An exploration of the generic similarities and differences between CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and BBC: Silent Witness.
Sherlock Holmes enforced the importance of forensic science in the early 20th Century through a series of fictional stories and early films. However, over the last 20 years Crime Scene TV Dramas have developed an outstanding popularity receiving up to 20 million viewers. The focus of forensic science has expanded, directing the appeal more on the involvement on finding the suspect than the Police Force. It has increased in importance because violence is a harmful issue in our society and accusing the wrong suspect causes dramatic affect on the trust in our community and country.
The first text I will be studying is the hit US TV Drama, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. This programme explores the depth and explanation of forensic science & demonstrates the use of technology in a large range of crimes. It has been a highly popular American drama since 2000 and I will be comparing this to my second text, BBC: Silent Witness. Broadcasting from 1996, this programme perceives a crime scene in a mysterious and dark light not overdramatizing the situation.
I will be evaluating the two texts and will consider what is similar within the genres and what is diverse. I will find out whether having dissimilar characters has an affect or what country it is set in.
Anthony E. Zuiker created a mind-absorbing programme in 2000. Millions view CSI: Crime Scene Investigation every week, forming a strong fan base because of the genre of the show.
This hybrid genre consists of Police Procedural and Mystery, covering a wide range of conventions in the episodes. One short scene from one of the episodes, ‘Gangsta Killing in Las Vegas’, captures the brilliant dramatized expertise of Anthony E. Zuiker.
The opening titles use fast, flashing related images to portray the rate at which they work & how much is involved in forensic science. Zuiker uses a quick shot at the very beginning that spans Las Vegas to set where the crimes take place.
The actor/actresses are stated at the beginning, demonstrating how important they are to each stage of finding the murderer or suspect of each investigation. Moreover in-between stating whom the actor/actresses are, they use flashing black or white lined images to display how they are involved in the TV series.
High contrasted close up shots on apparatus define the frequent use of them in the drama and colour is enhanced, making the images richer and clearly show the importance of the objects in a genre such as Police Procedural and Mystery.
Bold reds, greens, blues and yellows are pleasing to the eye and it displays that red expresses blood, anger and fear while blues are used for the lighting of the labs to suggest it is a cool, calm area for solving cases stress free with no heavy pressure. The key factors in the titles set up the target audience, people who like to get involved in science, autopsies and crime.
You enter the crime scene with a long, high level shot. It is taken from a high location to show as much of the crime scene to the audience as possible, to make sure they don’t miss out on anything. The camera movement changes as it lowers going straight into a ‘follow’ with Catherine Willows. This is important as she is a vital player to the CSI team and if the camera is following her, the case must be important.
In the same shot, the genre is expressed through the lighting and props. Natural lighting is used to show that it is a realistic case and it hasn’t been edited to make it look fake and fixed. The obvious props include the police cars and crime scene markings to roughly demonstrate where the crime has taken place. These props display the seriousness of the event and make the target audience believe in what has just happened.
Several mid/long shots are used to acknowledge the distance of the investigation and many follow shots, as the audience needs to know what part of the crime scene you are going to. When the CSI team communicate with each other, close up shots are the main focus so the audience is aware of how they feel about the situation.
Nearing the end of the scene one of the colleagues – Greg Saunders, is wearing a tight thick scarf to emphasise his illness & this affects the quality of the show as the actors/actresses are wearing qualified police (crime scene) uniforms to show they have a high profile status and need to be taken seriously on crucial cases.
Silent Witness was created several years before CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 1996 by Nigel McCrery – a former squad detective, making Silent Witness build with true intentions. The programme consists of 4 main Forensic Pathologists who divulge into the mysterious crimes in Great Britain. Silent Witness has grasped around 7 million viewers and is still highly popular on BBC One. I have taken a short clip from YouTube to determine the genre conventions used; I have used ‘Silent Witness (Terror)’.
I had to look at a separate clip for the opening titles called, ‘Silent Witness (BBC) 2007) from YouTube because there were no opening titles used on the one named above.
The large transparent skeleton that’s presented in the opening title demonstrates to the target audience what the programme focuses on and by presenting it on a smoky green background highlights the importance of the autopsies that take place. Moreover, it creates the mise-en-scene, making Silent Witness look mysterious, graphic and suspicious.
The title ‘Silent Witness’ appears amongst smoke giving the T.V programme an intriguing value. The next shot flows straight into the episode not keeping the audience in suspense, displaying what exactly has taken place.
A mid camera shot is used straight away so the audience is aware who it involves and where the scene is set. Low lighting is used in the building to construct a negative atmosphere as a crime has just happened.
A short ‘follow’ technique of the camera is present, so you are taken to the correct place of the crime. Seeing as it’s a forensic science and police based drama, a ‘follow’ technique is needed because you need to keep up with the constant development of evidence and change of pace. Once a theory or evidence has been collected, the programme uses a graphic reconstruction in slow motion (0:30) to explain to the target audience what the colleagues have suggested.
They vary the music, going from extremes to keep the audience guessing and wondering. The slow, deep beating can refer to the heart so the audience can connect to it when just about to find out the murderer. Or it can go very high pitched, like screams to shock and scare the audience in what they have just found out.
The costume and make up makes a huge difference, I have stated this in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and I will state it again. At 3:02 the camera switches to the detectives in the autopsy room and they are dressed in hospital gowns, aprons and slightly covered in blood to show how realistic it is and natural lighting makes the lab seem ‘normal’ and regular.
By analysing and comparing the two articles together, you can clearly see what is similar and what isn’t. There are several clear similarities present and one includes the reconstructions. At some point in each programme, the producers have included a reconstruction point for the target audience. As this genre is quite rapid and a lot of scientific theories can happen, having reconstructions helps the audience to keep up and understand. By both displaying these techniques it shows this genre needs them for the programme to work.
Both episodes use natural lighting for the several numbers of scenes involved. This is a positive similarity because the creators want the viewers to believe it is a realistic, natural occurrence in society, ‘not out the ordinary’. This adds to the genre conventions because it displays they want the programmes to fit in and create a familiar atmosphere to the viewers.
From studying the camera movements and shots in detail, I have found CSI: Crime Scene Investigation & Silent Witness use ‘follow’ techniques on the main characters. I think this symbolizes the genre because it shows the audience need to focus and stay included in the investigation to understand it. Furthermore, by having a ‘follow’ you get the panorama view of the scene.
Another similarity is the way the episode flows straight into action from the opening titles. They don’t mess around; therefore the viewers have to concentrate on the information portrayed. They don’t want to bore and drag out the titles for too long otherwise they will lose the viewers focus.
As soon as you start watching both clips, in the first 10 seconds they go into the opening titles. The difference is what they present in the opening credits, for instance, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation shows each main character with a couple of shots of them in action. ‘Who Are You?’ by The Who introduces CSI, this popular and familiar song makes a difference because the target audience will find it catchy and suitable towards the genre. In Silent Witness they use an unknown song and the opening credits don’t give short clips of each main character, they show the actor/actresses name and that’s it. This shows the genre can be stretched and ‘played with’ as the U.S programme over dramatises to make sure the drama comes across strong and interesting.
Another strong difference is the type of locations. The locations set in Silent Witness tend to be quiet, cut off while the ones in CSI are set in very public places. The makes a difference because it says to the audience for CSI that it could happen to you, near you and how realistic it is. Meanwhile Silent Witness keeps it in mysterious, low-key places making the viewers feel it could be happening anywhere and you don’t realise – both positive characteristics.
