The CSI Classroom
The CSI Classroom by Roxanne McDonald
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Explanations of fascinating forensics make for even more interesting viewing. |
I know, I know. The teach-me, teach-you element of CSI Miami has been panned repeatedly, but it is nonetheless very cool to learn the nuances involved in the many kinds of death by way of great characters and great acting:
Anti-mortem evidence, the body “eating itself”/bacteria breaking down the flesh and guts—inside out—from Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander)…
The body expanding with post-mortem methane gas build-up and needing popping; acid profiles and printing procedures; Eminent Domain hearings—from Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo)…
Adipocere; contraindications of drugs and tox reports; and epithelials and CODIS reports—from Natalia Vista (Eva LaRue Callahan)…
Triptych readings and ballistics angles and DNA—from Calliegh Duquesne (Emily Procter)…
State laws and historical precedents and quirky little government red tape snags– from Eric Delko (Adam Rodriguez)…
And motives and means and maligning of justice—from Horatio Caine (David Caruso)…
Add tough but tender approaches to crime-solving and criminal dealings….
Add unparalleled special effects….
And we have one the best—if not the best—crime show on TV. As one who tends more toward nonfiction, toward the true crime shows like City Confidential and American Justice, it means a lot for me to say this. Well, to me, anyway.
We learn something from every episode—even if here I have misnamed or miscategorized or omitted a lot of examples. Take what you want and leave the rest of the specifics (accurate ones at that) to CSI: Miami and the website that picks up with episode re-caps and a handbook of tools and evidence and procedures where the show begins and where I fall short.
The Art of Crime Continues…on CSI: Miami
The Art of Crime Continues…on CSI: Miami by Roxanne McDonald
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It used to be dialogue, maybe some good lighting technique, and a gripping storyline was enough. But CSI:Miami continues to redefine the TV crime drama genre. |
Tonight (December 4, 2006), though this CSI: Miami episode is a re-run (?), the yellows were poppin, the flowers were evoking recall and extended appreciation, and the poses were suggesting more than just character.
The episode, “Rio”, opens with Horatio on bended knee in deep reflection and remembrance of his beloved Marisol—at the famous site where the Saint stands with outstretched arms. Horatio’s position recalls Rodin’s thinker, and the exaggeratedly massive statue foreshadows the usual mercenary outcome.
On the return after the first (ugh) commercials,
the foreground camera focuses on a banana yellow building, then a crisp shot of a single street in Brazil, then switches to shots of women in equally vibrant summer shades.
Again, too, the greens are mystical, the oranges and browns edible, and the light is heavenly—or suggestive of the beneficence of angels—as it does a halo effect on , on Eric in profile, and on my true love Horatio Caine.
I know I have said all this before (hopefully in a slightly different way), but doesn’t anyone else see an upgrade in the visual characteristics of CSI: Miami, not only as compared to other shows of the same genre, but as compared with the first seasons’ episodes?
Or am I alone in this perception? Hello? [I feel like Pink.] Is there anybody out there?
CSI Miami Still Pulling Viewers from Studio 60
CSI Miami Still Pulling Viewers from Studio 60 by Roxanne McDonald
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TMZ Studio 60 lovers are quite dismayed by CSI:Miami’s higher viewer ratings. |
In a plea for viewers for the new Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, TMZ staffers run a cheeky but impassioned plea to their readers to watch the show that is written by the same guy who did West Wing and boasts the great Matthew Perry, still funny as Matt Albie.
TMZ humorously laments how “a world where CSI: Miami does double the viewership than Studio 60 is not a world worth living in.” But despite the overkill of re-runs showing CSI on A & E, risking the redundancy even watch-to-the- death fans like myself get a little tired of,
CSI:Miami still has the elements of a more than mildly interesting TV show.
CSI: Miami travels the edges of the lines between run-of-the-mill but addictive crime TV and stunning, compelling filmic art: It has the lighting, the shadowing, the special effects. It has the drama and dialogue that work together to deliver more than, say, a merely plot-driven, fairly unidimensional show like Columbo or The Mod Squad. And it features actors who somehow transcend their roles as typical cops and lawyers and bad guys. There’s some thinking involved. There are tough but tender moments in every episode.
The only thing missing (not that the producers/writers didn’t intend to leave it out anyway) is the humor. We leave that to Boston Legal. Oops. Sorry, TMZ. We leave that to Matthew Perry and Studio 60. If the viewer numbers are still low, either people have not found enough redeemable elements, haven’t caught on as you all have,…or they haven’t yet figured out how to work their TiVos.
CSI: Miami More Color Intensive
CSI: Miami More Color Intensive by Roxanne McDonald
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With the “Curse of the Coffin” episode, CSI: Miami is even more visually intense –and therefore even better (if that’s possible). |
In the most recent episode of CSI: Miami, “Curse of the Coffin,” which aired on October 23rd, the colors are more vibrant, the lines are sharper, and the imagery even more outstanding.
The opening scenes have always been dynamic, with high energy, fast and loud action and sound effects, and scenic views, But this new episode showed more decadent rays of light and/or muted yellow hues in the buildings and sharper, almost surreal blues in the waters and at the shorelines.
In one cemetery scene, the place is flooded with light,
bringing out a vibrancy of the green of the lawns which is taken to the edge of an almost nuclear yellow-green.
The haunting greens extend to the interrogation rooms, where fuzzy backgrounds meet sharp, to meld and create an eery yellow-green-cast environment of a futuristic sort.
The CSI labs have yellow backgrounds and angles, juxtaposed with almost neon blue/white/violet overhead lights and rays emanating from the pc stations.
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