Criminal Justice Series 1

I watched the whole of series 1 of Criminal Justice which consisted of the storlyine of a woman named Juliet and her children. Juliet is sexually abused and mentally/emotionally bullied by her husband and tricked into thinking she had gone mad when she hadn't, and one day she decides to take action. She murders her husband and this case is soon taken to court. Her future is soon laid in the court case's hands and we see Juliet struggling in her journey to plead innocent in the case, persisting she committed this muder out of self-defence.

Anti-hero/crooked-cop - Harry Box (?) was the anti-hero in this Series as he has so many dislikeable qualities about him yet we still like him; he is cold, arrogant and blunt, and worst of all he is a crooked-cop and is very biased, therefore only caring about making sure all suspects always look guilty; and this includes Juliet.

Heroine cop - Alison Slaughter (?) is the heroine cop in this programme because she sticks up for Juliet and stays on her side the whole time which gees the audience on to support her as we all are on Juliet's side too.

Crime scenes - There are many crime scenes in this Series such as the Press, who swarm around Juliet and her case when they find out, plus the Police Tape that discovers Juliet roaming down the streets late at night putting a condom in the bin which supported the fact that her husband sexually abused her, and more.

Multiple Suspects - It's unusual because throughout this Series there is no use of the Multiple Suspect convention as Juliet is always the only suspect. This is mainly down to the fact that the leading cop, Harry, is a crooked cop.

Professionals –In this Series are there: Police in most scenes, Investigators, Detectives, Medics for the scene where Juliet's husband is discovered and when she gives birth, going along with Lawyers, the Press in the scene where all of Juliet's crime is revealed to the public, and Judges.

Evidence – Throughout the Series there are many pieces of evidence Investigators and Detectives use to suss out that Juliet is the main suspect but that she was also a victim, such as: the DNA, witnesses, Fingerprints, Alibis, Personal Effects, CCTV / Images, Scars, and more.

Drama - Character development is used throughout the start of the series to develop Juliet's character and let us reveal qualities and characteristics about her that would make us grow on her as time goes and support her throughout the court case. These qualities she holds are shown within scenes for example where her husband bullies her and we see her at a weak, vulnerable stage, but also at other stages for example throughout the court case where she is forced to stay in prison without her new-born baby and she fights to make sure her baby stays with her; - in scenes like these we see her stronger side come out.

Restrictive narrative - Restrictive narrative was not used in this Series as we always knew more than the investigator and therefore this built up more suspensin throughout the series and made us biased on Juliet's side constantly and also made us slightly frustrated as we urged for the Police and Detectives to know what really went on behind closed doors and that Juliet didn't deserve the life sentence she was given in the end.

Also a lot of Press Conferences were used quite often and so the crime was very public  and many flashbacks were used in the series throughout Juliet's thoughts.

Above Supsicion: Silent Scream

Anna Travis

- Pale, fragile red-headed woman

- Slim

- Sharp

- All about action

- Intelligent

- Clever

- Strong female main character (not usually expected)

- Serious about her job

- Determined

Mise En Scene

At the start of Silent Scream the first time I see Anna is when she strides

Above Suspicion iPlayer for episodes 1, 2 & 3

http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=299571

Characters

1.       Stock characters

·         Hero cop – the cop that ‘saves the day’ all the time. He seems friendly and like a perfect cop. An idol.

·         Heroine cop – the same as the hero but a woman.

·         Anti-hero – not a hero and has some quite dislikeable characteristics and as much as we don’t want to like them, they are actually very likeable

·         Quirky detectives – a detective with unique ways

·         Bad-tempered but brilliant detectives – one of those ‘touchy’ angry detectives who gets the job done almost always

·         Rookie – the new person who’s just joined to the police force/detectives

·         Buddy partners – Best friend partnership

·         Grumpy, world-weary superior officer

·         Forensic scientists/pathologists/other medical professionals

·         Psychology experts/consultants/helpers – self explanatory

·         FBI agents – people who are working for the FBI

·         Lawyers

·         Informats – spies who go and find out information secretly and come back and tell the team

2.

Codes and Conventions:

-          What style of detective are they? What is their role? Who do they work for?

-          Sherlock – Sherlock is a cold, arrogant and rude detective. His character would probably be the ‘quirky detective’. He uses his mind in order to work crimes out rather than technology and is very intelligent; he works for himself and sometimes helps out the police.

-          Horatio – Horatio from CSI is the hero cop who is quick and sharp on figuring out things and leads his CSI team. He is shady, intelligent, calculating and mature.

Audience:

-          What is the appeal of this character – who will they appeal to?

Sherlock – Sherlock appears to be very smart and I think an educated audience or maybe scientists or those who are interested in forensics and learning facts about this etc would be interested in Sherlock and would find him appealing, because he becomes across extremely exact and cunning. This could idolise him to an educated audience such as explained. Furthermore, his mature nature could attract older audiences such as adults.

Horatio – Similarly to Sherlock Horatio comes across extremely intelligent except this is due to his dark, mysterious nature. He is very mature and calm which could attract teenage audiences such as girls, but furthermore he could appeal to educated and older audiences because of this. His factual behaviour and ability to solve every crime could be extremely idolising for him.

Representation:

-          How are they represented – personality, relationships, sub-plot, mise-en-scene

Sherlock – Sherlock is represented as cold and prude, and he doesn’t tend to involve himself with people relationship-wise or build on relationships. He is quite detatched from people and appears to have no interest in having a friendship or relationship with anyone, adding on to the fact that his rude nature disadvantages him from people actually wanting to make a relationship with him. Sherlock also has a sub-plot, his own story where he fell inlove with a girl. This makes us wonder whether Sherlock’s dismissing nature comes from his past. Mise-en-scene comes in here as Sherlock always has tidy hair and is always dressed in a smart suit. This represents his intelligent, prude personality and perhaps punctual characteristic too.

Horatio – Horatio is represented as dark, reserved and mysterious. He is friendly to an extent with other members of the team but as far as I have seen  he does not involve himself with relationships much and as I said is quite reserved. His sub-plot is that his wife was killed, and so this gives us quite a bit of intreugement as to the way Horatio acts about it and why he is the way he is. As to mise-en-scene Horatio dresses smartly in suits and always has neat, tidy hair. This suggests sensibility, punctuality and intelligence.

Institution:

-          What other roles have they taken?

Sherlock - Benedict Cumberbatch who plays as ‘Sherlock’ also acts in other films/programs such as: Warhorse, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Parade's End, The Hobbit and Star Trek.

Horatio – David Caruso who acts as ‘Horatio’ also acts in other programs/films such as: Black Point, Session 9, Proof of Life, Deadlocked, Swirlee, Body Count, Cold Around the Heart, Kiss of Death and more.

Victims

-          Are they innocent / deserved victims?

Juliet Miller – Juliet Miller in episode 2 of Criminal Justice I think is an innocent victim because even though she committed the crime, throughout the episode she is picked-on and harassed by the crooked-cop and police team for a crime she committed out of self-defense.

Criminals

-          Are they petty criminals, accidental criminals, gang related, stereotypical, unstereotypical.

Juliet Miller – The criminal Juliet committed a crime out of self-defense even though it was a calculated crime. The crime was that she murdered her abusive bully of a husband after he put her through a marriage full of sexual abuse, emotional disturbance and he patronised her and made her go crazy. Juliet finally decided she couldn’t take it anymore and one day when her husband attempted to sexually abuse her again, she stabbed him with a kitchen knife. The crime was unstereotypical.

-          What is their motive?

Juliet Miller – Juliet’s motive was to free herself from jail after being accused of committing the crime, and to be able to get home and look after her daughter and give birth to her child. However the process of freeing herself from prison took a long time and soon after the court case she was found ‘guilty’.

Criminal Justice

I watched the whole of Episode 2 of Criminal Justice today, was really good & I recommend it! Might blog a bit about it later.

Channel 5 iPlayer for CSI: Miami

Just found out I can watch various CSI: Miami episodes on this iPlayer! Think I'll be watching some tonight.

Sherlock Crime Drama case study

SHOW: Sherlock

TV CRIME DRAMA: CASE STUDY

Production Details: Episode Name, Actors, Creator, Writer, Year, Channel etc BBC 1, Season 1 episode 1: “A Study In Pink” filmed in London and Cardiff year 2010, Director: Paul McGuigan, Written and created by: Steven Moffat, Actors: Sherlock played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Watson played by Martin Freeman.

Slow                      1              2              3             4             -> 5 <- Quick

Technology         1              2              3             4             ->5<-    Mind

Narrative             1              2              3             -> 4<-   5             Action

City                        -> 1<-    2              3             4             5             Rural

Stylish                   1              2              3             4             -> 5 <-                  Gritty

Sexy                       1             2              3             4             -> 5 <-   Ordinary

Extreme Crime 1              -> 2 <-   3             4             5             Petty Crime

Humorous           1              -> 2 <-   3             4             5             Sombre

Details of the Narrative (plot ,restrictive / omniscient, whodunit?, howdunnit? Resolution) Sherlock is about a man who is extremely intelligent and extraordinary, he uses his mind and no technology whatsoever to solve crimes and notices many things that others don’t which makes him different. Soon he finds out that there has been multiple crimes committed by a mass murderer and Sherlock  wants to solve it, this uses the whodunit technique. After a long investigation Sherlock discoveres really who all these murders are behind. He finds the physcopath eventually and soon he is involved with the dangerous human being. The ‘howdunnit’ technique is used and soon the murderer reveals to Sherlock when they meet that he offers two pills to his victims; - one pill that will kill you if consumed, and one that if you consume it won’t kill you and you’ll be fine. Meanwhile Dr Watson and investigators are trying to find out where Sherlock is as he sits down with the murderer to talk. The murderer offers the pills to Sherlock, persuading him to take whichever one he wants. He explains his technique to Sherlock and Sherlock finds out about the murderer’s lifestyle. Just at the second Sherlock picks up one of the pills and is about to take it, Dr Watson Jumps up behind the building and shoots the murderer through the window before Sherlock can take the pill.

Protagonists: Description (looks, personality), relationships Sherlock: ·         Self centred ·         Rude ·         Genius ·         Superior to police ·         He controls Dr Watson ·         Looks trendy – most girls would find him attractive ·         Prefers more baffling and interesting investigations ·         Selfish ·         Unfriendly ·         Quite cold ·         Humorous ·         Lacks in social grace ·         Mind like a racing engine ·         He needs problems to live, without them he’s bored and upset Dr Watson: ·         Brave ·         Practical ·         Resourseful ·         Army Doctor ·         Lives in the past, misses his past ·         Lost soul ·         Shattered by service in Afghanistan ·         Sharing flat with complete stranger (Sherlock) ·         Life changes completely ·         Sees world through Sherlock’s eyes (intelligent mind solution to everything) ·         Immortal friendship

Key CHARACTER indicators of Crime Drama: (Professions, right / wrong side of the law) Through episode of ‘A Study In Pink’ indicates Crime Drama through the characters of Sherlock and Dr Watson. There are many scenes where the press have been involved, and also the police. Also, Dr. Watson is Sherlock’s sidekick which is a typical indicator of crime drama. Also, when Sherlock discovers that the suitcase that was part of the dead woman’s death wasn’t anywhere near her, it builds up suspense and confusion and a lot of mystery which is a typical and often-used indicator used in crime drama. Aswell as that, even though there are many detectives and typical investigations of crime drama in this episode, Mrs Hudson isn’t a typical character of crime drama because  her personality doesn’t fit in with the typical genre of the crime drama aura.

Key VISUAL/AUDIO Indicators of Crime Drama (settings, montages, flashbacks, props, costumes, camera, music, dialogue) The setting of the series was in a city which makes it better to watch as it is more interesting as the audience are trying to figure things from the past in the series for example when Sherlock was on the back of the taxi he had a flashback of when he first saw Dr Watson and he explains how he could figure out everything. Also, the city vibe about it makes it more modern for us to watch and understand and relate to. Many other indications are used such as when the episode becomes more action-filled and the audience are being built up with suspense the scenes are fastened and the shots move a lot faster.  The camera was moving fast when Sherlock was in the urge of unravelling clues about the investigation and through out the whole series it went into a medium pace. The dialogue was when Sherlock was explaining about the woman who was laying face down on the floor. Also when Sherlock at the end met the killer and had a conversation with him he was trying to make him take the pull and they kept talking and having a conversation with him. A lot of montages were used as the episode at one stage flicks through different past scenes to show the audience what had previously happened to update us on the investigation a little more.

Key NARRATIVE Indicators of Crime Drama (motives, evidence, red-herrings, multiple suspects) The narrative indicators of crime drama are the evidence Sherlock finds out but he does not use high technology equipment he only uses his mind to figure things out. The evidence was when the suitcase splashes of water are on the back of the dead female’s legs which was from the suitcase which she was carrying which was a big give-away for Sherlock. There were multiple suspects which makes it an indicator of drama as in every crime drama the is usually a number of suspects which makes the audience engage and try to figure out who it is. Red-herrings in Sherlock is his brother when he turns up but he had nothing to do with the murder.

Key THEMATIC Indicators of Crime Drama (Cunning, technology, intelligence, justice, good vs evil, morals) Sherlock’s intelligence works very well in this episode because he uses his smart ways to win his way through investigations. Not much technology is used because Sherlock’s incredible intelligence is surely enough. This is a good indicator in crime drama that the more intelligence you have the better and faster you will be at discovering clues and finding out about the investigation.  Cunningness is used when the taxi driver doesn’t want to get caught. Also, justice is used when the murderer/taxi driver gets sents to prison justifying the fact that if you do bad things you will be sent to jail. This comes into morals. Also, I think one other moral as part of the episode I think was when Dr Watson jumped in and saved Sherlock from the murderer and shot him; - this shows the moral that you should always look after your friends. And the good vs. evil indicator was probably either Sherlock vs. the taxi driver or Sherlock and his brother who looks evil but really just wants to make sure Sherlock is OK because he is concerned.

Audience Pleasures: The audience pleasures are that Sherlock solves every problem in a  very interesting way which will make he audience think about how he did it. Most the problems are solved at home and it is very enjoyable even though most times the audience will be wrong on who the suspect is as they will find it hard to  realise because they make a lot of people seem as they are the suspect which makes the episode more interesting to watch as it builds you up with tension and suspense and then leaves you with surprise as your assumption on the murderer was wrong. Also, another indicator of an audience pleasure would probably be every time Sherlock discovers something new or at the very end where he is successful and Dr. Watson kills the dreaded murderer/taxi driver.

CSI Crime Drama case study

SHOW: CSI: Miami: Stoned Cold

TV CRIME DRAMA: CASE STUDY

Production Details: The Season 9, Episode 14 we watched was cold Stoned Cold and the main stars were David Caruso, Emily Procter, Adam Rodriguez, Jonathan Togo, Rex Linn, Eva La Rue and Omar Benson Miller. It was filmed in Miami and aired in year 2011, written by Tamara Jaron and directed by Alison Liddi-Brown.

Slow                      1              2              3             4             5             Quick

Technology         1              2              3             4             5             Mind

Narrative             1              2              3              4            5             Action

City                        1              2              3             4             5             Rural

Stylish                   1              2              3             4             5             Gritty

Sexy                       1             2              3             4             5              Ordinary

Extreme Crime 1              2              3             4             5             Petty Crime

Humorous           1              2              3             4             5             Sombre

Details of the Narrative (plot ,restrictive / omniscient, whodunit?, howdunnit? Resolution) When a popular “mean girl” is found stoned to death in the middle of her high school’s football stadium, the CSI team has to figure out who would want her dead.  The short answer?  Pretty much everyone.  The girl, Blaine, had a whole host of students who hated her guts, and it’s up to H and the gang to find out whose hate turned murderous.

Protagonists: Description (looks, personality), relationships Blaire: ·         Mean ·         Insults everyone ·         Obnoxious ·         Hated ·         Malicious ·         Looks very wealthy (due to clothing) ·         Finds joy in humiliating others ·         No sense of respect towards herself or any body else ·         Ignorant ·         Nasty ·         Manipulative ·         Doesn’t give a care towards other people’s feelings ·         Stuck up ·         Arrogant ·         Vindictive ·         Spiteful ·         Conceited CSI team: ·         Brave ·         Use high technology ·         Quick in finding clues ·         Strong ·         Rich ·         Resourceful ·         Genius ·         Good friends, good bond (can have a laugh with eachother) ·         Superior ·         Well equipped ·         Respected

Key CHARACTER indicators of Crime Drama: (Professions, right / wrong side of the law) The CSI investigators were commonly used indicators of crime drama as they are investigators who use a lot of technology. Also, a few of the sources/people accused of stoning the girl Blaine to death would not be seen in a lot of the scenes but some would be interviewed a lot by the CSI, and when it turned out that the parents of some teenagers were the  murderers it would of shocked the audience because the parents were not mentioned or seen in much of the episode beforehand. This happens a lot in crime drama usually. An unusual indicator of crime drama was Blaine, the girl stoned to death. Usually the victim would be innocent and would not deserve the death but Blaine was a nasty character who everyone hated anyway, so instead of the audience building a lot of sympathy for the murdered girl, they probably didn’t have as much as they could of. However this probably built a surprised reaction from the audience too.

Key VISUAL/AUDIO Indicators of Crime Drama (settings, montages, flashbacks, props, costumes, camera, music, dialogue) The setting was in Miami in a very modern, hot and ‘sexy’ place. The murder was mainly set by a party which made the audience be able to connect and understand with the episode seeing teenagers partying like typical young people of our generation today would. The audience can relate to a normal city environment and so this ‘normal’ setting was a typical indicator of crime drama as it built the audience with shock and suspension when the murder all of a sudden occurred. Throughout the episode the speed is quite fast and we find things out quickly and it generally runs through fast to keep us interested so that the story isn’t ‘dragged out’ for longer than it should be to hold our attention. Camera shots and angles flash through extremely fast at scenes that are more action-filled and where we are about to find out who the murderer was etc, to build tension. Characters are dressed in every-day costumes that our generation would usually wear to let us relate to the episode more. Also, quite modern music is used aswell to have the same affect also. And quite colloquial ‘slang’ dialogue is used also to have the same relating affect on the audience, and to make light-hearted scenes really light-hearted and then when something goes wrong the CSI stop joking about with eachother and get down to business.  Montages are also used when the csi go through what they predict might of caused the murder etc and we are shown past scenes that happened and slowly how Blaine was murdered but not who by, which builds suspension in the audience.

Key NARRATIVE Indicators of Crime Drama (motives, evidence, red-herrings, multiple suspects) A narrative indicator of crime drama in the CSI episode we watched would have to be where at the start we know more than the actual CSI investigators do which makes us feel on top of the knowledge, but soon towards the end this is inverted and we do not know much, and then we are informed with who the murderer is which makes the audience shocked. Evidence is used where at the end a CSI member leaves  a tape recorder in the room where the parents and children accused of the murder stood and gathered evidence of the parents talking which proved that they together were the murderers. Megan and Nate are red-herrings in the episode because they are interviewed a lot which makes them look guilty and this makes the audience think they are the multiple suspect murderers.

Key THEMATIC Indicators of Crime Drama (Cunning, technology, intelligence, justice, good vs evil, morals) Intelligence and cunningness is used when the csi members suddenly each figure something out every now and then and mention it to each other which gives the audience ideas too. Justice is also used as a key indicator of crime drama because the episode gives out a moral that ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’, so even though someone has done something really bad to you, doing something bad back will just make it even worse, for instance the parents killed Blaine and got sent to jail. Good vs. evil was all of the bullied students against the bad Blaine.

Audience Pleasures: The audience pleasures were when they are given clues by the montages and csi as to why Blaine got murdered, and this will make the audience predict who she was murdered by which holds your attention and keeps the audience interested.  Also, there is enjoyment when the audience are either right or wrong about their prediction of who was the murderer. The tension and suspension given to the audience keeps pleasure within the people watching, too.