Independant Weekly Review: Week Five

Dexter- Season 1 Episode 1
Dexter is an eponymous crime drama meaning it is named after the main character- Dexter himself. Unlike many crime dramas, Dexter is a criminal himself and in this particular episode kills two criminals. He has a stash in his room with various different slides with blood on which he adds to as the episode continues- this conveys that he is a killer and keeps all the DNA in this folder. Dexter is an american crime drama and is very glossy and glamorous similarly to CSI:Miami as they are both set in the same place.

Storyline: This episode follows the narrative of a serial killer that cuts up body parts but drains the blood from them. As Dexter specialises in investigating blood, his role is limited with this crime so he feels useless. Along the way, Dexter kills two criminals by covering them with cling film and slicing them- which links to how the suspect of the main crime killed his victims; this allows us to question whether it is Dexter? Dexter's sister works for the police team and gets explanations from Dexter and presents them to the team- eg the criminal would have a stolen refrigerated lorry for the bodies to go in. Dexter follows this up and discovers a lorry that he follows to soon see a frozen human head fall out of the back. This is unsolved. Also, there are many different stories surrounding Dexter that I imagine would continue and develop throughout the episodes, in a way making it a serial and series show. For example, his relationships; they are completely irrelevant to the crimes but give us more of an insight to Dexter's crhacater. Character Types: Due to Dexter being a crime scene investigator, he knows all the 'tricks of the trade' and knows how to cover himself up to avoid conviction, this is what allows him to be the good criminal he is. As he works for the police but is a criminal himself, it causes him to be a very devious, sly character that the audience loves to hate.

Iconography: As in all crime dramas there are typical set pieces that constantly appear and make a crime drama what it is, Dexter follows this with the use of:

• Crime scene
• Laboratory
• Interviews
• Back story
• Flashback (to childhood giving reasons to everything)

Narrative

Give examples of opening teasers in the shows youve seen
In the TV industry of today, the opening teasers of the shows are possibly the most important part even if it is just 5 minutes long, due to the fact television today is 'multi-channel' and 'multi-platform'. Multi-platform describes the various different ways people of today can watch television: on phones, catch up, on the internet, on an ipod, on a family television, on a television you have in your room. Poeple are now becoming lazy meaning that they can easily switch off any programme being watched at that time, therefore meaning, the programme must keep the audience hooked! I think the majority of people can say that they have been watching a programme but then turned it over either in an ad break or because they 'got bored' and never went back to it. This is what can happen with crime dramas very easily, hense why it is essential every moment is as gripping as the next. A good example of an opening teaser is in Luther, series 1 episode 2. The very first thing you see is a man laying on the floor and he appears to be dead, two police officers then call for assisstance, as they did so, the 'dead' man got up off of the floor and shot the two police officers. This adds an instant enigma for the audience and pulls them into the programme. Another example of a good

What examples of enigmas have you seen?


How would you describe the quests of the key protagonists of crime drama?

How have shows youve seen used either open or closed narratives?

Setting

How is the setting significant to crime dramas that you have seen?
The setting of a certain crime drama can be very significant and can give you an overall understanding of the crime drama.
        For example: White Chapel. 'White Chapel' is set in White Chapel in the east end of London which is where Jack the Ripper and other well known crimes took place- this instantly adds an element of tension and fear to the drama as it has a historical background. The programme itself is based upon and reflects previous history crimes which the setting links in well to.
        Similarly, the setting of Luther is what, in my opinion, creates the show itself. It is set in the rural part of London so there are various estates and overall looks stereotypically rough and a dodgy area. This allows the programme to experiment more with having different crimes such as murder and robbery etc. In the background, extra details such as graffiti and 'hooded youths' all add to the effect representation of the area- it also creates extra suspicion.
       Sherlock is also filmed in London as Luther is, however it is a completely different area. Sherlock is set around the areas of Baker Street, Westminster etc which are all well known areas of London.  These are all very posh and superior adding to the overall image of the programme. Furthermore, it includes all of the backstreets of London which give it a very edgy, raw style of programme making Sherlock what it is.
      Moving away from London, CSI:Miami is set in, obviously, Miami. It is all very glamorous and glossy which is what is associated with Miami; Florida- a place where families tend to go on holiday, a very happy place and plenty of sunshine 'The Sunshine State'. This is a well known idiom for Miami therefore, it creates an instant contrast because of the crimes being committed there. You wouldn't expect crimes to happen there. It also adds a challenge when trying to solve the crime and find the criminal because everyone looks the same, higher class and superior so typically wouldnt commit these crimes.

Independant Weekly Review: Week Four

Trial and Retribution
'Suspicion- Part one'
There isnt a recent series of Trial and Retribution and this particular episode was orginially aired on the 1st September 2003, however was still as gripping and exciting as modern crime dramas. This was the first part of two so next week, part two will be replayed which will hopefully unvail the answer to the murder.
As it was a 2hour long episode it did get quite boring at times and I think it wouldve worked much better spread out over 4 episodes, each being 1 hour each rather than two 2hour episodes. However, it kept my intrigued so it worked.
The way Trial and Retibution piece together the episodes is very clever and bit by bit you rethink back to something that happened earlier and it suddenly hits you. For example, DCI Roisin Connor was going down the river on a boat, she spots a young girl stood on top of the bridge holding a teddy, 2 seconds later she sees the same girl stood further away, she turns around and the girl on the bridge had gone  yet it would be impossible for her to get to the other place in that short amount of time. This confuses the audience alot yet nothing it thought of it. Later on in the programme, the detectives are at Diane's house and her one child stands at the top of the stairs holding a teddy, then her twin joins her. They were stood exactly as they were at the river- at this moment is when we realise it was then despite the fact you see the twins throughout the episode before hand.

Storyline:
Chief Superintendant Walker and his team is investigating the disappearance of Diane Harwood, mother of two, who had vanished after being seen having an argument with her husband Greg. Diane was clearly a well known and liked woman as throughout the episode there are many people that are concered- some turn into suspects. Diane's husband states that they always argue, and she would return once she'd calmed down which was not the case. Whilst DCI Roisin Connor's team was searching the river, one detective cames across a hand which is a vital piece of evidence. The scientist discovers that the hand belongs to a young woman due to the good skin, little wrinkles, and acrylic nails also, with the red marks that covered the hand they discover it had been frozen which is what helps the team get a motive. They also find several legs of lamb in the river which at first doesn't appeal to them but then come to the conclusion that they could have a link.
DCI Roisin Connor finds herself temporarily working at Walkers station which is when the audience finds out about a back story to the episode- Roisin and Walker used to be in a relationship and now strongly dislike eachother which leads her to be reluctant in accepting there is a link between the two cases. After several eye witnesses, neither team could track her down which is when it becomes apparent that she may be dead and they could be dealing with a murder case. As the forensic evidence builds, it becomes clear that the, what now is a murder, had taken place at their household. The forensic scientists visit the house and add a special spray that goes green if there are traces of blood; one room of the house was then covered in green and a trail leading downstairs to the deep freeze where clearly, the body had been kept, frozen, chopped up and chucked into the river outside their house. The episode then ended after Greg, the opere and the two children had fled from the scene to cover up and escape conviction.

Character Types: Quite often in crime dramas, a family member could be a suspect which is what happens in Trial and Retribution, the husband. Also the oper, she is obviously very close with the family and gives out signals that she knows something but doesnt want too say. She is a very enclosed woman but is sly and devious at heart.
Detective inspector Walker, is a stereotypical detective as he spots every little thing and then brings it up eg- he spots a cigarette in the car at a glance before entering the garage with the oper, the oper leaves, he looks again and its gone where as the other police officer with him didnt notice that. He is very manipulative and sticks to his word if he believes it is right. Despite the fact he stays on side with the law, he also uses his strength to get what he wants- an answer, and has to be told to stop, usually by DCI Roisin Connor which just conveys the passion he has for his job and to get solved case.
Within both teams, there are characters that bounce off of eachother adding humour to the programme which lightens the tension and fear to put the audience at ease.
Iconography:
This episode followed many set pieces of crime dramas such as:
-Questionning
-Eviidence
-The laboratory
-Informing the next of kin
-Press conference
-Investigating a house
-Multiple suspects

Set Pieces

1- What typically happens in the scene?
2- What part does it play in the narrative?
3- What iconography is used?
4- What audience pleasures arise from the scene?
5- What languge may be used- vocab!





Last Stand- CSI Miami

                 

The laboratory analysis Within this scene, you tend to see the investigators looking into evidence such as finger prints or a solid piece of evidence. UV lights and equipment is used and transmitted into a computer which could then find out who the finger prints or evidence belongs to. The evidence could lead to a possible suspect they already had, or someone completely different. It plays a very important part in the narrative as it is the particular moment that could lead to a potential motive or clue; the scene connects one section to the next. The iconography involved are micro-scopes, dna, evidence, finger prints, investigator, laboratory etc which all add up to create this scene. Depending of the type of person that is watching the episode changes the pleasures that arise from the scene. Some audiences may enjoy following the episode and trying to create conclusions themselves, the laboratory analysis scene would allow them to do this. The language used would be very technical but also understandable for the audience, they would use the scientific words used to by actual investigators to make the scene much more believable and realistic.

• Interigation scene- two way mirror, empty room with a table and chair, glass of water, tape recorder

• The 'eureka' moment
• Initial crime scene investigation- police tape
• The arrest/confession
• Crime flashback
• A chase/dash
• Notification of the next of kin- brings in empathy and sympathise
• Autopsy
• Press conference- appeal to the public for help

Independant Weekly Review- Week three

White Chapel series three
27th February 2012
White Chapel series three is a crime drama that has been split between two parts per case study, one showing each week. This allows the audience to become more intrigued to watch it the next week and further series.
Last episode, again, was an unsolved crime. Useing cliff hangers and having the crime as unsolved would keep the audience hooked throughout the WHOLE series as it leaves questions in your mind as to whether it would ever get solved throughout. Also, as one episode ends and another begins you never know whether it would be the same case study or something different.


Storyline: At the beggining of the episode we see two girls, an older teenager baby sitting a young girl, the young girl seems to be scared to go to bed because of the 'bogeyman'- a myth that her parents had told her. We as the audience see more than the characters did as we can see a man appearing and disappearing. This man then kills the baby sitter with the young girl watching; the police arrive at the scene and the investigation begins. Similarly to the other episodes, they refer to past crimes that have happened and find a case about someone dressed as the 'bogey man'. Just before the second break of the episode we see another crime take place, the same man that holds an innocent woman walking to her car however does not kill her. She then wakes up and the police go back to the scene, she gives the sam description as the young girl- the police are baffled.
They believe that it could be related to a escapist from a physciatric hospital, Mantus, so two officers search his house. During their visit, weird things happen which could be trigured by the paranormal.
At the end of the episode, we were left on huge cliff hanger. There was someone dressed in the description of the murderer- he was stood in the middle of the street looking very uncomfortable as he was surrounded by armed police officers trying to get him to drop the gun.
DI Chandler knows about the suspect and knows that he doesn't deal with noise well which is why he was in the mental hospital, he believed he could talk round the suspect so went beyond the barrier and tried talking to him. A shot was then shot and the armed police officers thought it was the suspect when in fact it was someone else stood on the roof. The armed police officers instantly reacted and shot him, DI Chandler then discovered it was a young, innocent teenager that had been dressed in the same outfit- his mouth had been sewn up and the gun was attatched with a wire to his hand which is why he could not drop the gun. We then see a final shot of the real suspect on the roof and the armed police officers running in his direction. This was an extremely tense moment and instantly I knew that I would have to watch the following episode.

Before the police recieved the call, they were about to have a party with alcohol, food, music etc. This conveys the normality of a police station but everything got put on hold to solve the crime- emphasising the police officers vocation.


Character Types: One of the victims wasn't the stereotypical of a victim- she was a police officer that was very strong mentally and physically. Rather than being upset and confused, she was angry that she didn't fight back. She was a very cerebrial and thought very carefully- she let herself drop to the floor and 'act dead' to trick him. This illustrates the suspect as being quite stupid and didn't really know what he was doing. However, some police officers then become suspiscious of this character as she would have had to hold her breath for an extremely long time which isnt possible.As with all the other episodes, all of the policing team have a very good relationship together which allows them all to work well together to solve the crimes.


Iconography:

• Evidence (Sightings, Piece of ribbon, phone, previous crime cases)
• Flashbacks
• Restrictive narrative
• Settings
• Crime scenes (Blood, tape)
• Police cars

In this particular crime drama, it is very gripping, gritty and tense. In order to do this, music is used. The music ties in well with the action that is happening at the time, and without this background music, it would not have the same affect on the audience

Character Types (Faye and I)