The opening sequence begins with a
high angle long shot of the city of Las Vegas during the night, which implies
that anyone in the city could possibly be the next victim. The dark mise-en-scene
is significant as it suggests that something bad is about to happen and engenders
a sense of danger.
This is followed by a high angle
crane shot of an apartment building during the night, giving the impression
that someone in the building is the next victim. The shot also shows that the
doors to the building are wide open which implies that the security to the
building has been invaded and someone has recently entered. The diegetic sound
of thunder and lightning has connotations of danger as do the shadows of the
trees which surround the building, making the building look trapped.
The camera cranes down to a lower
angle so that it is positioned to look up to the building, making it look threatening.
If the audience look carefully, you can see someone, possibly the murderer,
going up the stairs. The low camera angle suggests that the intruder is
something to be afraid of. So far, the sound used in the opening sequence
consists of discordant, atonal and mellow strings which indicate impending
danger.
The next shot is inside the
victim’s apartment: the camera slowly tracks down the narrow corridor as if the
audience are watching it from the murderer’s point of view. The narrow corridor
proposes the idea of the victim being trapped in a confined space with no
escape and the darkness suggests that anyone could be hiding.
When the camera tracks into the
room, the audience first see the young woman framed in between the door frame
which insinuates she is in a small space and that she is trapped. When she sits
up at the sound of a creaking floorboard, it seems
as if she is looking at us/the murderer because the camera is still positioned to
give point of view of the murderer.
When the lightning flash
illuminates the room, the colour red is prevalent on the bed sheets and curtains.
The colour red has connotations of death, blood, danger and violence which is
significant as it links to the episode’s theme of murder.
There is a cut to a medium close up
of the woman to emphasise her fear; she is represented as a stereotypical
female victim: young, vulnerably dressed, good looking and wearing a limited
amount of clothing. Next, the camera then cuts to the woman’s point of view, so
the audience sees what she sees. From her point of view, the woman sees nothing
wrong because no one is there; however the audience suspect something is
hiding. They know this as the soundtrack plays, low stringed and atonal music
to insinuate that something bad is about to happen.
This is followed by a cut to a
medium close up of the woman on her side, which fills a majority of the frame
and excludes the room. This prevents the audience from seeing what is in her surroundings
and builds up suspense. She hears the sound of a creaking floorboard and there
is another cut as she quickly rises up from her pillow; we see her POV again.
The audience see nothing but darkness, however lightning flashes and we see the
murderer’s silhouette but the audience cannot see his face – they will need to
watch the rest of the episode to discover who he is so it keeps the audience in
suspense.
There is a cut to a high close shot
of the woman screaming in fear. The speed of the editing in this part of the
sequence is quick to give a sense of urgency. The next cut then shows a medium
close up of the murderer but again, not his face, and he is flexing some cable.
The audience suspects that he is going to strangle her. As well as this, we see
that he is wearing a black hoodie which has connotations of bad behaviour and a
sinister personality.
A quick cut shows a close up of an
iron being yanked vigorously which implies he is going to be extremely violent with
he, followed by a cut to a high close shot of the woman as she screams while
the camera
slowly tracks in. This is in the
point of view of the murderer. It implies that he is slowly approaching her and
shows that she is moving back and lowering herself to get away from him,
emphasising her fear and to make her seem vulnerable. The non-diegetic
crescendo accentuates her scream and increases tension.
As she is about to be murdered, the
screen fades to black because the crime it is too gruesome to show on
television and it is also used to keep suspense the suspense and to not reveal
the killers identity.
Every episode of CSI sets up an
enigma code at the start to build suspense for the audience – this plays with
audience expectation as it can anticipate what happens in the rest of the
episode. The director uses a number of techniques to attract the audience. An
example of this is the dark mise-en-scene that is set up to create a sense of eeriness
as well as the fact that the victim is represented as an isolated, defenceless, helpless, attractive and
vulnerable young woman, a typical convention that CSI uses in their episodes to
depict the victim. In addition, the director uses a number of cinematography to
build tension for the viewers: a high angle shot that looks down on the woman
creates the impression that she is vulnerable and weak, making the audience feel
sympathy towards her and worry about what will happen to her.
