SHERLOCKED: Official "Sherlock" Convention

[sfmpco]

Oh please!  I am so grateful you took pictures of the books on his shelves because I was wondering what the art department was going to put up there!  

[J.P.]

If you want detailed pictures I recommend this Flickr Album from the real set.

 

How the heck do you arrange things like that - a visit on the set!?

[sfmpco]

If you want detailed pictures I recommend this Flickr Album from the real set.

 

How the heck do you arrange things like that - a visit on the set!?

 

I would assume you have to know someone high up in production.

[Carol the Dabbler]

And here are photos of props and costumes for those obsessed with details.

Irene Adler:  12 May 1983 - but it gives her age at death of 24 which would have been 2007 and that was before Sherlock and John met.  Slight continuity problem.

That's from this photo from J.P.'s collection, which gives Irene's place of birth as Ohio -- so they're sticking with canon in that she's originally an American, but not in the detail that she's from New Jersey.  (Lara Pulver was born September 1, 1980, so was nearly 31 when "Scandal" was filmed -- for whatever that's worth.)

[sittything]

woot woot... Ohio... ;)

[sfmpco]

And there's a grammatical error in the 2nd sentence... can you find it?  Also, that address for her isn't correct.  Is her house #44 or is it #10?  I can't remember.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

And there's a grammatical error in the 2nd sentence... can you find it?  Also, that address for her isn't correct.  Is her house #44 or is it #10?  I can't remember.

 

It is #44 as I just got done watching the episode with commentary. And yes I noticed the grammar (typo) error in the 2nd sentence.

[J.P.]

Folks, those things were never meant to be seen. It's all dummies. I am amazed that they put so much detailed work in them anyway. I had almost a laugh seeing that there is a dummy text in at least one of the newspapers' articles (it reads a bit like italian, but is meant to show how a text would look like on a page you are designing, when you have no actual content yet). There were cases in the real life though, when someone forgot to exchange the text before printing, so you had that italian actually printed in a newspaper. And yes, I know what I'm talking about - I'm making ads for living.

 

The allover impression I've got at the Con, is that indeed we are (often) interpreting too much in the whole thing. And whatever additional meanings we see, are a result of coincidences. Call it magic, call it chemistry - it is actually even more fascinating than if every detail was planned. The books - they seem to have a bit of relevance, but again, it is NOT meant for the show we can see on TV, because (according to Arwel J) for every book you can recognize on screen, they need a permission from the publisher.

 

But still there is still a margin for speculation:

 

As I mentioned Ugly Duckling to Mark, he looked at me as if I just jumped out of an UFO, and for a moment I wished the East Wind would take me away... He had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. He never paid attention to what was on Mycroft's computer - it was all the props department's business. 

So. Okay.

The problem is, that with THIS SHOW you can actually never know if a detail has a relevance or not. The damned squash ball is just one example. 

[J.P.]

I think I finally gave up the idea of writing a consistent and chronological report. You will find the transcripts of the talks online, and you don't need me for this.

 

So I will just throw in some tidbits as they come to my mind:

 

Sherlock's chair is indeed a real Corbusier. Very rare, especially the gray ones. The second chair we see on the main stage had to be reproduced. The stage setting is made new and given an used look. The guy you can see with Arwel on the pictures did the sanding of 221B stairs and become my personal hero. There are scratches and dents visible the best all over the green wall (the one with the windows in it). And at least partially they are intentional. These are things that you actually don't notice but still they work on a subliminal level giving an all over impression that you as a viewer cannot even explain. (Arwel was nodding, so I assume I am right :P)

 

But sometimes I just wonder:

Sherlocks' mask has actually real brows and lashes rooted into it, hair by hair, if you look hard there are even some beard stubbles. There are little veins and freckles. Which reminds me of watching that crazily detailed dummy of dead Boromir in the boat at the LOTR exhibition in Berlin. With wrinkles, and everything, even hair in his nose! He looked so damn real that someone from the crew offered him a coffee on the FOTR set. :D

 

The amount of work is just insane, considering that both pieces were seen for maybe a second on screen and never in a close-up. 

 

 

The 221B set was exactly as I imagined it would be, e.g. size-wise. I only wish I was there alone for 10 minutes, without the noise from the crowd, without having to multitask between listening (and Arwel is not the easiest person to listen to as a foreigner), making usable photos (and the light was not good enough for the most of the time), and trying to ignore the people around, while my reporter gene tried to force me to make my own experience into something I can share with others.

 

[Inge l-w]

And all they did was throw a great big smokescreen in our faces, it felt like being Admiral Beatty at Skagerrak, or to the Anglo-Saxon section, the Battle of Jutland! A waste of money, although highly instructive: never attend a convention of fans ever!

That said, it was really weird to see BC being uncomfortable in his usual prop thing, because when he didn't use his right hand to gesture, he slipped it between his knees in an almost automatic protective body language barrier.

And BC actually precluded Sherlock-Molly adventures except to excuse his personification of Sherlock being so callous to her but thinks that

Sherlock and Irene happened! Could have stood up and cheered at that stunning moment! I do so hope Irene returns in whatever guise in whatever series I'm still alive to watch!

Grammatical mistakes on Irene's paper be verlixt! She was born in New Jersey, for goodness' sakes! Can't they even get THAT straight!

Honestly, I keep editing this thing so much it will end up as more of a mess than what they made of the Q&A session! Dear J.P. try saving the BC interviews through air drop or simple e-mail to yourself.

[J.P.]

 

That said, it was really weird to see BC being uncomfortable in his usual prop thing, because when he didn't use his right hand to gesture, he slipped it between his knees in an almost automatic protective body language barrier.

Inge, I noticed that BC is often doing this. As confident and comfortable as he seems to be at any interview or Q&A I have seen online, his body language sometimes really makes me wonder.

[J.P.]

Sherlocked Magical Mystery Tour, Day 1
 
The first day of the journey I will remember as somehow magical. Maybe because I have expected literally nothing from it, beside getting to the hotel. The start was quite turbulent, as we've had a railway strike and the streets were crammed. I was too late for my airport transfer from the garage, but I still got it to the bag drop on time. After that there was nothing to worry about - maybe beside the possibility that my hotel booking gets messed up.
The flight was smooth - and I wasn't even nervous. Maybe it was just the headache I woke up with and the pills I had to take to keep it in control.

The amount of walking you have to do at Gatwick Airport is enormous. One should get a kind of a sport badge for making it. Walking, a transfer train, walking again... Thanks God, there are always employees in sight so you can ask for help anytime. Something I wish we would have more in Germany.

I take the Gatwick Express and by chance take a sit on the right side, which allows me to admire the sight of Battersea Power Station. It's under construction, one chimney is missing. Or is it a de-construction and they are dismantling the whole building? Anyway, I cannot help but smiling at the view.
 


I will stay this way for the whole day: smiling. Or stupidly grinning - at almost everything. Pink cases, "mind the gap" at the station, the cabs and the street signs. I feel like a little kid in Disneyland.

It's about noon. The hotel and ExCel center are on the other side of the town, so I decide to drop the bag at the Victoria station and take a walk. It is nice and sunny weather - I might not have another chance to make photos of the city. Outside of Victoria is one big building area. Some monstrous construction is taking over old victorian buildings, fences are everywhere and the noise is terrible.
 

 
Alone a vision of such a place would be able to make my grumpy and irritable self to take over and make me feel like killing everyone who invades my personal space. But no. Im still cool and still grinning at the cabs. At every pedestrian crossing there are instructions painted on the street which way to look. How sweet is that?

There is a plaque showing a local street map and I see that Buckingham Palace is a 5 min walk away. Great. I plan a little round tour and walk on. Feeling strangely... familiar with the surroundings. Maybe it's because took Sherlocks advice to heart and did my research. Some GoogleMaps excursions I'd done before, printed maps and a plan of the city communication in my pocket with highlighted points of importance - I know where I am, I know where to go, isn't it enough to feel a bit home?

Paid a visit to the Westminster Cathedral. Beautiful inside, sadly I couldn't make more pictures because the mess started as I went in. Then to the Palace. I wonder how... inconsistent the architecture is. Big new buildings next to rows of little houses and little forgotten looking street corners. Was there ever any plan of how the city should look like?

At the palace, while making photos I smile at the thought, that in a way I'm on one of the Sherlock locations. There are crowds, school classes, Asian looking people, all making selfies with their selfie-arms. What a great invention!
 


Then I hear music. It sounds like a brass band and usually not my thing, but I am intrigued and follow the sound. Walk into the Birdcage Walk, apparently there are military barracks, and some celebration is going on the courtyard. At the fence some bystanders make photos.

Suddenly I realize that I know this place. The fence, the building...  On the other side of the street there is a park, lines of trees, a lawn and a row of big benches along the walkway. I might forget half of what I am told after a minute but my visual memory is still very good...



Now I'm grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Walk across the street and sit down on one of the free benches. Maybe it is even the same bench from which Sherlock and John observed the Wellington Barracks for the Bloody Soldier case. Actually I start to wonder why other people seem not to know or not to care about what place it is... You know your Sherlock obsession is bad when you expect the whole world population to know about the show and be as enthusiastic about it as you are.



 

[J.P.]

Sorry, had to split the post - too many pictures

 

 

Well, I have time to 3:30 PM before my left luggage fee will grow from 6 to 10 pounds, so I decide to walk a bit further. I come across a corner and see the Westminster Abbey.



Have not time to cue for the tickets to go inside, so I walk by and soon see the absolutely unique facade of the Parliament Building. It is stunning in all those facettes little columns vertical elements. Must have been a hell of work to build it.. And it's another set location, actually. There is Big Ben and even a part of the London Eye visible in the background. The chimes start to play the melody and I get a sudden flashback of the signal of BBC International Broadcasting we were listening to in the eighties in Poland - one of the few sources of information from beyond the Iron Curtain. I become a bit teary-eyed about this old memory. God, the world has changed so much...



I decide to walk back along the Birdcage Walk because the main streets are so busy and full of people. The celebration is still going on at the barracks, the band plays the melody from The Bridge over River Kway. Cannot help but to whistle along quietly and wonder why the other spectators don't. Well, I'm an old bat among people who probably have never seen the movie.

So I march towards Victoria Station. My feet hurt as hell. As do my face, because I just cannot stop grinning.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

 

 

That said, it was really weird to see BC being uncomfortable in his usual prop thing, because when he didn't use his right hand to gesture, he slipped it between his knees in an almost automatic protective body language barrier.

Inge, I noticed that BC is often doing this. As confident and comfortable as he seems to be at any interview or Q&A I have seen online, his body language sometimes really makes me wonder.

 

 

I wonder if he's an introvert and having an introvert moment.  I know he's got a lot on his plate with Sophie due soon, Hamlet starting up soon, and whatever else that is his life in general.

[Inge l-w]

Oh, poor you! The Gatwick shuttle between Terminals 1&2 has always been a pain in ... You know where! Lucky you got the Gatwick Express, it can be quite temperamental, a friend of mine once spent almost 100 pounds going from Gatwick to Brighton. Battersea Station is a Class II monument, so it must be repair work. Unlike you, I headed straight for St Paul's Cathedral, not so much for Wren, but for Lord Nelson, whose sarcophagus was originally meant for Cardinal Wolsey ( he of the Anne Boleyn divorce case fame) and the whole connection with Mary Poppins' Feed the Birds, whatever dear Toby may think! Then it was on to Charing Cross road, just to make sure that Foyle's had not been turned into an outlet store, or some such, then on to Picadilly for Raffles's sake, Fortnum & Madon's (unlike Sherlock and his sweet tooth, I crave their relishes and pickles), missed the Eye and the Gherkin( could one physically attack the architects?) and the actual Excel wonderland. Such a crush of people made me feel like Sherlock: there will be people!

[J.P.]

Yeah, that's why I haven't planned much siteseeing along this trip. It would be just too much for my little funny brain that gets easily overwhelmed. I planned to save all my energy for the Friday meeting with Sherlockandjohn and for the Event. The reason why I was starting on Thursday, was an extra buffer in case things go wrong travel-wise. By the money I have thrown out I just had to be SURE I would make it on time. The plan was actually to nest in the hotel and try to buy some liquid supplies, as I knew there would be no time to look after this during the weekend. The food I brought with me in the bag (Butterzopf + Wraps - my version of Tolkien's Lembas Bread), but you cannot take drinks on the plane.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Yeah, that's why I haven't planned much siteseeing along this trip. It would be just too much for my little funny brain that gets easily overwhelmed. I planned to save all my energy for the Friday meeting with Sherlockandjohn and for the Event. The reason why I was starting on Thursday, was an extra buffer in case things go wrong travel-wise. By the money I have thrown out I just had to be SURE I would make it on time. The plan was actually to nest in the hotel and try to buy some liquid supplies, as I knew there would be no time to look after this during the weekend. The food I brought with me in the bag (Butterzopf + Wraps - my version of Tolkien's Lembas Bread), but you cannot take drinks on the plane.

 

Good idea.  Certain trips I take here in the US have a buffer at the beginning and end just so that I can get there and back on time.

[J.P.]

I wonder if he's an introvert and having an introvert moment.  I know he's got a lot on his plate with Sophie due soon, Hamlet starting up soon, and whatever else that is his life in general.

 

I'm talking about old interviews, so it is not only a matter of last months. Actually it wasn't so bad this time. 

 

But yes, he made an impression of being quite stressed. Also because he had only one day to work through his schedule at the Con. Good for him he didn't have to travel far. 

[sfmpco]

Benedict's interview from the convention:

 

http://www.benedictcumberbatch.co.uk/interviews/benedict-cumberbatch-sherlocked-qa/

[J.P.]

Oh, it's fantastic! And it is terrible how few I could remember (or understand)

I wish there would be transcripts or other talks too. I hope so.

[jadpdr]

Funny that! There' s one on YouTube about Scandal, from the convention, where the interview takes a whole different texture to it! Also, in the one he did for Adobe, he seemed much more relaxed. How many pairs of those boots has he got anyway? He wore them back in 2013 when BFI did their interview about S2. , he wore them in at least two U.S. Interviews, one right after his marriage, he wore them in the interview with Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington, he wore them for the Adobe event. Are they a sort of personal Belstaff or what?

In J.P. 's stunning photo collection the certificate for Sherlock's apparent demise lists M.L. Holmes as next of kin. If he is William Sherlock Scott Holmes, might Mycroft be Mycroft Livingstone Holmes? The two great explorers who very nearly reached their goals in the Antarctic and in darkest Africa but did not quite make it in the end?

[J.P.]

There is also a short film with impressions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS9CCvrCS2A

Actually there are more and more films appearing on YouTube, it is enough to look for "Sherlocked".

And I am happy that people didn't obey the ban of filming during the talks. Bad, bad girl I am.

[Carol the Dabbler]

At every pedestrian crossing there are instructions painted on the street which way to look. How sweet is that?

I love it!  No matter how well I am aware -- intellectually -- that Londoners drive on the left, my instincts are resolutely backwards every time I cross a street.  And presumably I'm not the only one, considering that most of the world drives on the right.  They probably got tired of scraping dead tourists off the street!

 

... took Sherlocks advice to heart and did my research. Some GoogleMaps excursions I'd done before, printed maps and a plan of the city communication in my pocket with highlighted points of importance - I know where I am, I know where to go, isn't it enough to feel a bit home?

 

Yes, wise move!  I highly recommend this booklet of London maps (you may notice that I even wrote one of the reviews).

 

I wonder how... inconsistent the architecture is. Big new buildings next to rows of little houses and little forgotten looking street corners. Was there ever any plan of how the city should look like?

That's one of my favorite things about London, the variety.  Old next to new, fancy next to plain.  It's never boring!

 

Oh, it's fantastic! And it is terrible how few I could remember (or understand)

I wish there would be transcripts or other talks too. I hope so.

They could make a bundle by selling DVDs!

 

In J.P. 's stunning photo collection the certificate for Sherlock's apparent demise lists M.L. Holmes as next of kin. If he is William Sherlock Scott Holmes, might Mycroft be Mycroft Livingstone Holmes? The two great explorers who very nearly reached their goals in the Antarctic and in darkest Africa but did not quite make it in the end?

Actually, I believe that's Mummy. In the "Last Vow" Christmas scene, Mary is reading a book that Mummy wrote years ago: The Dynamics of Combustion by M. L. Holmes.

[sfmpco]

I would definitely attend a SHERLOCKED convention just even to meet with other fans.  Because I would feel like I was with my people... people who understood and loved the show and characters as much as I do.  That's what conventions are about.  Supposedly it is coming to the USA eventually but that doesn't mean I still be able to make it.  

[Arcadia]

Oh, JP, thank you so much for sharing your experience!!!!!  I see it's going to take me weeks to go through everything, how I'm ever going to get any real work done, I do not know.