Ethan Marata
How does the opening sequence of CSI:
STRIP STRANGLER attract the audience?
The episode
is about Grissom investigating a murderer who sexually assaults and strangles
victims until death. The investigation is harder because the murderer has a new
victim every time. The beginning of each CSI episode is similar. It is a
convention of the show for there to be a murder or a body to be found therefore
the audience expect it to happen. They use conventions of thriller/horror to
manipulate the audience anticipation. The opening scene always sets up an
enigma
The first
shot is of a high long shot of Las Vegas in the night. This implies that
something bad is going to happen since the dark has connotations of isolation
and danger. The white fade at the beginning ties in with the mise-en-scène of
thunder and lightning. The next shot is a crane shot of a building called
‘Saturn Arms’. It implies that people in that building are vulnerable and the
audience now expect something happening in that building. The lighting makes
the building seem safe but as the angle of the camera tilts and we see the
building from a lower angle, it looks darker which is more sinister and evil
than the last shot. This attracts the audience because it makes them believe
that someone has got into the building even though we later find out that the
killer goes through the window.
The next
shot is in a narrow, confined corridor in the dark. These both suggest that
someone is trapped in the room. This shot attracts the audience because it
tracks through the hall as if you were the killer and gives the audience a
higher expectation of someone getting murdered. The camera eventually tracks
into a view of the room. The angle of the shot blocks out half of the view
which again suggests that she is trapped. This now implies that she is the
victim. There is an eerie atonal sound that reaches a crescendo as the camera
enters the room but it dies down when she looks up, as if to set the audience
to anticipate that something bad is happening.
The sound
dies down when she looks up to the creak of the floorboard and the camera angle
suggests that the audience is the killer and the woman is looking at the
camera. As lightning flashes and a diegetic clap of thunder crashes in the room,
the colour red is shown around. It has connotations of blood and violence which
keeps the audience attracted as they expect the violence. There is a cut to a
medium close up of the girl which shows that she is vulnerable and scared. It’s
dark which implies that she can’t see very well. The jump cut unnerves the
audience and gives them a sense of relief, however the audience still wonder
where the killer is or if he has left.
The victims
in these types of shows are usually young, stereotypical women, underdressed so
that they have a sex appeal because they seem weaker than men with a big
physique. There is a cut to her point of view which shows the wardrobe. The
colour seen is generally red which again has connotations of violence and
danger. It’s dark and there can be many places the killer can hide so the
audience can anticipate that the killer is going to be shown very soon. Since
the woman sees nothing, she lies back down and the medium close-up shot covers
the whole frame so that the audience can’t see anything. A non-diegetic low
double bass sound encourages the audience to believe that that there is still a
threat and they expect the killer to be shown even though the woman believes
nothing is there. There is a medium close up cut again to block away the view.
As the
floorboard creaks, there is a cut where she quickly lifts up from the pillow
and her point of view is shown again. This time we see the killer as the
lightning flashes. It only shows the killer’s silhouette and his sound motif is
now the clap of thunder because it’s audible and comes on every time he is
around. The woman screams in fear and the fear on her face is shown with a high
angle close shot. The cuts are getting faster and faster, this increases
excitement because the audience are now tense and they now know that the woman
is going to be murdered.
The next
shot is a brighter shot of the killer without showing his face in too much
detail so his identity isn’t given away early on in the episode. He grabs the
iron off the board and now the audience anticipate him using it to kill her.
The camera tracks on her screaming because it represents the killer pouncing on
her as she tries to pull away and escape. There is a cut to an iron getting
pulled off the ironing board. This set of cuts attracts the audience by the
fast pace and it doesn’t reveal too much. A non-diegetic crescendo builds up to
her final scream and the thunder and lightning reaches the climax. The audience
now anticipate her death. There is a fade of black to show that time has passed
and Grissom then comes in to investigate the enigma. The killer hasn’t been
shown because the audience expect Grissom to find out the killer’s identity
later on in the show.
The makers of
CSI attract the audience and play with their expectations in various ways with
several techniques such as fast cuts and atmospheric, non-diegetic sound. The
audience always anticipate something bad happening because most CSI episodes
start in a similar way- setting up an enigma with conventions of thriller and
horror like darkness and isolation.
