Silent Witness is a British crime drama/thriller series which first started showing on the 21st of Febuary 1996. It has been viewed across Europe as well as it has been viewed in Denmark, Sweden, UK, Far East and Latin America. The series was created by Nigel McCrery a former murder squad detective in Nottingham. There was a total of 332 episodes from 1996 - 2012.
This TV series used a great range of thriller techniques as it tried to include and build up suspsense in audience to try and make them almost be urgent to find who the criminal is. The series used a great range of techniques and story lines to build up tension through out episodes. One of the techniques the mostly used was the 'use of threes' technique, for example -
The technique used keeps the audience seeing everything around them, but still holding their attention to the main character. In this scene, William Gaminara - Professor Leo Dalton, is trying to think about the case of the murder (pictured behind him), and the 'use of threes' shows that he is thinking about just that aspect, and almost 'blocking' everything else out around him. The image behind Leo also supplies a 'chilling' aspect of the murder as it is almost watching him while the technique(use of threes) is happening.
Silent Witness also uses a lot extreme and normal close ups. This is to show and create suspense as it shows the true and possibly hidden emotion in a character. An example of this would be from the episode 'Redhill' where the police officer is at the scene and he almost suddenly shows evil by the way he looks, the amount of lighting and also the use of the close up, -
More examples of close ups used in the show: -
These close ups show/may show how desperate a character is, for example - the first picture, Dr Harry Cunningham (played by Tom Ward) is against time to try and get hold of the rest of the team as he is looking at his watch and on the phone at the same time. He also shows a desperate look as if he is worried that what has happened to him/the people in the area. The second picture, shows Dr Nikki Aexander (played by Emilia Fox) as an "important" character as there is light shining down on her, the camera is basically only focusing on her, and bluring everything else around her. This may show that she knows something which would help the investigation, or that something has happened and she is curious as almost all of her face is in the shadow, and only part of her face is in the light, which may also possibly show anxiousness.
Ratings and Reviews of Silent Witness:
Many users on IMDb gave it an overall rating of 7.4/10 with very positive comments, such as; - 'amazing show' and 'Great British drama'. These reviews have also been coming from different countries, such as Canada, Australia and from the Netherlands. However, some reviews are negative as some people think that the show has started to 'sink' and it has gotten old. Personally, I think the show was very good as it built up tension in every episode and it gave a good "thrill" and insight to what they do and how crimes are solved. I do however think that it has been going for too long and they may have reached a dead end to where they will need to start thinking of stopping as it is starting to fade out and the crimes are getting a bit repetitive and unnecessary.
In the Guradian, reviewer John Grace reviewed the program in both positive and negative ways as he thought that the new series of the program led to new cases and better 'whodunnit' moments, but yet he thinks that there are some rather 'disconcerting' moments as he says - "To find him gunned down by police on his own doorstep inside 30 minutes after threatening to go berserk with a shotgun was truly disconcerting." John also gives positive comments to the characters, for example with Nikki, he says that "Also impressive was Nikki's mental disintegration: not the usual over-the-top, unconvincing, hysterical affair you tend to get in TV drama, but a gradual loosening of the fingernails as they try to cling ever tighter to reality." This shows that they have improved on the characters to present more of a 'picture' about them and it allows the audiences to get to know the characters more. I agree with most of Johns' review as I find it does make a good 'whodunnit' night and the moments are very well planned out for them. However I also agree with what he says about the "disconcerting moments" as many of the crimes may represent a realistic view on what really happens in the world, but also a very graphical and 'horrific' view as well.
Your case study on Silent Witness is at its strongest when you identify the use and purpose of the rule of thirds, the purpose of specific aspects of lighting. Remember to reference chiaroscuro lighting when it is appropriate, this lighting style is visually appealing whilst adding a surrealist tone to the mise en scene. And where you intelligently engage with the reviews.
ReplyDeleteYour post indicates you are developing an understanding of how and why directors use or develop generic conventions.