"Sherlock, Jr"

     Experimentation seems, to me anyways, at the crossroads between inquiry and imagination. Being inquisitive leads people to figure things out and to learn. One way to satisfy the Spanish inquisition is through experimentation. Imagination leads people to create new and unique things. Experimenting with what is around can aid the imagination. Both experimentation and imagination help people see new things.

     Children are naturally imaginative and inquisitive;  and because of this, it is normal for them to want to try and experiment with things. Tommy may want to know what happens when he sticks a fork in an outlet. Kimberly might experiment with putting ketchup on her taco.

     In class, most of the examples of experimentation that we looked at involved  an artist experimenting with, or stretching the boundaries of, the medium in which he or she worked. B.J. Novak's The Book with No Pictures played around and experimented with font size and style and onomatopoeia. George Melies experimented with the medium of film, seeing what it was able to do. In a similar manner, Buster Keaton played with film in his movie Sherlock, Jr.

     In Sherlock, Jr, Buster Keaton plays a movie theater projectionist who wants to become a detective. The beginning of the film is straightforward and filmed in a traditional manner; however, it is when he falls asleep that the experimentation with the medium begins. Keaton falls asleep, only to have his sub-conscience leave his body in a dream like state. Keaton used a cross dissolve technique to overlay two separate images of himself on top of each other, one being his physical body and the other being his dream.

     In no other medium can this idea and experimentation be fully developed as it is here. The layering of images can be done with traditional still photography, but without the moving aspect, Keaton's journey away from his physical body does not resonate as much. And painting two Buster Keatons does not have the same affect as having two real images of him does; someone can paint whatever they want.

     The medium of film is further experimented with when Keaton first enters the movie. By taking careful calculations, the filmmakers were able to place Keaton in the same part of the frame in various locations. And when these parts were edited together, it looks like Keaton is magically transported from one location to another. This effect can only be done with the juxtaposition of moving images; making it unique to film.

     In Sherlock, Jr., we see Buster Keaton experimenting with film medium, in the very same way that George Melies did, in order to create a new and imaginative film. By exploiting the properties of film, Keaton was able to tell and expound on his story in ways not done before.

     Experimentation seems to appeal more to children than to adults. As people grow older, they get set in their ways and reject new things that are different. However, children are still learning and growing and still do not reject what is new. Because experimentation is closely related to imagination and inquiry, both of which are strong with children, it is naturally embraced by the same children.