SHERLOCKED: Official "Sherlock" Convention

[J.P.]

Thank you, Toby. 

Things like that happen if you want something to be perfect.

 

And I also know that I fall into the same psychological pitfall again and again: to think that I can have any control over such situation - which is ridiculous actually, and exposes my clear megalomaniac tendencies.

 

I also have to work harder on keeping my expectations at bay. That's why the first day of visiting London was so magical: if you expect nothing, everything is a gift.

 

-----

 

More Bits and Pieces:

 

Given a final proof that the guests I met are real people, makes me feel strangely protective, and much less eager to poke fun at them. I suppose it will take some time before I provide some silly captions again. :P

 

 

I try to find out how many people attended during the weekend, but cannot find it. It is apparently between 6.000 and 7.000, but it's not official. Instead I found a very critical but also quite valid post about the organization HERE.

[J.P.]

One more: the biggest jaw-drop-moment of the weekend: on Sunday at 9 AM we had the exclusive 221B set visit. Near the end of the day I realized I want Arwel to sign my book jacket. He signed it - with my name! I almost fainted and still cannot believe he was able to remember my name after interacting with thousands of people the whole day long. I'm crap on remembering names (or even whole people), so each time I witness someone with good name memory, it looks like magic to me.

 

 

What I also realized: I don't know if it is typical for serial productions, but at least in Sherlock's case the directors seem to have really little importance. "Makers" are always Mark and Steven, while with "normal" movies the main maker is always the director. Funny, that.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

... I found a very critical but also quite valid post about the organization HERE.

 

Thanks for posting that link, J.P. -- it's interesting to get additional points of view.  I'm surprised by the lack of organization that the author cites, considering that SHERLOCKED was supposedly organized by an outfit with lots of prior cons under its belt.  If not for that, I might attribute their failure to control the lines to a British mindset ("mind the queue") overwhelmed by international enthusiasm.  But surely they've had this experience before?  Some of those ropes-on-posts might have helped, at least a bit.  Maybe they needed some Klingon security guards?

 

They also comment that the set reconstructions "didn't look terribly realistic."  It's my understanding (reinforced by Arwel Jones's tweets) that they were the actual sets -- can't get much more "real" than that.  However, they were not set up in the usual sound stage structure, they were just plopped down in a vast hall with apparently no ceiling, no street view outside the windows, etc.  Having been on the actual set (though not at the original location) of the Great Hall from the Harry Potter movies, I can testify that such things make a huge difference in the feel of the place.

 

One more: the biggest jaw-drop-moment of the weekend: on Sunday at 9 AM we had the exclusive 221B set visit. Near the end of the day I realized I want Arwel to sign my book jacket. He signed it - with my name! I almost fainted and still cannot believe he was able to remember my name after interacting with thousands of people the whole day long. I'm crap on remembering names (or even whole people), so each time I witness someone with good name memory, it looks like magic to me.

 

That sort of thing boggles me, too. I once had a similar experience, having been a minor part of a retinue that escorted a "celebrity" to local media events over a couple of days in July. The following March, I was at an event in another state when said "celebrity" entered the room, lead his wife straight over to me, and introduced me to her.  I was both flattered and mindblown.

 

I don't know if it is typical for serial productions, but at least in Sherlock's case the directors seem to have really little importance. "Makers" are always Mark and Steven, while with

"normal" movies the main maker is always the director. Funny, that.

 

That's one difference between movies and television. Directors make a movie, with the producers working under their direction. In television, directors are generally hired on a per-episode basis (partly, I think, so that one director can be handling post-production on Episode n while the next director is filming Episode n+1), with the producer overseeing everything. I first learned that with regard to the original Star Trek series, and apparently it hasn't changed much.

 

[J.P.]

Oh, overseen the part about the sets - but I swear, the 221B was the original one. It just lacked the fourth wall (pun intended) and the floor under the rag was linoleum - not wood. Even the real stage has no ceiling. I think the blue scull picture wasn't the original one, but the rest - was. There was another "set" on the main stage and that was still quite close. I haven't looked closer at the door prop because I have had seen the "real thing" at N Gover street already. The Mycroft office I know not enough and it was also dark and not so accessible, so I cannot tell for sure.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The North Gower door is presumably still on North Gower as we speak type.  But I believe they have a mock-up of the front-door area with the indoor set, so that may be what they brought for photo-ops.  Or not, if they didn't want fingerprints and lipstick all over it!

[J.P.]

Of course the N Gover Street door is still there. It was too heavy to carry around the city, even for us two. Can you imagine me and S&J trying to get into the tube with a door? Cabs wouldn't take us either...

[Carol the Dabbler]

   That's a-door-able!

 

[Arcadia]

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Of course the N Gover Street door is still there. It was too heavy to carry around the city, even for us two. Can you imagine me and S&J trying to get into the tube with a door? Cabs wouldn't take us either...

What? :o you guys didn't have a reciprocating saw with to cut it in half vertically so you each could have a souvenir? ;) What a shame; now more people will be able to enjoy the door

[Van Buren Supernova]

J.P,

 

One more question...

In person, is it really like Jaguar trapped in a cello?

 

 

 

.... I would never able to meet BC and thankfully, it's fine for me (as long as I don't sink further and like him more bcs he seems like awesome person in real life).

Surrender now. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
 

 

 

No…..

Well actually, I have more devious scheme, which is to meet Mr.BC in more private setting, without interference of other fans. :lol:

 

It will go this way. Since he has a lot of similar hobbies with me,  it’s quite natural to meet the same enthusiasts for those activities, chat up and sharing about passion for the hobbies without actually know too much about each other.

 

I will pretend not to know him or never acknowledge his celebrity status; maybe he will feel more relaxed and there are chance to know him for his actual personality.  

Or he can read phone book to me.

One can dream.

[J.P.]

One more question...

In person, is it really like Jaguar trapped in a cello?

I think this was written about his voice, wasn't it? Well, in that case... I don't know. I was too concentrated on understanding what he's saying.

 

I will pretend not to know him or never acknowledge his celebrity status; maybe he will feel more relaxed and there are chance to know him for his actual personality.

Yepp... this is the smartest thing one can do. Once you reveal yourself as a fan - you've lost. :P

[J.P.]

HERE is a collection of videos

 

and one happy girl

 

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

[Arcadia]

Oh dear, now I have to decide whether to watch these videos, or watch the pilot .... decisions, decisions....

[Carol the Dabbler]

Loved her photos at the end -- apparently if you want to get some really nice shots with celebrities, it doesn't hurt a bit to be a cute little girl!

 

[J.P.]

Finally found it: This lines from Sherlockology report from the Cardiff visit are exactly how it felt to be on the set:

 

 

Arwel leads us through a door at the base that takes us up those very stairs, onto the landing and then into the flat itself. It's an immediately odd sensation, in that it isn't odd at all. Instead the strangeness we feel is because of the sheer normality of walking onto the set. We were expecting a surreal flash of recognition, but instead the experience is more like walking into a place you are intimately familiar with and already comfortable in.

 

This applies, to a certain extend, also to Speedy's and Bart's, and somehow to the whole city. A feeling of familiarity without being a deja vu.

[Carol the Dabbler]

It always surprises me when that sort of thing happens.  So often, I've been surprised (usually disappointed) when things don't really look like their pictures.  So when things really do live up to my expectations, I'm also surprised -- "Good heavens, it really does look like that!"

 

The extra-cool thing was seeing Series 2 for the first time, after having been on North Gower Street for the first time (while they were filming it elsewhere, as it turned out).  Being there had felt oddly familiar, as you say -- and then seeing it on television afterward just amplified that feeling, so that it was like seeing pictures of your own home town.

 

[sfmpco]

I would like to have studied everything on the shelves in that set.

 

[Arcadia]

Yeah, same here. Of course, then I wouldn't have gotten to do anything else .....

[sfmpco]

Yeah, same here. Of course, then I wouldn't have gotten to do anything else .....

 

That's why you take tons of high quality pics and study them later.

[J.P.]

I studied some. Sadly I cannot study and listen at the same time - so much about women and multitasking.

Should have hidden under the sofa and stay over night...

 

I remember the table was cluttered as hell. Remember the big cristall chunk, the injection gun, some glass ampullae. Books books books. The fan, lamps, the ragged rag and even more ragged third armchair (it looked like it was suffering from a bad case of eczema).

 

And again, it was like paying a visit to a long time friend, when you know where his stuff usually is. Probably the kitchen or Sherlock's bedroom would be more of discovery, they are not so well shown in the show, but the living room is like home - even if you hate the wallpaper

 

Oh, yes, Arwel shown us the camera hole behind the mirror. Remember, I wrote about the scene when wedding plans are made, and you can see the scull in the mirror from a POV which actually would be impossible? I wrote something like that the mirror had to be rotated to achieve that look. Well, I haven's seen any kind of mechanism allowing that - you can put the mirror on the wall or take it down. BUT... the whole walls are movable. So you can remove whole wall to give space for the filming crew, camera and lighting. Maybe they just moved the wall a bit and that's why the scull found itself in the mirror. Had to watch some materials again...

[J.P.]

More reports from the Con at Sherlockology:

Steven Moffat about Fan Fiction

[sfmpco]

More reports from the Con at Sherlockology:

Steven Moffat about Fan Fiction

 

Ah, bless Moffat!

[J.P.]

Yepp, the part about writing I do remember. :D

[J.P.]

A full transcript of Mark and Steven panel at Sherlockology

[J.P.]

So, I have this pics at my workplace.

 

 

Yesterday my boss noticed them and asked "is it your family?"

Hah... I wish. :D

 

Instead I said quite carelessly "Oh, these are only some folks I met in London", and he didn't ask more.

I doubt anyone would understand, and my opinion as an oddball is established well enough already.