John Watson is a long-suffering man. John’s Funko toy has also been through a lot in the Toylocked cause. If you are one of those people who keeps Funko Pops in their boxes all the time so that they don’t lose value, look away now!
The day John’s Funko toy took the bus on which he first met Eurus in The Six Thatchers was relatively pleasant for him. The indignity of having a plasticine flower stuck to his head was bearable, and he did get a ride in the wooden bus I borrowed from my youngest relative! It was a quiet suburban street in North London, so I didn’t get too many funny looks taking this one.
I tried positioning John at the side of the bus, which would be more realistic, but the picture didn’t seem to work as well – showing the front of the bus made the context clearer. Here you can also see the full size of the bus, made for a small child to ride on.
As we know, John had a particularly hard time at the Baskerville laboratory. I wanted to capture this and spent ages thinking through how to make the cage in which John hid in the dark, terrified because he believed the hound was loose in the lab with him (naughty Sherlock!).
In the end I found the perfect cage: a wire basket designed for keeping cupboards tidy.
Since these were sold in multipacks, my food cupboard is now much tidier than it was! The covers were made from unbleached cotton, sewn to fit the baskets but with a handy opening cut at one corner for John to peep out in terror. The rest of the effect was created by taking the photo in a darkened room with a torch shining on the toys. I will explore the use of light in another edition of this blog.
The day John found himself at the bottom of a well at Musgrave Hall, during the events of The Final Problem, was particularly trying for him – and his Funko had to suffer too. The well is a small black bucket. The stonework is actually paper bought from a dolls-house supplier; I discovered that it is possible to buy incredibly realistic wallpaper, fencing and floors at 1/12 scale. And yes, John is propped up against the side of the bucket in a few centimetres of muddy water (it just didn’t show up so well if the water was clean). To get the angle right I had to hold the phone upside down inside the bucket and try very hard not to drop it. I took the photo out of doors to get natural light, because indoor light was too yellow. If you look closely, you can see drops of water on John’s face where I had been moving him around with wet hands.
Finally, the greatest sacrifice that John’s Funko has made for Toylocked’s art: John in a bonfire on 5th November, as seen in The Empty Hearse. I decided to do this properly, which meant real fire.
First of all, to protect John, I wrapped his head in a wet sock.
Then I built a little bonfire round him on a paved part of the garden, with a piece of firelighter inside quite near the top, and placed a bucket of water nearby in case of accidents. When it got dark I took practice photos, with a torch some distance away providing a little extra light.
Finally, I set light to the firelighter. It was a bit breezy and the flames waved around quite alarmingly.
As soon as I’d got the shot I wanted, John was whisked to safety and given a strong cup of tea, while I chose the shot I would eventually use:
Toylocked 