CSI essay

Ok wrote this near start of year 10, one of my favourite essays for english I must say, I'd never really watched CSI before then but then I did get into it for a while after we had to watch these 2 episodes to analyse for cw, I know its little league analysis compared to what i've learnt since then, but still this is what I COULD do then, now im better, let me into Gloucestershire and I will prove to you that even where I am now is just the begining

English  coursework: Compare the openings of two episodes of CSI New York.

CSI is possibly one of the most influential programs on television today. The franchise has 30-40 million viewers and introduced the so called "CSI shot" (in which the camera is zoomed in on something and the actors talk over the top). In this essay I will examine and compare the opening scenes of two episodes from the latest program in the franchise, CSI New York. The episodes I will compare are "Grand Murder at Central Station" and "City of the Dolls", both from the second season.

I will begin by examining the episode "Grand Murder at Central Station" as it was the first of the two episodes to be aired. In this episode there are many establishing shots of New York. These represent the city as being very busy and set a very fast paced scene. The ticking music creates suspense as it seems to be counting down to something dramatic happening.

When the scene moves inside Grand Central Station, there are many shots of feet and music starts rising so as to add to the busy atmosphere, as does mise-en scène. A further example would be the business-like suits as if to show people are busy and trying to get to work. However, the character of the little girl in this scene is in contrast with everyone else, as she is wearing bright pink, so she grabs the audience's attention. Also, the constant shots of her and her teddy bear make viewers expect something to happen to her, or for her to be of some significance later on, particularly when the camera zooms out from her at a high angle when she is separated from her mother, as if to add emphasis to the separation. When the audience hear someone scream, it surprises them and also adds to suspense as to what has happened as they at first do not see where the scream is coming from, and if anything will happen to the girl and may make audiences scared for her.

The slow motion on the alkali filled cup when it is falling shows that it is significant to the plot of the episode as it is in contrast with the rest of the scene as there are no other slow motion shots in the scene. The emphasis on the bear throughout the scene shows that it too is important. Also the enhanced sounds of the fizzing places even more emphasis on the fact that something bad has happened and it is a sound that is associated with science reactions as CSI is a scientific program.

Another point I will pick up on is how inside the ambulance the camera angles keep swapping as if from each characters point of view. The constant shots of the heart rate machine add to the viewers’ sense of suspense.  When the victim says he saw who attacked him the machine stops and the victim dies, then there is even more suspense as to who did it and what their motive was. This makes viewers want to watch the rest of the episode to find out. Then back inside Grand Central Station at the end of the scene the main detective character makes a significant comment as the music rises and is at its loudest when he says "no witnesses". The question may be raised in viewers’ minds of how it is possible for there to have been no witnesses and if someone actually did see something, and if the case is actually possible to solve, again raising suspense for the rest of the episode.

In the episode "City of the Dolls" New York is not represented as very busy. The flashes of white that go with the music make you pay attention to the “invincible" music. The music is upbeat, but still raises suspense. It does this as people who have seen CSI before or know how the episodes play out, know that the characters or one of them will go from being "invincible" to dead or finding someone dead. As audiences don't know which, they want to keep watching to find out.

The scene is very fast paced, the camera angles keep swapping, an interesting angle is when the camera moves with the snowball and hits against a car window. When the youths run away the camera tracks one of them and as soon as he backs into a shop the music stops so the audience know that something bad is either just about to happen to the character or he will find a body. Then there is tense and scary music playing which sets a tense, creepy atmosphere as does the close-ups and medium shots on the dolls which look scary. When the character sees the corpse the audience hears a scream before seeing the body, which raises suspense of what the audience will see.

Then the scene skips to sometime after the discovery, the camera pans to the right while tracking the detectives, from behind shelves filled with dolls to show that they are still in the shop so this also doubles as an establishing shot, so audiences are aware of the setting. There are several so called "CSI shots" in this scene, for example the fast zoomed in close-ups on the victims hand and on the blood stains with the actors talking over the top, which adds emphasis to the blood and the fact that a crime has taken place. Also in this scene there is a flashback, it has a yellow tone which creates tension as yellow is a very harsh color.

Similarly to the first episode the main detective makes a significant comment. "Something about this little doll was worth dying for" Which like in "Grand Murder at Central Station" raises suspense for the rest of the episode and makes the audience want to watch the episode in its entirety.

Now that I have examined both of the episodes opening scenes I will compare them by first detailing similarities between the episodes then the differences. An obvious similarity is the establishing shots. Although of different things, both episodes show that it is set in New York so is CSI: NY rather than CSI (Set in Las Vegas) or CSI: Miami. 

Both episodes have moments in which the camera moves very quickly, in the first when the man gets burned and the camera swapping in the ambulance, in the second the throwing of the snowballs.

In both episodes the music adds to suspense but in different ways; one with "ticking" music in keeping with the theme, as it sounds like it is counting down to something dramatic. While the other with "invincible" music in complete contrast with the theme as it is upbeat and happy. Another similarity between the episodes and similar to all or most  episodes of all three programs in the CSI franchise  is lack of motive and lack of suspects  in opening scenes, which suggests that the crime is impossible to solve. This adds to suspense and makes viewers watch the rest of the episode. The final similarity is that the main detective makes a significant comment before the opening credits, again to hook the audience.

The first difference is that in "Grand Murder at Central Station" it is morning and there are slow fades but in "City of the Dolls" it is night time and there are fast flashes of white, it is also faster paced than "Grand Murder at Central Station" where there is more build up. The music is obviously very different. One raises suspense as it appears to be counting down to something, the other  because of the contrast with the theme, this difference leads me to another, the fact that the beginning of "City of the Dolls"  is more light-hearted than the other episode.

In "Grand Murder at Central Station" we see the character of the victim die making the audience feel sympathy for the victim, where as in "City of the Dolls" we just see a character finding the victim which makes the audience wonder why he died and how where as in the other episode the audience knows how the victim died but still didn’t know why.

The camera angles in "Grand Murder at Central Station" are more directly focused on the main characters than in the other episode, as in the other episode audiences see the main detectives from behind the shelves for part of the scene. "City of the Dolls" has not got as wide a range of speeds as the other episode as it has no slow motion shots like the slow motion shot on the cup in the other episode, but "City of the Dolls" uses different colour tones for example, the yellow tone on the flashback, where as the other episode doesn't use different tones. The final difference I will note is that there are no "CSI shots" in "Grand Murder at Central Station" and yet in most episodes of CSI there are "CSI shots".

Overall both of the episodes use a variety of different camera techniques and dramatic devices to keep audiences interested and make viewers want to watch the rest of the episode. I personally believe they both succeed in doing so however, I prefer the beginning of the episode "City of the Dolls" as I like the contrast from the start of the scene to when the corpse is found, as well as the use of the "CSI shots" and  the flashback. From analyzing and comparing the two opening sequences, I can see how 30-40 million people watch at least one of the programs in the franchise.