriarty is blurred to show that Sherlock is the one people should be looking at and the shots switch between close ups of both Sherlock and Dr Watson to show their expression and to show their body language towards each other. Dr Watson gives Sherlock a little nod which tells Sherlock he should do what they're both thinking he should do and as Sherlock aims the gun at the coat with the bombs in, the camera does close ups of each of the characters to show their expressions, Sherlock and Moriarty being quite calm and Dr Watson being quite nervous and anxious.