How does the
opening sequence of CSI: Strip Strangler attract the interest of the audience?
In this
episode, Strip Strangler, police detectives are trying to track down and arrest
a murderer in Las Vegas. This person is a signature killer and strangles and
strips his victims. He stalks his victims and after finally picking one out he
sexually assaults and kills them. The detectives track him all over the city and
must stop him before he does it again.
The opening
sequence of every episode follows the connection of setting up an enigma code
for the audience. In the first two or three minutes a body is discovered or
crime has been committed and this is the case in every episode, every week
before the title sequence. This makes an audience member who has seen more than
one show anticipate what is going to happen at the beginning and the director
can play on the audience’s expectations.
The opening
shot of the CSI episode, Strip Strangler, is a high long shot of the Las Vegas
at night time. The Long shot implies how
vast and populated the city is and that any one of the people below could be the
victim. There are rumbles of thunder and darkness, so this mise-en-scène has
implications that something bad will happen or a sense of doom. All episodes
start like this creating an enigma code and make the audience want to solve the
crime themselves.
The second
shot is of an apartment building and is a high crane shot. This angle implies
that it looks weak and that someone inside is going to become the victim. The
thunder and lightning is a diegetic sound and this has connotations of danger
and that something bad is going to happen. The apartment also has an open door
and this indicates that it is not secure. The camera then cranes down and
angles up to a low angle shot. This suggests that there is something to be
afraid of and the audience should be afraid to. If you look closely at the
stairs there is a dark figure walking up them, which makes the audience wonder
whether this person may be the intruder and that their security has been
invaded.
The non-diegetic
sound in this sequence is discordant to create an eerie, threatening feeling.
The
mise-en-scène used is a long, dark narrow corridor. This suggests that the
victim is trapped and that darkness implies danger and something is lurking in
the depths. The next shot is of the killer’s POV and that the killer and
audience are looking at the victim. The camera then tracks into the woman’s
room. She is framed between the door frame and this indicates that she is
trapped with no way out; the only way to leave her room would to go past the
murderer. Moments later the sound of the creaking floorboard makes the woman
sit up suddenly. She looks directly at the audience as they have the POV of the
killer, but she sees nothing wrong. The lightning outside illuminates her room
and the colour red from her lamp shade becomes prevalent and it has connotation
of blood, violence and danger. This suggests to the audience that something is
going to happen to the woman.
The next
shot is a medium close up of the woman is panic. She is represented as a
typical young attractive female victim and is wearing very little apart from her
nightclothes, suggesting that she is very vulnerable. A cut shows the woman’s
POV and shows that she is no longer looking at the audience. She looks directly
at the closet where a red lamp is hanging. For her everything seems ok and
normal but since the shot of the closet this tells the audience that something
could be there. The music builds up and is low and deep. This implies that
something is lurking in the darkness; the audience however are expecting
something to happen but she goes back to bed assuming all is okay.
The next
shot of the woman is a medium close up. Her body fills almost the entire frame
and the audience cannot see what is behind her. This means that anything could
be behind the woman causing suspense for the viewer. Next the sound of the
creaking floorboard makes the woman quickly lift up from her pillow. The next
shot is of her POV and she looks into the room’s darkness. She sees nothing
then the lightning flash illuminates her room and she sees the silhouette of a
man in dark clothing with his hood up. This type of figure is normally
associated with bad behaviour. The audience never see the killers face as this
creates suspense for the rest of the programme and causes the viewers to keep
on watching.
Then there
is a cut to a high close shot of the victim screaming in fear. The editing at
this point has more pace; this creates a sense of excitement and action as the
shots are much shorter and quicker. In the next shot we see a medium close up
shot of the dark figure of the killer.
The audience are still unable to see his face as he vigorously pulls
some cable from an iron. This indicates that the killer is going to strangle
his victim. The final cut of this scene is a high close shot of the woman. The
shot is the POV of the killer and is slowly moves closer the victim allowing us
to see the feat in her face. As she screams in fear she also moves slowly back
into her bed. She lies down and backs away into a corner, this makes her at a
disadvantage and the high camera shot makes her look vulnerable.
Over the
last few shots of the woman there has been a non-diegetic crescendo building
up. In the last shot before the title sequence it peaks to emphasise her scream
and show the audience what fear she is going through. Overall in this first
sequence she is portrayed as a typical, vulnerable, frightened, young female.
This is normally the case in most of the shows as they are seen as weaker and
easier victims for the killer.
In this
episode, the director uses a range of different techniques to attract the
audience. He has used a variety of camera angles to show if the killer, victim
or building is weak or powerful. For example they used a high angle shot on the
victim to show that she was vulnerable. He also uses tropes from the horror genre.
For example the victim is a typical, vulnerable, young woman. This sets up an enigma code for the audience
and tells them that something bad is going to happen and an audience member who
has seen multiple episodes will anticipate what will happen. The director also
uses a range of non-diegetic sounds such as a crescendo.
There is a
fade to black before the detectives come and examine the crime scene, this
keeps the audience in suspense and the crime which is being carried out is too gruesome
to be shown on television.
