BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / The pen toss

**Posted by kazza474** February 17, 2012 11:50 pm

Very well done.
We must see if we can get some feedback from anyone connected with the show on this little scene.
I might try Gatiss or Moffat on Twitter.

Last edited by kazza474 (June 12, 2012 3:21 am)

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** February 18, 2012 2:11 am

Yeah, that's pretty cool. Would love to see the outtakes on that one.

**Posted by jimella** June 12, 2012 2:51 am

Didn't even blink! Awesome. I had to replay that for at least 3 times.

**Posted by Tantalus** June 12, 2012 3:14 am

jimella wrote:
Didn't even blink! Awesome. I had to replay that for at least 3 times.

Welcome to the forum! Make sure you go to the "Introductions" page and make a new thread to introduce yourself...

**Posted by kazza474** June 12, 2012 3:25 am

Hee hee, I still love that one.
Edited it so the video is on screen now cos I got smarter since then.

**Posted by Sherlock Holmes** June 14, 2012 9:55 am

Definitely epic. I always love that bit when I watch the Ep now.

**Posted by jimella** June 15, 2012 1:02 am

How do you suppose he did that? Was he facing a mirror or something? Some camera trick? Did John really toss the pen? Or was it in Sherlock's hand all along. But that's not really possible since we see he has both hands in front of him. Or...I am just overanalyzing

About the blinking thing, I was watching it again last night and I was trying not to blink the entire time...my eyes would just water

**Posted by Wholocked** June 15, 2012 1:21 am

I would suspect that it's both the angle at which the pen is thrown (John throws it virtually vertically so all Benedict has to do is close his fist on it) and peripheral vision. They probably rehearsed it a few times but it's not impossible to do. Watch football players - they pass to each other without looking all the time. Granted, the one catching generally IS looking.

It is very impressive and I would also love to know how many times they had to do it but it's not an impossible thing to do.

**Posted by besleybean** October 5, 2012 7:27 pm

Benedict has stated in interview they did it 1st time, but the camera man was too slow to get the shot.
It then took them several goes.

**Posted by Iwantthatcoat** October 30, 2012 1:42 am

Thank you for that info. That teamwork is so perfectly done.

**Posted by Lelli** January 5, 2013 9:37 pm

Ooooohhh! I will have to practice catching!
Sadly I'm really REALLY bad at catching...
Maybe I'm just obsessed with Sherlock's Hands, but can't you stab yourself (just a little) with catching a pencil? I once hut myself catching a key... Or I'm just terribly clumsy ;D

**Posted by Mattlocked** January 5, 2013 11:05 pm

I recognized that scene yesterday while watching my dvd. And it was: WOW! What was that!?
And again, and again, and again....

**Posted by Mnemosyne** January 6, 2013 12:01 am

I love this little moment of sychronicity.

I was waiting for the inevitable 'Pen-to-Face' moment, however. Having to do the rest of the scene with a massive ink dot somewhere prominent.

**Posted by Morton** April 11, 2013 6:20 am

They say things come in threes... there is also a nifty teapot catchwhen Soo Lin drops it at night in the museum when Sherlock first appears in there and a neat vase catch from Sherlock when he enters Soo Lin's flat via the window and knocks a vase off the table.
I particularly like that these are tightly written to show something -
- John knows Sherlock will catch the pen and is aware of his position to throw it to him,
- Sherlock anticipated the teapot being dropped or had fast reflexes to catch it,
- Sherlock is fallible to knock the vase of the table but quick to catch it and immediately understands the intruder also entered the flat the same way due to water on the floor.

All credit of course to Benedict and Martin and the timing of the actress who played Soo Lin Yao

**Posted by AndyO.** April 11, 2013 12:16 pm

I don't see anything weird about Sherlock catching the pen xD He knew John was going to throw it and he also saw it (even if not looking directly at the pen). It's not that hard to catch things.

**Posted by Be** April 11, 2013 12:29 pm

Who said anything about weird?
It's just us overanalyzing every tiny bit: Just looking if we can observe someting.

**Posted by The Doctor** April 15, 2013 4:01 am

jimella wrote:
How do you suppose he did that? Was he facing a mirror or something?

I had always assumed it was a well-coordinated catch but indeed, they used a mirror. Still, it must have taken a lot of effort to look so effortlessly

**Posted by besleybean** April 15, 2013 5:47 am

Tho has already been said:
they did it the 1st time, but the cameras weren't ready!

**Posted by horserider99** April 16, 2013 12:45 am

They (apparently) filmed it over, and over, and over again, until they figured out to use a mirror. Somewhere, there's an interview where Ben answered the question.

**Posted by besleybean** April 16, 2013 5:44 am

Yeah and that's where he said that he and Martin got it 1st time, but the cameras weren't ready.