Far Away: An Elizabeth/Holmes Tribute

This was an absolute pleasure to make. It came about because I've recently been delving into the world of Sherlock Holmes with one of my classes, and I got the chance to watch the film again, after not having seen it for a number of years.

Young Sherlock Holmes has long been a favourite film of mine; the first time I saw it I was about twelve years old, and I've loved it ever since. I fell in love with Nicholas Rowe's Sherlock Holmes immediately, and I adored the onscreen relationship between him and the amazing Sophie Ward. Sophie is one of the most beautiful actresses of her generation, and they portray the ultimately doomed love affair between Holmes and Elizabeth wonderfully. The final scene between them never fails to reduce me to tears, even eighteen years after I first saw it. Nicholas and Sophie play it so beautifully, with just the right amount of emotion and restraint. They are two such superb actors, and it amazes me that neither has gained as much recognition as they rightly deserve; although, Hollywood's loss is British television's gain, as they both crop up fairly regularly in TV dramas. I just wish they would work together again! They both look as wonderful now as they did back then, too.

'Far Away' is a vidding stalwart, and I've been avoiding using it for the fandoms I usually play in because so many videos have been done to its tune. However, I thought that, seeing as Young Sherlock Holmes is such an underrated, and not often vidded film, I could finally get away with using it! The lyrics speak of love, loss and desperation, a mixture that fits perfectly for the Elizabeth/Holmes story. Chad Kroeger's voice is so powerful and emotive that I really got a sense of Holmes's grief when I was listening to it, and the video virtually wrote itself in my head.

The basic idea is that Holmes is standing by Elizabeth's graveside, thinking back to the moments that made him feel alive, whether that feeling was pain or pleasure. I know that, technically speaking, the wonderful close up shot of Nicholas is from Waxflatter's funeral scene and not Elizabeth's but it seemed to fit well in conjunction with the actual scenes of Holmes by Elizabeth's grave. I also had some fun with the additive dissolve transition again to signify memory. Although I didn't use if for every 'memory' sequence, as it would have been too much, I hope the idea is there. I didn't want to use feathering or sepia as I feel that sometimes these effects can be overused in memory vids. I hope I managed to achieve the desired effect anyway! I also quite liked the opening scene with Dudley, as I managed to get the music started in exactly the place I wanted it, and I thought it added an extra poignancy to the video. Other fun things included the one and only kiss scene, which, unbelievably, I remembered was there right at the last minute. I couldn't resist overlaying it against the following long shot of Cragwitch's estate, just to give it a bit more of an ethereal quality. This is the first video I've actually watermarked with EP, too, which stands for Emporium Productions. I have to warn you, I tried to pull out all of the stops to make this one a real tearjerker!

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed making it. I created it as a tribute not just to the film itself, which is a worthy Chris Columbus forerunner to the Harry Potter films (and has the privilege, shared with very few films of being shot in the confines of Eton College, probably because Nicholas was an old boy!) but also as an affectionate tribute to Sophie, and especially Nicholas, who are fabulous on so many levels, and fine representatives of the cream of British acting talent. I'd love to know what they think of this one; hopefully, if either of them ever see it, they'll enjoy it.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• nicholas
• rowe
• sophie
• ward
• alan
• cox
• young
• sherlock
• holmes
• nickleback
• far
• away

[crazydave217]

a beautiful tribute. one of my favorite movies

[fayzabeam]

Eeek! Sorry - the previous comment was me, fayzabeam, but I was logged on to the other account I use for school related stuff :)

[daphnedapple]

I love it! I too never want to live alone (like what Holmes said in the beginning).

I also cried so much when watching Elizabeth's death scene.

[fayzabeam]

Thanks so much for the comment - I'm really glad you enjoyed the vid :).

[joeferrett]

Good clip this, Mind you I was glad the mad bint snuffed it. That Knight that comes out the glass.... Spoooookkkyyyyyy. Quality film that, where can I get it?

[fayzabeam]

LOL! Poor Elizabeth - she wasn't that mad was she?! I agree about the glass knight scene - it was a really effective moment in the film (and the first fully cgi character in a film, too, I believe). You can get hold of the film pretty much anywhere online now - play, amazon etc. It's just a same there aren't any extra features on it.

[Kaagh178]

It really isn't fair, is it? Sherlock and Elizabeth should be together! But alas, fate conspired to send them on a different path. Her tragic loss provides an explanation for Holmes' bachelour life. The only other woman he ever took any notice of was Irene Adler, but even she couldn't compare in his heart to Elizabeth.

[DonnySpielberg]

WELL..... DONE!!! I love this movie and that was a great tribute! When I first saw the song you used, I was like how can Nickelback play over this movie? But it's so well done it works great! :) Btw people tell me I look like Nicholas Rowe

[TheGlassbooks]

I LOVE this film. Watch it every X-Mas. What a great video!

[Lostimortal2]

OMG I looooved that film. Great video!!

[Seiralicious]

no sound!!!!!!

[NoeIzumi121]

BEATIFUL!!!!

[SIDRROBENSON]

Sophie Ward is a beautiful actress. She delivered an excellent performance in this film, as well as in Macgyver: Treasure Of Atlantis.

[Fabioxazam]

hei man where's the song???this film is very good, make a long log time i watch!!

im brazilian guy!!!!!!!

[pygmypuff71]

This film was a real favourite of mine when it first came out, went to see it about 3 times. Thanks for bringing it to the attention of the next generation. It was on Film 4 the other night and I regressed to my 15 year old self for the evening. Great film.

[AsylumArchives]

I love this film to death. a fitting tribute. nice work