Vid for Gardnerhill: Mr. Holmes: Beekeeper

[holmesticemods]

Title: Mr. Holmes: Beekeeper
Recipient: gardnerhill
Vidder: rachelindeed
Beta: sanguinity
Verse: Mr. Holmes
Characters/Pairings: Sherlock Holmes and full cast
Rating: G
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Mr. Holmes struggles to remember the griefs of yesteryear. What he finds, to his surprise, is hope for tomorrow.

"Mr. Holmes: Beekeeper" (Watch on YouTube)

Or watch on Youtube: Mr. Holmes: Beekeeper

Lyrics and music by Dessa

Here comes the beekeeper
With her pitcher full of smoke
She'll put us all to sleep
I hope it's dreamless and it's deep
Sweet Prometheus, come home
They took away our fire
And all that scarcity promotes
Is desperate men and tyrants

What fine design
What hands
What minds
The envy of Eden
Our tools and our reason
It's clear in the animals' eyes
We stand upright
Build fires at night
Made on the sixth day to rest on the seventh
And now we just try to survive

The surgeon and farmer meet
And each greets the other with a bow
They're kindred instruments, you know
The scalpel and the plow
And in the shadow of the mountain
We work when work abounds
And we wear out all our prayers when the work runs out

What fine design
What hands
What minds
The envy of Eden
Our tools and our reason
It's clear in the animals' eyes
We stand upright
Build fires at night
Made on the sixth day to rest on the seventh
And now we just try to survive

Comments

[rachelindeed]

0:43 ‘They took away our fire’ - as Holmes gestures with a finger as he tries to recall a memory.

I really like that moment, too. It's one of the shots that I chose early and never changed.

0:56 ‘What minds’ - while we’re looking at a distorted Holmes through the glass.

I'm so glad that you liked that clip! I was searching for ways to visually convey Holmes's confusion without relying solely on shots of him looking confused :) I thought that image of his silhouette behind blurred glass was evocative. Similarly, there's a line about "our tools and our reason" where I use the image of a notebook covered in black dots. In the film, it's explained that Holmes inks a mark for each day that he notices he's forgotten something. It seemed a good image to show that his 'reason' was increasingly full of black holes, and that he was so self-aware about that process that he was actively, and somewhat morbidly, documenting it.

2:55 ‘What fine design’ - the ceiling shot moving into the shot of the flower.

I love that little parallel, too. I knew I wanted to focus on a flower for the 'fine design' line, in homage to ACD Holmes's Naval Treaty discussion about the rose, and I happened to notice that the pattern on that beautiful golden ceiling in the Diogenes Club was shaped rather like an iris. Human artistry imitating that of nature. I enjoyed that.

3:20 - ‘And now we just try to survive’. Holmes and his housekeeper waiting together to see if Roger survives.

Yes, I was so happy that the shot was long enough that the music faded down to one voice while the close-up moved to their joined hands. It worked out very nicely! If the vid has a theme, I think it's that human connection is what saves Holmes in the end, and that he finds his peace, not in the reparation of his imperfect reason, but rather by learning to reach out to those around him with greater awareness and kindness. That closing sequence focuses on his hands reaching out, and on the happy and idyllic retirement that finally comes within his reach.

I'm so happy that you enjoyed the vid, and thank you again for such generous and thoughtful comments!