Independent Research Analysis - Criminal Minds: North Mammon

During thr half term, I watched Criminal Minds (Season 2, episode 7: Noth Mammom).
It is a well-known American crime tv drama about a group of profilers/detectives who analyze the nation's most dangerous criminal minds in an effort to anticipate their next moves before they strike again. However in this episode they work on a kidnapping case in a small town in Pensylvania as a favour to a fried of JJ (a detective).

Judy, a mother of a teenage girl, pleads her old friend J.J to help her find her daughter, Polly and her 2 best friends, Kelly and Brooke.

The three teenage girls were the stars of their school soccer team and are kidnapped after the boys soccer pep rally. JJ eventually convinces her team to take on the case after two identical voice messages from Polly and Kelly are left to their parents saying that they are going on a roadtrip. The team finds the messages unrealistic and travel to Pensylvania to find the girls.
Meanwhile, the girls have been locked in a basement and Brooke becomes seriously weak and ill. They are starving, thirsty and extremely cold.

The team of investigators work with the local sherrif to track down the girls (whose mobiles have been mysteriously turned off) and find evidence such as several cigarette buds with the same DNA, right outside Brooke's house which lead them to believe that the Soccer coach (whose DNA matches the buds) has kidnapped the girls. It soon comes out that the soccer coach was also once arrested for having a under-age prostitute. This leads the team of detectives and the audience that he must be the kidnapper, however the coach has an alabi as he was caught on video at the pep rally when the girls went missing, therefore it could not be him. 
Here red-herrings and multiple suspects have been used effectively to lead the audience in the wrong direction, keeping them intregued.

After finding other pieces of evidence such as the girls soccer shirts, it becomes clear that the evidence has been planted to try and make it seem as if other people had kidnapped the girls.
During this time, the girls are starving and Brooke's health is slowly deteriorating. The girls have been told that only two of them can leave and the third will be killed. They must choose which two are able to leave. Brooke overhears Kelly planning to leave Brooke behind and tells Polly.
Kelly finally convinces Poly that it's best if they go and leave Brooke behind as she is very weak and will die soon anyway.
Once they decide this, the kidnapper throws two hammers into the basement, making it clearthat the two girls must kill Brooke themselves if they want to leave.

Back at the police station, the team are trying to find out who the kidnapper is then become aware that their collegue has tracked the girls cellphones and one was outside the station. 
The audience see two girls being dropped off outside the station but you can only see Polly's face, which makes the audience assume that the second girl is Kelly.
To our surprise, the second girl is Brooke and it seems like she killed Kelly as she was aware of Kelly's plans to sacrifice her.

After this, the team figure out that the kidnapper wanted to hurt the parents by turning the girls against each other. It seems like the kidnapper is someone who was on the football team with the Dad's when they were in highschool.
JJ takes a photograph to Polly who points out a man in it. This is the same man (a garbage collector) who gave the investigators the 'tip-off' of where the evidence was to make it seem like he was innocent and other people were the kidnapper.

The team go to the rubbish man's basemeant and find him in there with Kelly laying dead on the floor.
They arrest him while he explains how the rest of his football team mates were successful while he was a rubbish man and how he kidnapped the girls in order to get revenge on their fathers.

The clever use of red-herrings and multiple suspects makes this programme intreguing to watch. It was the first time I had ever seen Criminal Minds, and now I would like to watch it again as I can appreciate the conventions that it uses to make it a crime drama e.g evidence, but can also seem unique compared to other crime dramas.

Typical scenes would be the interrogation room, the police office, the lab ad the crime scene (in this case, the basement).
The motive was revenge.

Independent Research Analysis- Rizzoli and Isles

This weekend I watched the first episode of season one of Rizzoli and Isles.
It is an American crime drama based on a series of novels following a police detective, Jane Rizzoli (played by Angie Harmon) and Dr Maura Isles (played by Sasha Alexander).
The name of the episode is "See One, Do One, Teach One" and starts out with Rizzoli and Dr Isles investigating the murder of a married couple in the wealthy and prestegious home. The evidence to prove who the killer is seems to be a signature of the same murderer that once harassed and traumatized Rizzoli.
Rizzoli then gets very afraid and decides to stay the night at Isle's home to stay safe and the next day, she finds out that the murderer has left the hospital he was at right before his opperation. She is then made aware that her apartment has been ransacked and goes home to see what has happened. Rizzoli is lured into a van by a man pretending to be a coroner. A man comes put of the body in the van and surprises her while the first man (dressed as a coroner) injects her with a substance. She later wakes up with her hands and feet tied up, but soon escapes and eventually kills the first man who injected her. She then seeks revenge from the second man.

Detective Jane Rizzoli seems quite tough and tomboy-ish however it is made clear that her tough act comes from the fact that she experienced a brutal kidnapping and attack and still has scars on both of her hands. Her kidnapper is the same man that killed the wealthy couple and seems to be fixated with Jane.
She is a very strong-willed and stubborn woman but also very intelligent and independent.

Dr Maura Isles, however is slightly more held back and prefers to go with the rules. She likes clear answers and doesn't like to guess seeing as she is the  Boston Cheif Medical Examiner.
Isles brings the forensic factor to the show and we then see evidence such as signatures. Isles is reffered to as "Queen of the dead".

Iconic scenes would be the crime scene where we see Items typical to crime dramas such as police tape.
There are also members of the press involved.

I have enjoyed watching this as it is unique to see two female leads. Also their opposite personalities make the show interesting to watch as well as the mystery as to why the murderer is after Rizzoli which keeps viewers interested.
 

Audience/Crime Drama

Audiences

Types of audiences

There are three main types of audiences:

Family audiences – programmes are shown wither in the evening or during the day. The content is appropriate for older children as well as adults. E.g. The Bill, Heartbeat, Sherlock, Midsummer Murders.

Nice audiences – programmes are shown late at night. They are not at all suitable for children as they contain scenes of sex and violence as well as inappropriate or bad language. They often attract cult status (they are not widely popular), however attract significant audiences. E.g. Dexter, The Shield, The Wire.

Educated audiences – programmes can be shown at any time, however they involve high levels of specialised language and concepts which are aimed at an educated viewer of social class ABC1. There will be use of scientific jargon in shows such as CSI and legal terms in shows like Law and Order. However, some may say that it is not necessary to understand all of the language in these shows as most viewers would take pleasure in the characters and the plot, rather than the language.

Audience Pleasures

There are many reasons why audiences find pleasure in watching TV Crime Dramas. Some of the reasons are:

·         It’s a challenge for your mind

·         Crime dramas are like a puzzle that needs solving and you feel good about yourself when you figure out who the culprit is

·         We find it interesting even though crime is a bad thing in society

·         It’s exciting to see the crimes being committed and solved within the comfort and safety of your own home

·         Watching crime dramas is a guilty pleasure because you know it’s wrong but so fascinating

·         The fact that it’s a crime drama, rather than just a documentary takes the pleasure a step further by allowing us into the hidden lives of the victims and criminals as well as things like the flaws or corruption of the police world

·         The characters are complex and intriguing as we can experience their emotions as well as feeling our own: surprise, dread, terror, relief.

·         Audiences are able to experiment with their own fears within a safe environment

Audience Theory

The Uses and Gratifications Theory:

Entertainment - escape from ordinary life, problems or boredom; able to release emotions, like laughter or crying; relax and enjoy engaging your mind with something.

Relationships - understand how other people think and feel; create relationships with people in th emedia as a substitute for 'real' ones and feel like you belong to a community; talk about the media with others.

Identity - see yourself reflected in the media; help you to understand yourself.

Information - find out about the world and learn new things; get advice and feel secure through being knowledgeable.

Problems with Popularity

The Effects Debate:

Many people think that the media does effect behaviour. particularly for children. They believe that children will become desensitised to violence if they see violent scenes regularly.

Television crime drama depicts violent crimes. Some people think that people could copy what they see on these programmes. For example, Jamie Bulger's case apparently had something to do with 'video nasties' and in August 2010 his mother complained to Law and Order: UK, saying that they episode was a 'copycat' crime almost identical to the murder of her son.

To conclude:

• audiences could become desensitised to these situations and think that murder and crime is normal and forgivable.
• they could copy the acts shown on TV, thinking that there's nothing wrong with them or wanting to act like a character on the show.

Popularity of Case Studies - Sherlock, CSI:Miami & Luther

I believe that these shows are so popular because they help to engage the audience through the use of mystery and enigma. They are all popular for different reasons and attract different types of audiences. For example, CSI is glossy whereas Luther is gritty and dark. I think the unique way of using the skill of deduction in Sherlock is different to the evidence and DNA samples used in CSI:Miami and intregue the audiences.

Pitching Idea

Pitching Ideas for A New Crime Drama

Name:

Criminal Mentality

I think this name represents what the show is about well and is still quite catchy.

Type of Crime Drama:



Lisa Goldstein as Tracy Kellerman



My TV Crime Drama will be an American legal show which also uses some psychological techniques. It will be based on a woman who is a psychiatrist in a prison. She talks to the criminals and tries to figure out why they committed the crimes as she believes that there is always a deeper reason behind the crimes. Her sidekick is her assistant who sometimes comes across as quite clueless however knows a lot about the mind.

Characters:

There will be a duo. The main character will be the female psychiatrist, Tracy Kellerman (played by Lisa Goldstein) and her sidekick Chase Baker. Chase will be played by an up-and-coming actor as I think my show would allow him to break into the industry. Also, I have chosen Lisa Goldstein to play the main role of the psychiatrist as the show she is currently on is coming to an end and I believe that the strong female role of Tracy Kellerman will allow her to show that she can be a serious actress.

Structure of Show

The structure of my show will be a series meaning that each episode is self contained (CSI, Sherlock). However there might sometimes be an episode that follows on from the last, where there will be a Part 1 and Part 2.

I think this is the best structure for my show as this means that people can watch the show without worrying that they have missed previous episodes and that they might not understand the show.

Typical Narrative

My TV Crime Drama will have a restrictive narrative as I think it’s best to keep the audience guessing and intrigued throughout the show.



Criminal Mentality will be about Tracy Kellerman and her assistant Chase Baker going to prisons in London and talking to the criminals about why they have committed the crimes. In some cases, the resolution may be that the criminal has been wrongly convicted, resulting in a shorter sentence or even getting them out of prison.

Setting

It will be set in an office in the prison and may also include scenes in the court rooms or in the prison itself.

Style

My show will be quite gritty as it us based around criminals, however Lisa Goldstein who plays the main character will bring a sense of glamour to the show. The pace won’t be too slow as I feel that would bore audiences, but not so fast that they don’t understand what is happening. There will be a slight sense of humour brought by Chase Baker, but most of the show will be quite sombre.

Scheduling

My show will be broadcasted on ITV (Sky channel 103) as this channel is well known and comes on all TV packages. It will be shown on Friday evenings at 8pm as I feel that would be a good time that the whole family can sit down and enjoy my show at the end of a long week. The show will be 1 hour long and there will be a chance to watch the same episode again on ITV+1 (Sky channel 118) an hour later at 9pm.

Target Audience

My target audience is families with older children over the ages of 14/15 of the social class ABC1 as I think they will enjoy watching my Crime Drama and understand it more than a younger audience would. There won’t be any extreme sec or violence therefore it will be suitable for families but there might be some slightly inappropriate language which won’t be suitable for young children.

Similar Shows: Criminal Mentality is quite unique however there are some shows which resemble it such as Wire in the blood which is also a British crime drama that shows on ITV.

USP:  The USP of Criminal Mentality is the fact that there aren’t many shows that are both investigative and psychological. Also it is set in a prison, office and court. It allows the audience to understand the criminal’s minds as well.