CSI: Strip Strangler: Faye Handy
How does the opening sequence of CSI Strip Strangler attract
the interest of the audience?
CSI: Strip Strangler is about a murderer who goes about
sexually assaulting young vulnerable females then strangling them and the CSI
team investigate to try to stop him doing it anymore.
The opening of the programme sets up an enigma code which is
a convention in every episode and the audience anticipate and try to guess what
is going to happen next.
The opening shot of this episode is a high angle shot of Las
Vegas at night and it plays on audience expectations and anticipation, implying
that anyone could be the victim.
The dark mise-en-scène and the thunder and lightning
flashing and rumbling in the darkness suggest something is going to happen as
it is implying danger.
The second high angle shot is of an apartment building still
at night. This indicates the victim could be in there and the murderer is
looking there. It shows the door being slightly open showing the building is
not secure and the high angle emphasises vulnerability. The building is
surrounded by shadows, making the place look trapped.
The camera angle is then positioned looking up through the
apartment building as we see someone walking up the stairs who could be the killer
making his way to where the victim is.
In this sequence sound is used to build up suspense for the
audience. The sound discords at certain
points to create a frightening atmosphere.
Inside the building, the mise-en-scène shows us a dark, narrow
hall way suggesting the victim is trapped and there is no escape for her. This
builds up tension for the audience as they could be thinking about what is
going to happen.
This tracting shot represents the murderer’s point of view
as he / she is moving along the corridor to make his way to the victim.
As the camera first goes into the victims room, the audience
first sees the young woman framed inbetween the door frame and the door
suggesting she’s trapped. As well as it being in a confined space, it kind of
isolates her.
The woman sits up
abruptly by the sound of creaking floor boards and she looks around looking at
the audience as we have the murders point of view. The audience think something
is going to happen as we saw the murder enter the house but she doesn’t know
that.
When the lightning flash illuminates the room, the colour
red shows up. Red curtains and accessories imply danger and death.
Faye Handy
There is a cut to a medium close up of the woman and we see
her as a typical young stereotypical, attractive female victim dressed
vulnerably.
The cut has changed the angle as she no longer looks at the
audience; there is a cut to her point of view and nothing is there but from our
point of view we know something will be there from what we have already seen.
We also see red which has connotations of impending violence and we think the
killer could hide in the wardrobe.
When she doesn’t see anything threatening towards her and as
she settles down, the tone of music is low strings which this tells us that
something is in the room and it’s not going to end just there.
The frame is filled by the woman lying down, this is because
it keeps us in suspense as we can’t see anything in the background to show us
if anyone is there.
After another creaking floorboard, she looks afraid then
there is a cut to her point of view and we see that it is a dark room. The
lightning flashes and we see a silhouette of the killer in black clothing
covered all over so we can’t see his face. The killers identity is hidden from the
audience has to carry on watching for the big reveal later in the episode.
There is a cut to a high close shot of the woman in fear and
pace of editing is used is increased for the build-up of energy, excitement and
tension.
Next there is a medium close up of her point of view of the
killer and we see him flexing a cable implying that he is going to harm the woman
by strangling her, yet again, his face is hidden by darkness.
There is then a cut to a close shot of an iron being pulled
off a table, implying that the murderer is going to do something with force.
There is a final cut to the woman as she’s screaming and the
camera tracks in from above as the killer is getting closer and closer this makes
the woman move back to her bed in a lying down position making her look more
vulnerable and it allows the audience to sense her fear!
A crescendo has built up on the last few shots to emphasise
her screaming and her fear and we can see the pain she’s in. The scene fades to
black because the crim is too gruesome to be shown.
Throughout this sequence, the woman is represented as a vulnerable
and stereotypical young female victim who is in a lot of fear and who is
isolated!
The director uses a number of techniques to attract the
audience including elements from the horror genre, such as a young vulnerably
dressed woman in a dark setting and showing us the fear the victim is in. There
is also a variety of camera techniques like when there is a high angle shot to
show how much fear the victim is in and how isolated they are. There is non-diegetic
sound like a crescendo to show when the victim screaming and how much pain is
there. The director is setting up an enigma code and playing on the expectations
of the regular audience who try to think ahead of what’s going to happen and
their anticipation.
