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The rapidly evolving technologies available to composers today offer new creative possibilities for storytelling. Multimodal texts use a variety of modes to engage a broad audience and to encourage readers to actively engage in the storytelling process. This is evident in the BBC series “Sherlock” (2010), which employs film technologies to engage audiences in the act of detection alongside its titular character. The use of a variety of modes of communication in “Sherlock” makes it more widely accessible to a broad audience. Similarly, the multimodal form of film allows Peter Jackson to engage 21st-century audiences in the complex fantasy world of Middle Earth in his adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”. These films exemplify how modern technology allows for new ways of telling stories and have mass appeal.
“Sherlock” – A New Style of Detective Fiction
“Sherlock” – A New Style of Detective Fiction
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman bring new life to the palimpsestic characters of Holmes and Watson
Contemporary technologies allow for the creation of new texts that engage modern audiences and invite them to respond in new ways. Episode one, “A Study in Pink”, of Steven Moffat’s 2010 television series “Sherlock” demonstrates how multimodal adaptations of older texts are more appealing than their originals because they develop engaging characters and allow the audience to actively participate in the plot. The use of a variety of modes of communication in such texts makes them more widely accessible to a diverse audience.
Supertitles, voice-overs, freeze frames and close-ups include the audience in the process of deduction in “A Study in Pink”
Film offers composers a range of techniques through which to represent appealing characters with whom audiences can engage in new ways. Moffat’s contemporary representation of Sherlock’s genius in “A Study in Pink” engages the audience by utilising film techniques to allow the audience new insight into Sherlock’s thought processes and invite them to engage actively in his deductions. When Sherlock explains his deductions about Watson’s background in the above clip from “A Study in Pink”, cut-away shots between Sherlock’s conversation with Watson and scenes of their first meeting complement Sherlock’s dialogue, which acts as a voice-over, identifying and explaining the clues that led him to deduce Watson’s military past. This invites the viewer to witness Sherlock’s powers of deduction and reveals his genius in a new way. Furthermore, Freeze-frame close-ups are used on Watson’s phone to display to the viewer the minute details Sherlock is observing, allowing the audience to perceive clues through Sherlock’s eyes and predict his conclusions. By allowing viewers this insight into Sherlock’s mind, Moffat is able to represent the detective in a new way that is engaging and interactive.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” – From Novel to Blockbuster
“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” – From Novel to Blockbuster
Contemporary digital media has allowed for the adaptation of classic literature for a mass audience. Just as “Sherlock” reinvigorates Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories, Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” presents J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel in a form that makes is appealing to contemporary audiences.
Complex world-building is achieved in moments using voice-over, montage and maps in the opening scenes of “The Fellowship of the Ring”.
This prologue of “The Fellowship of the Ring” utilises contemporary film-making strategies to provide complex backstory and represent a complete fantasy world for viewers. The voice-over ,”In the land of Mordor […] the Dark Lord Sauron forged in secret a master ring” is accompanied first by a long shot and then a close up of the map of Middle Earth, followed by cross-cuts to close up shots of Sauron and the ring. The visuals engage the audience and introduce the characters and locations mentioned in the voice-over. This provides an understanding of the history and geography of Middle Earth, allowing audiences to engage more fully in the adventure to follow. Furthermore, the montage of soldiers marching to war and fire, accompanied by ominious non-diegetic music, engages the viewers emotionally in the lore of the ring. In this way, contemporary technologies offer composers the opportunity to recreate complex narratives in a way that will engage a mass audience.
Thus, modern technologies available to film makers offer a range of possibilities that facilitate the creation of multmodal texts that engage audiences in new and innovative ways. Indeed, as is the case in “Sherlock” and “The Fellowship of the Ring”, classic literary texts have even been reimagined through the use of contemporary storytelling mediums to engage viewers in new ways. Audiences are being encouraged more than ever before to take a more active role within the storytelling process by increasingly emersive and engaging media.
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