csi booklet

MS4: Text, Industry & Audience

1

CSI: Las Vegas


2

MS4 – Text, Industry and Audience What are the assessment objectives?

A01: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts (ideas), contexts (background information) and critical debates (what the critics think and other influential people, academics etc). To get in the A band you need to have: A sophisticated understanding of media texts, their industry and audience contexts. Use detailed examples and use them to show well-‐established viewpoints. Highly appropriate use of media terminology. A02: Apply knowledge and understanding when analysing media products (texts) and processes (how they are constructed and put together, e.g. technical and visual codes) and to show how meanings and responses are created (technical and visual codes, narrative, representations etc.) How does the audience respond? To get in the A band you need to have: A sophisticated analysis of the relationship between text, industry and audience. Sophisticated understanding of how meanings and responses are created.


3

The Background to Channel 5 Channel 5 was launched in 1997 and was the UK fifth terrestrial channel (free to air over the

analogue signal – the Granada region in the North West is now digital and the free channels are available through Freeview). Out of the five channels, it has lowest audience share, around 5% of the total target audience.

The brands in the Channel 5 stable were rebranded in February 2011. The brands are now as follows:

Channel 5: Channel 5 was launched as Britain's fifth and final terrestrial broadcaster on the 31st March 1997.

In July 2010 the Channel 5 network was sold by long standing shareholder RTL to Northern & Shell.

Currently well over 30 million UK viewers watch Channel 5 any given week tuning in for programming as diverse as the CSI franchise, Extraordinary People, Fifth Gear, live UEFA Europa League Football, Home and Away and Neighbours, 5 News as well as the channel's award winning children's strand, Milkshake!

5* launched as Five Life in October 2006, becoming FIVER on 28th April 2008 and 5* on 7th March 2011.

The channel is attracting increasing numbers of younger viewers with a range of younger, faster, ruder programming. It has a rich mix of the best acquired and originated programming and already has seen a number of high-‐profile, new programmes including Archer, Burn Notice, Melrose Place, Californication, Sex and the City and The City.

Channel 5's American cousin, 5USA (formerly Five US), launched on 16th October 2006 and is now the 11th highest rating multichannel in the UK during prime time.

5USA brings UK viewers the slickest, smartest Amercian drama series, including CSI, CSI New York, CSI Miami, Numb3rs and The Mentalist, as well as a combination of established and new drama; comedy; films; sport and youth programming.

5USA is still growing its audience. In 2008, the average audience share for Five US was +14% greater than 2007.

The channel changed its name from Five US to 5USA on February 16th 2009. Channel 5 was the first terrestrial broadcaster to offer a download service when it launched 5

Download in September 2006. Relaunched as Demand 5 in July 2008, Channel 5’s video-‐on-‐demand service achieves over 10

million video streams a month. The online, Smart TV and set-‐top box catch-‐up service provides viewers with online access to a

significant percentage of Channel 5's peaktime schedule, including Big Brother, and much of its hit acquired content, such as Alphas, CSI and Neighbours.

The offering is extended with a raft of original programming, including Fifth Gear, The Gadget Show, The Hotel Inspector and Paul Merton’s Adventures. An extensive archive of older Channel 5 programming is available to be streamed on the website, for free, at any time.

Channel 5 is working tirelessly with production companies and rights holders to expand the content offering of Channel 5, 5* and 5USA on the service.

Demand 5 is also available on YouTube, Virgin Media, BT Vision and Sony Bravia connected TV. You can also download the free Demand 5 app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch from the Apple app store.


4

Channel 5 audience 2012 Statistics Channel 5 is the fifth most popular channel in the UK, claiming a 4.2% share of viewing across the

whole of 2012 Year on year viewing to the channel was up amongst all viewers. In addition we grew the

commercially attractive young and upmarket audiences In a typical month we reach 45 million people Channel 5 provides viewers with a varied mix of programming which includes entertainment,

sport, documentaries, kids, drama, News and films. Our most popular commission in 2012 was Celebrity Big Brother, which reached an audience high

of 3.9 million New programmers joining the commissioning slate across the year included Celebrity Wedding

Planner, Benidorm ER, World Scariest, Cowboy Traders and Killers Behind Bars Channel 5 is also home to the biggest US dramas. As well as continuing with hit series such as CSI,

NCIS and The Mentalist in the past year we have introduced UK audiences to new acquisitions such as Once Upon A Time, Body Of Proof, Person Of Interest and Dallas. Source: BARB, 2012

Channel 5’s rules under the OFCOM licence: Under the terms of its licence, Channel 5 must have 60% of its programming commissioned

specifically for the station – at least 42% must be original programming for the channel, in peak viewing time (between 5pm and 11pm).

At least 10% of programmes made for the channel must be produced outside the M25 area (London) thus ensuring regional representation in programme making.

Task: Using the above information, read through and answer the following questions:

1. What is the average audience for Channel 5?

2. How many channels are there under the Channel 5 brand?

3. What percentage of programming has to be original to Channel 5 in peak time?

4. How long has the channel been on air?

5. How many people on average tune in a week?

Channel 5 and typical genres: The general acquisitions strategy of Channel 5 has been to target what Channel 5 has billed as “unique drama” that will appeal to a broad audience, largely from the bigger broadcast networks in the United States. There has been the occasional comedy acquisition over the years, but they’ve rarely lasted on the channel. Key to recent ratings performance has been certain high profile acquisitions such as the CSI franchise and The Mentalist, while original commissions have also been important, with Channel 5 recently indicating that they would be looking beyond factual entertainment and may commission an original drama series within the next 12 months.


5

By and large the acquisitions strategy has panned out, with the channel’s highest rating imports being CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2.44 Million Viewers), The Mentalist (1.97 million viewers), Person of Interest (1.7 million viewers) and Once Upon A Time (1.5 million viewers). That said, with the recent staff changes at Channel 5 there has been a slight change in strategy. New Director of Programmes Ben Frow has stated his desire to make Channel 5′s schedule “less American driven” and this change has already been signified with the recent acquisitions of Australian drama Wentworth and Irish drama Love/Hate. There has also been recent chatter that by early next year Channel 5 will be shifting all of its acquisitions to the 10pm hour. That said, US series are still going to be a key part of Channel 5′s schedule and as such most of their current imports will be returning. I’ve confirmed that the broadcaster has picked up the UK rights, from various distributors, to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation season 14, Dallas season 3, The Mentalist season 6 and Person of Interest season 2. They will all return to Channel 5 later this year or early next alongside recent acquisitions The Bible, Under The Dome and Wentworth. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Created by Anthony Zuiker, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation follows the exploits of a group of crime scene investigators working for the Las Vegas police department. The drama series is produced by CBS Television Studios and stars Ted Danson, Elisabeth Shue, George Eads, Jorja Fox, Paul Guilfoyle, Eric Szmanda, Robert David Hall, Wallace Langham, David Berman, Elisabeth Harnois and Jon Wellner. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has long been a fixture on Channel 5’s schedule, with the broadcaster having been the home of first run episodes since the series launched in the UK in the early 2000s. Admittedly, on a certain level, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (and the entire CSI franchise as a whole) has become irrevocably identifiable with the Channel 5 brand. And for good reason, even in repeat airings the series draws big numbers for Channel 5, while new episodes frequently pull in in more than 2 million viewers. The show’s 12th season premiered on Channel 5 in March 2012 and averaged an audience of 2.5 million viewers, ranking as Channel 5’s highest rated first run US import. The show’s most recent season, the show’s 13th, followed in February of this year and did see a slight dip in the ratings; averaging an audience of 2.44 million viewers, down a mere 2% on last year but once again ranking as the highest rated US series currently airing on Channel 5. Under the terms of a longstanding multi-‐year agreement with CBS Studios International Channel 5 holds the rights to the upcoming 14th season of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. From www.tvwise.co.uk


6

CSI and Channel 5 One of mainstays of the Channel 5 schedule is CSI and its spin off shows CSI Miami and CSI New

York. The original series, CSI: Las Vegas premiered on the American TV channel CBS on October 6, 200.

The show follows a team of forensic investigators (crime scene investigators) as they piece together information and work out the often gruesome details of murders. The show was created by TV producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Anthony E Zuiker. The show is now in its 12 series in America.

Original casting: In the original cast, William Petersen plays the Las Vegas Police Department

(LVPD) crime lab's night-‐shift supervisor Dr. Gil Grissom, a socially awkward entomologist. Marg Helgenberger plays Catherine Willows, a single parent, and former stripper, who worked her way through the ranks from a Lab Technician to CSI and upon Grissom's departure, to supervisor. George Eads plays Nick Stokes, a CSI Level 2 from Texas, who was eager to show his worth to Grissom. Stokes became a CSI Level 3 at the end of the pilot episode.

Early recurring cast members included Eric Szmanda as DNA Tech Greg Sanders, who aspires to be a CSI, and Robert David Hall, introduced early in the first season as Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Albert Robbins, a double-‐amputee. Both became regular cast members in the first episode of season 3. Later in the series, Sanders transfers to the field as a rookie Crime Scene Investigator and begins progressing through the ranks. Louise Lombard joined the cast in season 5 as the Day Shift Supervisor, but was subsequently transferred to Grissom's team. Sofia Curtis became a Detective in season 6. After a single appearance in season 8, Lombard left the cast with no explanation.

Grissom's supervisory position was filled by a newly promoted Catherine Willows (Helgenberger), and Laurence Fishburne joined the cast as CSI Dr. Ray Langston. Lauren Lee Smith briefly played CSI Riley Adams, but left shortly after in the season 9 finale. Adams' exit interview would cause tension throughout the team, and eventually lead to Willows to promoting Stokes to Assistant Supervisor.

Following Fishburne's departure, Ted Danson was cast as the new CSI Supervisor DB Russell, replacing Helgenberger's Willows, who had been demoted following the events of Season 11. Elisabeth Harnois, who had guest starred one episode in season 11, joined the regular cast, playing former LAPD SID officer Morgan Brody, the daughter of Conrad Ecklie.

Marg Helgenberger will depart the cast in episode 12 of the new series, and be replaced by Elisabeth Shue in episode 14.

CSI CSI is a fast-‐paced

drama about a team of forensic investigators trained to solve crimes by examining the evidence. They are on the case 24/7, scouring the scene, collecting the irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that will solve the mystery. Gil Grissom, shift supervisor, heads the team of investigators at the Crime Lab in Las Vegas. The team includes Catherine Willows, a hard-‐working single parent with a checkered past and a teenage daughter she's raising on her own; Warrick Brown, a top analyst with insider knowledge of the gambling world; Nick Stokes, a true-‐blue stand-‐up guy who empathizes with victims via his own experiences; and Greg Sanders, the wacky tech analyst turned field investigator. The CSI team members also work closely with Capt. Jim Brass, the former chief, now assigned to Homicide, Dr. Albert Robbins, the ever-‐professional medical examiner and David Hodges, a lab technician with a specialty in trace and foreign-‐substance analysis.


7

CSI: New York CSI: NY, a crime

drama inspired by the drama series, CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, is about forensic investigators who use high-‐tech science to follow the evidence and solve crimes in the Big Apple. Det. Mac Taylor, a dedicated and driven crime-‐scene investigator who believes that everything is connected and everyone has a story, is a decorated Marine who served in Desert Storm and dabbled in war photography. The job is his life; he focuses on cases until they are solved. He and his partner, Stella Bonasera, a well-‐traveled, well-‐educated detective, an orphan who flourished in spite of the system, share a passion for the job.

Stella is a jack-‐of-‐all-‐trades and has an unmatched desire to find answers for the victims of violent crimes, due in part

to questions about her past. They lead a team of experts through the gritty and kinetic city that never sleeps. The team includes Danny Messer, an investigator with an unflappable spirit and a troubled family history, which he uses on the job as he blends his own set of hybrid ethics. Messer was personally selected to join the team by Mac, and he attempts daily to live up to that honor and responsibility. Sheldon Hawkes is the crime lab's former coroner, a brilliant Ph.D. who transitioned to the field team. Joining them is Don Flack, an edgy, hardcore homicide detective with a quick wit, impressive forensic insight and a long family history in law enforcement.

Rounding out the team is Lindsay Monroe, a young, athletic CSI with a Midwestern work ethic who is willing to roll up

her sleeves to tackle any job and rarely hints at the dark and devastating secret that originally motivated her to dedicate her life to being an investigator. The New York CSIs may have a different process from those in Las Vegas or Miami, but they are guided by the same steadfast determination. These skilled investigators follow the evidence as they piece together clues and eliminate doubt, to ultimately crack their cases. CSI New York ran from 2004 until 2013.

CSI: Miami Inspired by the top-‐

rated series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CSI: MIAMI is a drama that follows a South Florida team of forensic investigators who use both cutting-‐edge scientific methods and old-‐fashioned police work to solve crimes.

Horatio Caine, a former homicide detective, heads a group of investigators who

work crimes amid the steamy tropical surroundings and cultural crossroads of Miami. His team includes Calleigh Duquesne, a bilingual Southern beauty with a specialty in ballistics; Eric Delko, an underwater recovery expert who knows all the twists and turns of the Florida waterways, and Ryan Wolfe, a former patrol officer who specializes in blood and trace evidence.

Rounding out the team is Alexx Woods, the no-‐nonsense know-‐it-‐all coroner, and Natalia Boa Vista, the enigmatic

DNA specialist. Helping Horatio with cases is Det. Frank Tripp, a tough yet thorough police officer. Together, these investigators collect and analyse the evidence to solve the crimes and to avenge those who cannot

speak for themselves-‐-‐the victims. CSI Miami ran from 2002 until 2012.


8

Genre: A way to categorise texts. John Fiske argues genre is:

Ø A set of codes & conventions

Ø A way of setting up audience expectations

Ø Culturally dependent – different cultural groups construct different expectations

Ø The genre is defined by signs (visual and aural)

Ø The genre is defined by ideologies and generic narratives

Genre: The Cop Show The huge popularity of crime shows on TV shows how influential the genre has become both as a tool for advertisers and broadcasters to make money. As a genre, there are many specific elements which are typical codes and conventions.

Ø Action is based on binary opposites Ø Chase sequences often feature Ø Mise en scene is often dirty and cramped Ø Emphasis is made on the tools of the trade, e.g.

iconography of guns, suits, cars etc. Ø The ideology of the police being there to protect us is

usually evident Ø The narrative resolution makes us feel safe at the end of

the episode. We tune in to watch the hero arrest the criminals

Ø The main character is often troubled and has personal tragedy to deal with (usually a white male)

Ø The hero often has a side-kick Ø Crime dramas fill over 20% of the prime time schedule in

markets throughout the English speaking world. CSI & its spin-offs is watched by viewers in 200 countries across the globe

There are 3 typical types of crime drama in the modern era – 1) the traditional detective drama where the hero chases the villains and locks them up. Criminals are often stereotyped characters, remote from the audience. The main detective has a troubled personal life or tragedies he deals with. A Touch of Frost and Ashes to Ashes are examples of this. 2) The soap opera influenced cop show, focusing on characters based in a station (such as The Bill). Personal stories of the characters dominate the narrative, and we focus on the police and procedures. Criminals are often sterotypes. 3) The Pyscho-crime dramas, focusing on the gruesome & the forensic detection process. Often these focus on the serial killer (such as Wire in the Blood and Trial and Retribution ). CSI focuses on the forensic team with the detectives as secondary characters. * Key point – globalisation – as the world has become smaller thanks to technology such as the internet, our cultural experiences have become globalised as well. Critics of this global village argue that our values and ideologies are constructed through our shared viewing of news and drama. Reception theory argues we are active in choosing our values and ideologies and programmes reflect our actual ideologies, not create them.


9

CSI main cast list: Series 12, broadcast on Channel 5 2012.


10

The CSI shot

Part of the appeal of CSI is its visual style and a key part of this is what is known as the ‘CSI shot”. ‘The programme’s signature evocation of penetrative ‘wound-‐cam’ technology in some ways

mimics and borrows from the realist connotations of footage drawn from the endoscopic cameras used in surgery to explore the body, images which have become a staple of medical documentary programmes. But ,at the same time, these sequences and their deployment of CGI – labelled the CSI –shot by the programme’s producers – are clearly about spectacle and capture more of the physical drama of the body’s interior than any real medical probe ever could. Through the CSI-‐shot – penetrating skin, arteries and organs to take the audience on a spectacular visual ride through the corporeal – the boundaries not merely of the genre, or of television, but of the body itself have been dissolved.’ – Body Matters, Realism, Spectacle and the Corpse in CSI, by Deborah Jermyn (from Reading CSI)


11

TV review: CSI, Ted Danson might play an intellectual, but he'll struggle to make sense of CSI Zoe Williams The Guardian, Tuesday 13 March 2012 22.00 GMT

'An octopus? Really?' … Marg Helgenberger, Jorja Fox and Ted Danson in CSI. Photograph: Robert Voets/CBS CSI (Channel 5) is now in its 12th series, which is just about the only way you could explain it: every permutation of homicidal human and maladroit animal has already been covered. They start the series at the very bottom of the barrel; they are one plotline away from introducing an alien. But they also have Ted Danson, so it's not all bad news: "Look at that," he says, pointing to the rust formation in the ceiling of a Las Vegas casino tramcar wherein two humans have expired. "It looks just like the Centaurus constellation. Isn't that neat?" This is supposed to mark him out as an annoying intellectual, even though the statement is only true if you take as your opening position that all splodges look a little bit like stars. "And that looks like a ricochet." Ah ha! He's an annoying intellectual, but he knows his way around a likely bullet trajectory. Jorja Fox seems to like him, although she gives people that look ("You're interesting," it says. "I'd sure like to know more about you") even when they're dead. Particularly when they're dead. I'm going to issue a spoiler alert, though its spoiling a dish that's already inedible. The deaths occurred when a man, Tom, leapt onto a train, having been inconveniently but not tragically stabbed, because he was soon to die anyway of lung cancer. His brother, Jimmy, tries to kill himself by putting a sandwich bag over his head and lying in the bath. This is what happens, kids, when you get your suicide tips off the internet. Sometimes it's better just to go back to 19th century literature. Jimmy is scared of being implicated in Tom's partial-‐but-‐not-‐really murder, plus he feels guilty because he wasn't concentrating – he was busy ogling a prostitute who had an octopus in her handbag. Her intention was to use it for sex, later, before a live audience (the octopus was also live, before someone


12

shot it). It's a resounding argument for the free market as the agent of diversity. In a city with enough sex shows, there's no one who isn't catered for. Sorry, back to the prostitute – although Japanese by descent, her short, snooty vowels betray that she is English. Of course she is. What other kind of freak shags an octopus? The one in her bag was called Claude and ate shrimp. "He was fussy, but he was worth it." Huh. It transpires that she was actually in love with the octopus. Ted Danson, intuiting this, uses it dazzlingly to his own advantage. The programme has that West Wing atmosphere, where sentences explode fast and leave you wondering whether it was the individual words you didn't understand, or the order in which they came. Unlike West Wing, it turns out you didn't understand it because it was animal crackers. While our not-‐quite-‐a-‐heroine was testing the boundaries of fidelity with her eight-‐membered lovetoy, down the road a man was found dead with his skin wrinkled clean away from his muscle mass. His demise is actually too complicated to go into here; enough to say that when a deer kicks you in the stomach, there are probably things you could do that would promote a faster return to health than attaching a high-‐pressure airvalve to your wound and inflating your torso. That's the real problem – not that CSI has exhausted all possible causes of death proffered by the modern world; rather that, leechlike, they have sucked all the blood out of sentient humanity. They're left with a ragtag of characters so improbably reckless that the mystery is not how they died, but how they managed to survive so long. © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.


13

Series 12: Episode 1: 73 seconds Ted Danson joins the cast as the team's new boss DB Russell, whose first job is to investigate a shootout on a tram that left two dead and three injured. The only physically unhurt passenger is a boy who is too traumatised to speak about the incident, leaving investigators struggling to determine what he saw -‐ until Russell finds a way to get through to him. Meanwhile, Sara and Greg are puzzled by a case in which a young man's corpse appears to have the skin of a much older person, and Ecklie's estranged daughter Morgan Brody (Elisabeth Harnois) joins the team.


14

Representational issues - Police, investigators, criminals Stereotypes? How does editing allow the audience to have particular perceptions of characters?

Ideologies – of America, of crime

Key narrative features – binary opposites, action and enigma codes

Audience appeal – link to codes and conventions and ideologies


15

Series 12 – 1.73 Seconds Task – Complete the boxes, following the sequence of the episode Narrative order – Recount the order of the story

Enigmas present – list the enigmas in the programme

Mise-en-scene – colours used, locations, set style, characters behaviour and dress

CSI shots and reconstructions – CGI scenes, what-if? Reconstructions (visual recounts of unseen story)


16

In pairs, consider the episode in relation to the following issues: Character representation and appeal: How could you apply Uses & Gratifications theory to the show? Give specific examples to back up your points. Representational issues – the role of the police and the CSI team – representations of criminals -‐ what is stereotypical and what challenges assumptions about characters? Contextual issues: Research shows the average American crime drama shows 18 counts of violence in 1 hour episode. One of the criticisms of crime dramas is that they make the audience anxious about crime itself. George Gerbner’s research on cultivation effects claims crime shows create a ‘scary world’, making the viewer think the real world outside is as scary. Richard Sparks says the opposite view in his book Television and the Drama of Crime, arguing that because in the crime shows, the crime is solved, we are being exploited through our fears for entertainment and are ultimately reassured because the crimes are solved and we, the public, are safe again.


17

CSI: Series 12, Episode 2 Tell-‐Tale Hearts Learning objectives:

Ø To be able to analyse and explore the genre links in CSI and how these are constructed for the audience. Ø To identify the typicality of the show and audience appeal.

The murder of a family on an eco-friendly housing estate initially seems to be a straightforward case when the evidence points to a neighbour, who quickly confesses. However, a woman then walks into the precinct and admits carrying out the killings - but her testimony leads the investigators to another potential suspect, who also claims to be the sole culprit. As Russell, Willows and the team try to make sense of what is happening, they begin to realise all three of the supposed perpetrators might be hiding something. Crime drama, starring Ted Danson and Marg Helgenberger, with Amy Davidson (8 Simple Rules).


18

Representational issues - Police, investigators, criminals Stereotypes? How does editing allow the audience to have particular perceptions of characters?

Ideologies – of America, of crime

Key narrative features – binary opposites, action and enigma codes

Audience appeal – link to codes and conventions and ideologies


19

Series 12 – Tell-‐Tale Hearts Task – Complete the boxes, following the sequence of the episode Narrative order – Recount the order of the story

Enigmas present – list the enigmas in the programme

Mise-en-scene – colours used, locations, set style, characters behaviour and dress

CSI shots and reconstructions – CGI scenes, what-if? Reconstructions (visual recounts of unseen story)


20

Learning objectives:

Ø To identify audience appeal and pleasure in watching CSI Ø To link typical ideologies associated with the crime genre to CSI

Starter: Recap on the narrative structure of the viewed episode, Tell-‐Tale Hearts Task: To link genre and the crime show to CSI and then consider how CSI can be appealing to the audience. Work in pairs, and feedback responses. Each person to fill in one of the following and then share with your partner. Audience responses Textual evidence Uses and Gratifications

Encoding/Decoding: Preferred, negotiated & oppositional readings of characters, America, the role of police and forensic officers


21

Genre links: Look at the features of the cop genre sheet. What typical features of the genre are evident in the episode?

Representations of key forensic team: Narrative features: Think about Todorov and the disruptions to the narrative & the final resolution.

Representations of criminals


22

Pick a scene from the episode and in bullet points, explain how the scene typifies the genre and what appeal does it have for the audience?

•

•

•

•

•

•


23

Learning Objectives: To consider the promotional material for Five and CSI To analyse the impact of globalisation on television To consider the ideologies transmitted about America

Marketing and promotion of CSI Starter: CSI and its spin offs are watched in over 200 countries with a combined audience of 2

billion people. Recap: Do you know what cultural imperialism is? How can it be applied to CSI?

The CSI franchise is so popular that it has had a huge cultural impact on audiences worldwide. Because of the escapist nature of the shows, the programmes have been criticised for creating unrealistic expectations of forensic investigation – referred to as the CSI effect. This has had an impact in real-‐life jury situations where the jurors have unrealistic expectations on forensic evidence and the role of investigators.

Interestingly, so apparently convincing is the programme’s depiction of the capabilities of forensics that it has been credited as having impacted on ‘real life’ perceptions of court cases, as witnessed by the emergence of the so-‐called ‘CSI Effect’. In a cover story taken from USA Today in 2004, according to legal analysts in the US, ‘the CSI effect points to how the massive popularity of CSI and comparable generic programmes such as Law & Order is “affecting action in courthouses across the United States by …raising jurors’ expectations of what prosecutors should produce at trial…Jurors who are regular viewers expect testable evidence to be present at all crime scenes”, thus making it harder to secure convictions in the very many cases where such evidence doesn’t exist. (Body Matters, from Reading CSI)

How can this be used in an audience response question?


24

From The Guardian, by David Stubbs, 2010 CSI has gripping whodunnit plotlines, innovative CGI and an adventurous soundtrack . . . what's not to enjoy?

This week the three CSI (Crime Scene

Investigation) series will be linked in a trilogy of episodes. CSI: Las Vegas's Laurence Fishburne stars as Dr Raymond Langston, who travels to Miami and New York to hook up with the stars of the two spin-‐offs. So CSI New York's Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and Miami's Lieutenant Horatio Caine (David Caruso) will be on hand to help solve a series of interlinked crimes.

It will be a unique chance for CSI novices to see the juxtaposition of the three CSI leads. There's

the professorial Langston, Taylor, whose fierce devotion to duty is fuelled by the loss of his wife in 9/11, and Caine, whose habit of hitching his sunglasses and delivering deadpan one-‐liners has attracted devotion and derision in equal measure.

The secret to watching CSI is to take it for what it is and enjoy. Hill Street Blues it ain't. The main

characters have intriguing, turbulent back stories and occasional departmental romances blossom between the photogenic investigators, but it's the whodunnit plotlines that grip the attention. These are routinely outlandish – a Hollywood star murdered while partying with groupies, a mystery involving the mass suicide of a UFO cult, a half-‐ naked woman found buried in the desert with her hair and right hand missing. The Wire it ain't either. There's no more attempt to depict the sociology of crime than in a Cluedo set. And, happily for the newcomer, episodes are mostly self-‐contained, requiring little previous knowledge of character or situation. You can leap straight in. No need to know the minor characters.

What CSI does so well is to combine the old-‐school values of dedicated crimefighting with a new

school of state of the art televisual language, including reconstructions and CGI. Those with a weak stomach be warned, there are grisly scenes on the mortuary slab and graphic anatomical detail, but it's surprising how aesthetically pleasing an internal organ impacted by a bullet can be on screen. CSI is TV eye-‐candy at its finest, occasionally bordering on avant garde (as in the episode of CSI: Las Vegas in which a group of corpses strike up a conversation in a morgue).

Look out for the real-‐life city backdrops used to phantasmic effect – New York is as a Gotham-‐like,

gritty dystopia, Miami a high-‐end, Versace-‐styled beach paradise fatally riven by vice, Vegas a mirage of glamour beneath which moral squalor constantly lurks. As for the interior scenes, you do wonder if they are on a lightbulb economy drive and the initial temptation might be to reach for the brightness control. But don't be fazed – this is key to the atmosphere, if not exactly realistic. Finally, check the admirably adventurous soundtrack. Radiohead, Mogwai, Rammstein and Antony & The Johnsons have all featured, adding a sombre, musically erudite, high gloss to what is, in essence, hi-‐tech Miss Marple.


25

Recreating the brand – the CSI spin-‐offs – New York and Miami Look at the clips from both CSI Miami and CSI New York. Identify similarities and differences with the original CSI. Similarities in MES and visuals Differences

CSI Miami

CSI New York

CSI Las Vegas


26

Marketing of CSI Look at the websites for CSI and its spin offs, both the Channel 5 website in the UK and the official

CBS site. Consider how the sites are interactive. Give examples. What makes the show appealing to the

target audiences (again give examples and explain who you think the target audience is).

BARB viewing figures Using the BARB website, note down the viewing figures for CSI, series 12 on Five. Why is this so

important to Five? Viewing figures for Series 12 – Episode 1: 1.73 seconds Episode 2: Tell-‐Tale Hearts

Series average: Over the course of the series and the 22 episodes, how many are in the Five’s top ten for that

week?


27

Look at the trailers for CSI on Five, what intertextual references are there relating to the lead actor, Ted Danson? http://www.channel5.com/shows/csi-‐crime-‐scene-‐investigation/clips/season-‐12-‐promo-‐csi-‐has-‐a-‐new-‐guy Critical reception to CSI:


28

Spin off merchandise In spring 2008, Gameloft and CBS released "CSI: Crime Scene

Investigation – The Mobile Game" which is based on the original series in Las Vegas, NV. This game introduces the unique ability to receive calls during the game to provide tips and clues about crime scenes and evidence. As for the storyline, the game developers collaborated with Anthony E. Zuiker (the series creator) to ensure that the plot and dialogue were aligned with the show's style.[79]

True Stories of CSI: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Popular TV Show (published 08/09) – Katherine Ramsland follows the evidence and revisits some of the most absorbing episodes of the phenomenally popular C.S.I. television franchise, and explores the real-‐life crimes that inspired them. She also looks into the authenticity of the forensic investigations recreated for the dramatizations, and the painstaking real-‐life forensic process employed in every one of the actual cases—from notorious mass-‐murderer Richard Speck, through the massacre of Buddhist monks in an Arizona Temple, to a baffling case of apparent spontaneous combustion.

In 2003, comic book publisher IDW Publishing began releasing a series of one-‐shots & miniseries based on all 3 CSI series, with the majority being based on the original Vegas-‐based series.

In September 2009, Tokyopop released a manga version of CSI written by Sekou Hamilton and drawn by Steven Cummings. It centres around five teenagers working at the Las Vegas Crime Lab as interns as they try to solve a murder case of a student at their high school, which leads to a shocking discovery. Grissom and Catherine are seen now and then, as well as some of the other CSI characters.


29

Task: Go online and search out as many spin-‐off products and websites you can – how interactive with the audience has CSI become?

csi booklet

Documents