Analysing an Epidsode of CSI

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

In this episode of CSI they had the typical structure of a crime thriller. The program starts with a harmony, in this case a basketball team winning a match within the last few minutes. Then after the happy scenes and the main characters targeted by close ups they move along to the disruption side which is murder. Once they have found out who killed the victim they make peace with the families involved and arrest the criminals involved in the crime. This structure is very typical of this genre of television programs and films.

The way the structure of the narrative is set out is like Todorov’s narrative theory. Todorov’s theory goes like this:

 

·         A state of happiness at the beginning

·         A disruption of the happiness by an action

·         A recognition of the action taken place

·         An attempt to repair the disruption

·         A redevelopment of the happiness

 

The typical genre conventions take place as soon as the program begins. In this particular episode the males are playing the rough sport whilst the females cheer on and dance around in skimpy outfits. This shows male dominance from the start. In most crime dramas the females are usually the victims of the crime. This is a very common stereotype and rarely do you watch a program where the female is the strong and determined detective solving the case whilst the male is the victim of the crime. However in this episode of CSI there are female detectives involved in the investigation. They also went against the general stereotype by having the killer as a female character. This subverts the general stereotype.

Camera work in crime dramas is a very important factor. Close ups are used to show expressions of the characters being murdered or the characters committing the crime. POV (Point OF View) shots from the characters involved also are great because they give a first person perspective on what is happening during that scene, this will make the audience feel what the character is feeling and they will also be able to see exactly what they are doing or planning to do. Quick cuts are also important when the crime is being committed because it will cause confusion to the audience and it will also capture everything that the directors want the audience to see when they are watching the most important bit of the program.

When the characters are happy during a scene the lighting will be bright and colourful, but once the murder had occurred and crime scene investigations started happening the lighting became very low key. This gives the audience a dull, gloomy feel to the scene. When you watch most crime dramas, if there is a murder it will take place at night, raining and possibly down an abandoned ally way. This makes the audience feel suspense and worry for the character in the program. The music will change dramatically once the murder takes place. All of the things that can add to suspense and audience mood changes will be thrown into that one scene. When there is a crime scene they will put the police tape across the surrounding areas so that the general public will not wander onto the crime scene. The yellow police tape is known worldwide and is very iconic. Anyone who sees that kind of police tape will know it is a crime scene.

Crime dramas also love to throw a lot of twists into their episodes to add confusion and questions towards the audience, for example, in this CSI episode they had a detective explaining what he thought could be the cause of death and how it had happened and then another detective completely ruled it out by saying it was someone else’s blood on the football field. They also had one of the main witnesses killed making her unable to answer any more questions or be of any help towards the investigation. That sort of twist can also add another form of destruction just when they are about to revisit happiness, this prolongs the investigation and also keeps the audience guessing, a good structural performance.

In this episode the social class that is used is middleclass. The victims and criminals where just your typical high school kids, this could influence people to believe that young people are into crime and have the potential to commit murder. A lot of the time in crime dramas they will have the binary opposites of social classes clashing against each other causing conflicts. The age of the kids in this episode ranged from 16 to 18. There was a mixture of ethnicity in this episode to create balance which didn’t offend anyone who might be watching. In crime dramas around 10 years ago they would really stereotype the males as criminals and also certain ethnic groups; this is now seen as discrimination and also not the case. Therefore programs now use more variation on their victims and criminals.