Blog Post #2

The episode of Sherlock that we watched last week demonstrated a number of elements found in Semiotic Analysis. The series itself is a great example of intertextuality. I enjoyed the fact that the original book-that was written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-is now being portrayed in modern day setting. I’m assuming is done to make the general story line more relatable to a viewing audience.  This can be seen in the cars that are driven around, the use of cell phones and computers that are all new age technology. At the same time, the original story is still represented in the same characters and general story plot is kept the same as well. The number of instances when Sherlock begins his thinking/deducing process is a great example of signified and signifiers. The “jumping texts” signifies key phrases (thoughts) that pop out in Sherlock’s mind, the key thoughts that eventually allow him to come to the conclusions that he makes about people he encounters through the show. A great example of this is when he is examining the dead woman in pink. He is breaking down each aspect of her clothing and her appearance. As he is doing so key phrases pop up to show his thought process. With these key words in mind we are able to make clearer connections once he explains his findings to Inspector Lestrade. One last aspect of Sherlock that I enjoyed was the symbol and metaphor that was represented in John’s cane. Upon Watson and Sherlock meeting one another, Sherlock points out that Watson’s use of his cane was purely psychosomatic. As the story progresses we see that John finds himself eventually leaving the cane behind as he’s trying to keep up with Sherlock.  I my opinion the cane represents John’s in ability to cope with his longing for the excitement he once had. Once Sherlock reintroduces this to him, John is able to lose the cane all together.

Signifier/Signified	Jumping texts Camera angles of the pill bottles and the initial views of those were eventually murdered Messy apartment Lighting and music Watson is the side kick Use of colors to represent personalities- Watson and Sherlock are neutral while Ms. Hudson wears brighter hues Nicotine Patch- helps the mind think
Syntagmatic analysis	Murder mystery
Paradigmatic analysis	Watson- from wounded warrior to action driven soldier Watson focuses on the people murdered while Sherlock is more focused on the why/what let to their murder
Metaphor	Cane Living space- Sherlock’s mind Pill- shows how much Sherlock wants to be right
Synecdoche
Icons	London- “the battle field” for John Cane-John’s psychosomatic limp
Indexes	Missing suitcase Sherlock saw phone on Cabbie Cabby meeting Sherlock outside proposing to tell him how he did it if he came along
Symbols	The random route/ street signs to show direction as he’s thinking Cane being used vs. absence of the cane
Intertextuality	The novel vs. the BBC series Non smoker uses nicotine patch to smoker in the book
Codes