Series 4 News

[sfmpco]

I actually prefer him looking older.  The dark hair definitely makes him look older.  In general he looks older in HLV, but not by a great degree.  When you put him in the Barts labs with all that bright lighting, it washes out the definition in his face, so he almost always looks younger in those scenes.  Put him outside under natural/diffused light and he looks older.  

 

I just saw him in THIRD STAR which was only 4-5 years ago, and he look REALLY young in that (but then he looks really Justin-Bieberish in the Sherlock pilot).  In fact, there was one place that his face had the same look as some of his newborn pics on Google images.   Crazy!  

 

I think he was better lit in Parade's End.  He had a consistent look to him.  The Sherlock age is sort of all over the map.

 

The scene in Sherlock where I like his lighting and age look the best is probably the scene in TEH with Molly at the bottom of the stairs after leeaving Shilcott's flat.  To me he could have been about 40 there, and he looked good, more mature.

[jesskayding]

Well real life isn't ever so neat. We all look different in different light sources. They don't hesitate with less than attractive angles in his face either. I mean sfmpco, look @ your icon, emotional but not cute.

 

They manipulate his face thru peepholes, by lying him down flat, lighting when he's getting a shave in one of Mycroft's offices. Sometimes they do closuups that purposely flattens & elongates his face. They always chose some of the homeliest newspaper renderings.

 

I sometimes wonder if they're thumbing critics who felt Cumberbatch wasn't sexy enough for the part.

[Convict13]

From Sherlockology comes news on the special.  They say they will start filming early next year, now I wonder will Benedict's hair grow that fast?  Or will they use a wig?

 

http://www.sherlockology.com/news/2014/11/8/sherlock-special-director-081114

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

 

I think [bC] was better lit in Parade's End.  He had a consistent look to him.  The Sherlock age is sort of all over the map.

 

Somewhere Mofftiss said that Sherlock's age is the same as Benedict's, which is currently 38.

[Carol the Dabbler]

From Sherlockology comes news on the special.  They say they will start filming early next year, now I wonder will Benedict's hair grow that fast?  Or will they use a wig?

 

http://www.sherlockology.com/news/2014/11/8/sherlock-special-director-081114

 

Thanks for that link, Convict13.  I see they've chosen a director, one Douglas MacKinnon, and Arwel Jones is starting his famous tweets!

 

I'm trying to recall the most recent view I've had of Mr. Cumberbatch -- on the Graham Norton Show, perhaps, but I wasn't paying any particular attention to his hair.  How long/short is it?  Seems to me he's been wearing it slicked back lately, which may disguise the length to a certain extent.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

It was short possibly because of hollow crown & the wig he wears for Richard III

[Slithytove]

I believe Benedict has said he prefers his hair short because he thinks the longer, curly style, used in Sherlock, makes him look like a woman. I can't say that I agree! I think he looks quite lovely.

 

His hair was fairly short on the Graham Norton Show and, I presume, his natural reddish colour.

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

People call him ginger, but actually his hair is auburn. "There's a big difference," according to BC.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Yes there is. My son is a ginger (blonder side).  His hair is definitely lighter than Benedict's Auburn.  His hair on Graham Norton seemed dark with more of the auburn showing through but not quite to his natural color.  And curly hair can be a pain to comb out (I have wavy hair & have a hard enough time.  Sent a pick across the room once).

[Carol the Dabbler]

Here's the hair we're talking about, in case anyone needs a quick reference:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqMnEFMkA8&feature=player_detailpage#t=4

 

Yeah, definitely shorter than Sherlock's.  He's got what, maybe three months between taping the Norton show and filming Sherlock?  That might be enough.

[Pamela]

I like that hairstyle.  And what a great clip!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Depends on when in January he starts filming as Graham Norton was filmed the day before it aired in the UK from what I gathered from the FB based fandom.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I like the style too. Would be interesting to see it when his hair is it's full natural color.

[Convict13]

 

So? What would you ask?

 

1.  When they are writing the characters now, are they guided by how they can hear the actors interpret the part or can they disassociate from that and write the characters as they want them to go.

 

2.  Why isn't the lighting on BC more consistent?  He can look anywhere from 25-early 40's.  Would be nice to have a more consistent look.

 

 

 

Question 1 would be very interesting to ask, do you feel that they did that in Season's 2 and 3?  

[Carol the Dabbler]

From Sherlockology comes news on the special.  They say they will start filming early next year....

 

http://www.sherlockology.com/news/2014/11/8/sherlock-special-director-081114

 

Thanks for that link, Convict13.  I see they've chosen a director, one Douglas MacKinnon, and Arwel Jones is starting his famous tweets!

 

Here's Jones's tweet from the 5th.  Note that one of the commenters says "You're in Bristol."  Judging by Alex's photo below (taken as we were entering the old section of the city in 2013), I'd agree!

 

 

But what does Jones mean by "Definite South of France vibe on my first day" (of scouting for locations)?  Will the Special be set in France -- possibly (as another commenter asks) based on "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax"?  Or -- ?

 

[sherlockandjohn]

Ehr... Maybe Bristol reminds him of the South of France? Don't know - never been.

[Carol the Dabbler]

It certainly seems to be the same church, but I doubt that Bristol has much to do with the episode (from a Sherlock-universe perspective), so presumably the South of France is involved somehow.  Or not. 

 

 

[sfmpco]

 

 

I think [bC] was better lit in Parade's End.  He had a consistent look to him.  The Sherlock age is sort of all over the map.

 

Somewhere Mofftiss said that Sherlock's age is the same as Benedict's, which is currently 38.

 

 

Yes, I know Sherlock's age is supposed to be the same as Benedict's age.  However, depending on how they light him, he can still look very 20's or even early 40's.  He never has a consistent age look to him.  HLV was better about it than the other episodes.

[sfmpco]

 

 

So? What would you ask?

 

1.  When they are writing the characters now, are they guided by how they can hear the actors interpret the part or can they disassociate from that and write the characters as they want them to go.

 

2.  Why isn't the lighting on BC more consistent?  He can look anywhere from 25-early 40's.  Would be nice to have a more consistent look.

 

 

 

Question 1 would be very interesting to ask, do you feel that they did that in Season's 2 and 3?  

 

 

I would think that at this point in time, it would be impossible to write the characters without hearing the actors in their heads, and that probably tempers some of the dialogue.

[Convict13]

 

 

 

So? What would you ask?

 

1.  When they are writing the characters now, are they guided by how they can hear the actors interpret the part or can they disassociate from that and write the characters as they want them to go.

 

2.  Why isn't the lighting on BC more consistent?  He can look anywhere from 25-early 40's.  Would be nice to have a more consistent look.

 

 

 

Question 1 would be very interesting to ask, do you feel that they did that in Season's 2 and 3?  

 

 

I would think that at this point in time, it would be impossible to write the characters without hearing the actors in their heads, and that probably tempers some of the dialogue.

 

 

 

It would be a really interesting question to ask, I hope one day you get the chance to do so.  I think certainly parts of Season 3  was written with the "fanbase" in mind.

[Boton]

I believe Benedict has said he prefers his hair short because he thinks the longer, curly style, used in Sherlock, makes him look like a woman. I can't say that I agree! I think he looks quite lovely.

 

 

I guess we all have aspects of our appearance that look fine to everyone else but weird to us.  I totally disagree that BC looks like a woman with longer hair; he didn't even look like a woman when he had the super-long, post-Serbia hair at the beginning of TEH.  Of course, for me, I'm not sure BC would look like a woman if he were dressed in drag, so he's got a lot of latitude as far as I'm concerned.

 

Regarding how old he looks, he's one of those men that is going to age so well that he looks better going into his 40s than he did in his 20s.  I love it when he looks a little older in Sherlock, but I also love some of the absolutely otherworldly looks that he can pull off with the right lighting and camera angle.  If he's lying on his back, somewhat overlit, with the camera looking straight down (think the nicotine patch/couch scene in SiP or the flatline scene in HLV), he almost looks like a drawing of himself, all flat planes and two-dimensionality. If I were a director, I'd get that shot at least once in every project I directed, just because it is so memorable.

[sittything]

I like the style too. Would be interesting to see it when his hair is it's full natural color.

 

That's not his natural color?  What is his natural color?   I really like his haircut on the Graham Norton show, even though I love the Sherlock 'do too.  I do wonder if he's just starting to grow it out now, if it will still be a little shorter than normal by January?  Doesn't seem like 3 months is all that long, but maybe his hair grows fast?  

 

 

 

Regarding how old he looks, he's one of those men that is going to age so well that he looks better going into his 40s than he did in his 20s.  I love it when he looks a little older in Sherlock, but I also love some of the absolutely otherworldly looks that he can pull off with the right lighting and camera angle.  If he's lying on his back, somewhat overlit, with the camera looking straight down (think the nicotine patch/couch scene in SiP or the flatline scene in HLV), he almost looks like a drawing of himself, all flat planes and two-dimensionality. If I were a director, I'd get that shot at least once in every project I directed, just because it is so memorable.

 

 

It is amazing how the lighting can change how old he looks.  Like when he's in the lab, he always looks like such a baby to me:

 

 

But then other times you can see that he's certainly not in his 20s:

 

 

I will say, looking at the photos of Sherlock, I don't generally see Benedict in them.  When he's Sherlock, he's just Sherlock to me.  So bravo, Mr. Cumberbatch, bravo.  In fact, the only thing that I've seen Benedict do that really reminds me of Sherlock, which I guess means it's a Benedict mannerism sneaking in, is in the video above at around 0:42, the way he says 2015 and the face he makes.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

He has a dark auburn a little lighter then what it was on Graham Norton. If you can see his hair in 12 years a slave, then you get something that is close per an interview he had.

[sittything]

For some reason his hair looks lighter to me in the Graham Norton clip than it looks in the photos I've seen online for 12 Years A Slave.  Lighting maybe?  I don't think I realized his hair is naturally that dark, though.  I had assumed it was lighter.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

It could be lighting, I keep putting his dark auburn as lighter as well. Something closer to what my sister's hair was several years ago. She might have been considered a medium auburn.