setlock iv
Here be setlock IV meanderings and verbiage, read at your own risk.
For the uninitiated, 'setlock' is a portmanteau formed out of the words 'set' and 'Sherlock' (yes, the BBC TV series) - so it's basically an umbrella term referring to all the production and filming surrounding the new series of Sherlock that is ongoing now. Although much of the show is shot indoors and in studios, there are obviously outdoor location shoots, and the fans with the time and opportunity to track these shoots are happily following along and recording the details for posterity and speculation.
So this is the second setlock that I've had the pleasure to follow (the first was January 2015), and even though I don't think I'm as fanatical as some of the people waiting in the cold drizzle to spot the cast and crew, nonetheless it's been fascinating to watch it all unfold online. This is fandom in the 21st century, is it not? Everyone armed with a 3G smartphone so that updates are done by the minute over Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. Just look at the #setlock hashtag on Twitter (38,900 tweets and counting). The producers know this, and they have turned it into a game. Arwel Wyn Jones, the show's production designer, regularly tweets photo clues, as does Mark Gatiss, one of the show's writers and producers.
(For anyone who is interested, a couple of the best tweeters to follow for setlock updates are @ruther2 and @cupidford. They somehow always manage to be there!)
This is how the game is played (or one of the ways the game is played): a photo is tweeted from one of the production crew. The photo could be of a building, or wallpaper, or a prop. Let's say it's a building. Over Twitter setlockers start working out where the location is and what could possibly be taking place there. Twitter is magic here because it allows everyone to contribute ideas at the same time - there could be a tweet saying they've spotted location signs on a certain street, another tweeter could point out that they used to live down the road and therefore the building is called xyz. Google maps and its streetview function then come into play, and before you know it, they've got the building identified. These people are good enough to identify a building even if the photograph merely captures a corner of it - they use the location of trees (!!) and the way the light looks at the point the photo was taken/posted to determine whether it faces north/south etc. I know I could never do it, so I'm immensely impressed by how it all comes together.
From the location and the way it looks and the sort of props that can be spotted loading into the set, fan speculation begins. This is where it gets a bit dicey, because obviously it is impossible to accurately guess what's being shot and what the possible plot could be. Some of the theories are quite good and backed up by Conan Doyle canon, for example a Ferrari with its iconic horse badge in silver was photographed by Jones and some people speculated one of the canon stories, 'The Adventure of Silver Blaze' (a racehorse) could have been adapted for a new episode.
For what it's worth, the production team has often left red herrings for the fans, as they did with seasons two and three. It's clear that they're playing a game, and many, many people out there are more than willing to play along. The entire show is a game for fans willing to look beneath the surface for clues and to piece them together. I have been obsessed for long enough to recognise the patterns and clues, but I think I'll leave that long long post for another time.
Rain effects outside Baker Street (which is not actually the *real* Baker Street, but y'know...)
Photo credit here.
I don't know who has bothered to read this far unless they are as obsessed with the show as I am, but I just had to write it all down because it's all jumbling around in my head and I have no outlet for it. It's keeping me nicely occupied until the show screens in... January next year? Who knows?
And after all this, all we get is a measly three episodes to last us for the next couple of years! No wonder the fans are rabid and hungry.
p/s for anyone who's interested, setlock daily (!) recaps have been very nicely compiled here.
For the uninitiated, 'setlock' is a portmanteau formed out of the words 'set' and 'Sherlock' (yes, the BBC TV series) - so it's basically an umbrella term referring to all the production and filming surrounding the new series of Sherlock that is ongoing now. Although much of the show is shot indoors and in studios, there are obviously outdoor location shoots, and the fans with the time and opportunity to track these shoots are happily following along and recording the details for posterity and speculation.
So this is the second setlock that I've had the pleasure to follow (the first was January 2015), and even though I don't think I'm as fanatical as some of the people waiting in the cold drizzle to spot the cast and crew, nonetheless it's been fascinating to watch it all unfold online. This is fandom in the 21st century, is it not? Everyone armed with a 3G smartphone so that updates are done by the minute over Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. Just look at the #setlock hashtag on Twitter (38,900 tweets and counting). The producers know this, and they have turned it into a game. Arwel Wyn Jones, the show's production designer, regularly tweets photo clues, as does Mark Gatiss, one of the show's writers and producers.
(For anyone who is interested, a couple of the best tweeters to follow for setlock updates are @ruther2 and @cupidford. They somehow always manage to be there!)
This is how the game is played (or one of the ways the game is played): a photo is tweeted from one of the production crew. The photo could be of a building, or wallpaper, or a prop. Let's say it's a building. Over Twitter setlockers start working out where the location is and what could possibly be taking place there. Twitter is magic here because it allows everyone to contribute ideas at the same time - there could be a tweet saying they've spotted location signs on a certain street, another tweeter could point out that they used to live down the road and therefore the building is called xyz. Google maps and its streetview function then come into play, and before you know it, they've got the building identified. These people are good enough to identify a building even if the photograph merely captures a corner of it - they use the location of trees (!!) and the way the light looks at the point the photo was taken/posted to determine whether it faces north/south etc. I know I could never do it, so I'm immensely impressed by how it all comes together.
From the location and the way it looks and the sort of props that can be spotted loading into the set, fan speculation begins. This is where it gets a bit dicey, because obviously it is impossible to accurately guess what's being shot and what the possible plot could be. Some of the theories are quite good and backed up by Conan Doyle canon, for example a Ferrari with its iconic horse badge in silver was photographed by Jones and some people speculated one of the canon stories, 'The Adventure of Silver Blaze' (a racehorse) could have been adapted for a new episode.
For what it's worth, the production team has often left red herrings for the fans, as they did with seasons two and three. It's clear that they're playing a game, and many, many people out there are more than willing to play along. The entire show is a game for fans willing to look beneath the surface for clues and to piece them together. I have been obsessed for long enough to recognise the patterns and clues, but I think I'll leave that long long post for another time.
Rain effects outside Baker Street (which is not actually the *real* Baker Street, but y'know...)
Photo credit here.
I don't know who has bothered to read this far unless they are as obsessed with the show as I am, but I just had to write it all down because it's all jumbling around in my head and I have no outlet for it. It's keeping me nicely occupied until the show screens in... January next year? Who knows?
And after all this, all we get is a measly three episodes to last us for the next couple of years! No wonder the fans are rabid and hungry.
p/s for anyone who's interested, setlock daily (!) recaps have been very nicely compiled here.