It's A 'New York' Feeling

[vegaslights]

During season one, the show was darker in lighting, and also in subject matter. The cinematography really seemed to affect the changes in the show and where the changes went from there. These changes, while some being good, have also been bad--as seen in season five.

So I ask, were you a fan of the dark, gloomy lighting in season one? Do you think it felt more 'New York?' and finally, would you like to see it come back to the show, and would these changes help?

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

Personally I thought season 1 was visually too dark. The scenes in the morgue and interrogation rooms specifically were sometimes hard for me to see. I think they could add the blue filter back to a lesser extent to give it a more moody feel, but if the stories aren't there it doesn't matter what the visual looks like. TPTB seem hell bent on the vast majority of cases involving flashy, rich, white, pretty people and that is more of a problem than the coloring of the show.

If I don't give a damn about the victims, let alone some of the criminals and don't believe in the main characters because their back stories change on a whim to fit the story of the week I certainly won't give a damn about what the cinematography looks like. The visuals also don't matter when the choice is made to cut intriguing, viable characters/actors and keep worthless, dead weight characters/actors who have played out their one trick act a few seasons ago.

 

[talkingtocactus]

i really like it - it was weird for me because at first in the uk episodes seemed to be shown at random so i never really noticed, but having watched the dvds back it's obvious. i can totally see why they did it, i think there was a need to be very different from the others. having said all that i like that they decided to ditch it in favour of showing all that ny can offer, rather than just the dark side.

also, my favourite episode of season 1 is recycling which can hardly be accused of being too dark! i like it purely because it's so silly (in a good way, i like silly). i do like the dark episodes of all the seasons tho

 

[Nightrider]

I agree with everything PerfectAnomaly said. Cinematography is the least of its issues.
I kinda liked the dark episodes of old. I hated the ME's office, but it was more in tune with reality than the new, slick PlayStation 3 version we see now. In the first season, New York seemed more, well, real. Real people, real reactions, real strange situations that happen in New York, etc. It was dark, gritty, reality. Now, it's like as if they took the New York out of New York! I'll deal with the here and now, but personally I want some reality back.

 

[Fruitbat]

In the first season, New York seemed more, well, real. Real people, real reactions, real strange situations that happen in New York, etc. It was dark, gritty, reality. Now, it's like as if they took the New York out of New York! I'll deal with the here and now, but personally I want some reality back.

See I agree to me the best season re writing, look and feel wise was Season 1.

The rest of the seasons have slowly drifted down the road to plastic fantastic land. Cluttered up with dodgy:- scripts/gadgets/product placements/songs/science/stunt casting of the week and criminals/victims that are INSTANTLY forgettable.

More focus on the writing and plot rather than the conference room and labs full of plasma screens and laptops. Yes we get it, they have loads of cool toys. We dont need to see them all in every episode. And Newsflash it doesn't distract us from the fact that the case could have been solved by a two year old within ten minutes of the show starting.

Most of all it doesnt feel like New York any more, if you get what I mean? To me it feels like LA with a few shots of NY to keep us happy. (Which it always was even in season one, but somehow in season one you forgot and felt like it was New York. Now you see a shot of the city and you think nice shot but you aint fooling anyone.)

I dont know why they didnt just relocate the lab to LA for season 2 and be done with it.

I wouldn't mind if the cases were still gripping and gritty but they are not. (Dont get me wrong we have had some really good eps in the last 4 seasons, but we have also had some really bland and bl**dy stupid ones. And to me the bland ones are starting to outweigh the good ones.) And as for consistency and continuity....dont think those words factor into TPTB vocabulary, especially when it came to Season five.

Its lost some of its integrity and individuality over the last few seasons. Its lost that New York feeling that it started out with. They wanted to brighten it up, but to me they sanitized it.

I second the vote for some grit and reality back.

Venting over...

 

[Top41]

The first handful of episodes of season one were very dark, both in tone and visuals. I think the show really hit its stride around "TriBorough" and "ReCycling"--adding a little humor without losing the grittiness of a realistic crime drama and also keeping true to their setting of New York City. The rest of season one from there on in was great-- "Tanglewood," "The Dove Commission," "Crime & Misdemeanor," "On the Job," "The Closer," etc. --these are some of the show's best episodes. So while season one may have started out a little too dark, they lightened it up realistically around the midway point--and then took the lightening to far in season two.

 

[Poppet]

I wasn't such a big fan of the lighting in S1 but I definately think the cases were consistently interesting in S1. S1 showed how diverse NY is as a city, they paid more attention to the cases and the people involved and were less distracted by hi-tech fancy gadgets. Sometimes now it feels like they find a new toy and write a story around it, where as I feel in S1 the cases came first. I know it must be difficult to keep coming up with new cases but in the more recent seasons some of the cases are just too out there and too unrealistic. I think for S6 they need to go back to basics.

 

[Elwood21]

I agree with a lot of what has been said. It's not like I go back to watch seasons regularly, but the impact and impression I have of each is generally reinforced after catching some reruns.

S1 is what got me hooked into the series. But what I loved about it was not necessarily that it was dark, but that it was cohesive, and knew who and what it was.

It felt like a world, it was a believeable version of New York, it was grittier, it was often literally and metaphorically dark, but it's not like it was devoid of humour in the midst of all that. I think there was a learning curve within the season that I wished had been permitted to continue the following year instead of having what felt like a drastic and involuntary make-over imposed.

The best of the darkness was lost altogether to brightening, smoothing and polishing everything up. I think that's where a lot of interest was lost.

I think the show's lost it's originating identity and overall compass and has been flitting about tinkering with so many things to retain a certain cachet, top down instead of from the street up. It is rather anonymous in it's context now. It doesn't seem to matter where it is, as it doesn't seem to flavor the show anymore. Not enough. New York is a pretense, no longer a presence.

S1 seemed more secure in it's vision, of it's world and it's characters, and felt like it just went about doing it's own thing. That is something else I miss. There have been eps that I really quite liked since, but taken as a whole, I think S1 still does outstrip the rest, and that's really due the writing and cohesiveness than how dark or blue in hue it was. If I simply consider S1 a separate series and the following as spin-offs, that kinda helps...

I think the writers and execs need to go on a retreat to the boroughs and renew their inspiration and vision of the show.

 

[MakeTracksCowboy]

i mentioned this back in the poll of fave season of NY: when i watch NY from season 1 and watch it now i just look at it like a completely different show. S1 is amazing to watch. the characters were real and relatable as were the cases. now it's all rich people with problems who we can't relate to, even the characters aren't relatable anymore.

the lighting and the lab were awesome that was my fave part of season 1. like actual NY is was gritty and real. i can picture a crime lab being in a place like that in real life since space is so limited in the city.

the writers had fresh ideas, they really seemed to have a hold on what drove the characters and they made the characters so original.

Danny and Aiden from the outset were my fave characters. since Carmine and Vanessa are really from NY it made their character so much more real and believable. Aiden i can see being a tough ass cop, she was and she knew it. Aiden to me wasn't the stereotypical tough chick she was just so cool. the character was played by a real NYer there was no fakeness to Aiden at all. Danny was the eager to please guy with a hot temper and NY attitude to match. it seems now Danny has gone backwards and isn't as tough as he used to.

Most of all it doesnt feel like New York any more, if you get what I mean? To me it feels like LA with a few shots of NY to keep us happy. (Which it always was even in season one, but somehow in season one you forgot and felt like it was New York. Now you see a shot of the city and you think nice shot but you aint fooling anyone.)

i totally get what you're saying. i go to NY a lot so i know pretty well what it looks like and how it "feels". when i watch CSI:NY sometimes it doesn't look or "feel" like the city. the sets for the show are so blah and totally unrealistic. now Season 1 was like every shot was filmed in the city. when i go to NY it does have that blue and black kind of feeling with the tall building creating shadows mixed in with the blue skies.

season 1 is like everyone here what drew to me the show. i became a fan here. i felt like i knew where the characters were coming from with the attitudes b/c most of my family is like that since they all used to live in the city. i still love to this day knowing what they're talking about when the characters talk about the city, in this season it was a lot more fun since they shot more in NY.

Season 1 of CSI:NY is untouchable. i don't even put it in the same league as seasons 2-5 b/c it's so different. Season 1 will always be the best hands down.

(yes i know i voted for season 2 as my fave season in the best season poll but as i just said season 1 is untouchable and shouldn't be compared to the other season)

 

[talkingtocactus]

S1 is what got me hooked into the series. But what I loved about it was not necessarily that it was dark, but that it was cohesive, and knew who and what it was.

i think this is where i struggle - having watched the seasons back in order i can totally see what you mean and i agree but when i started watching csi:ny it was shown on various channels at various times in various order - there was no sequential order at all, it was just whatever episode the channel felt they wanted to show. which means that when i started watching it was just random, i never had a cohesive sense of what was what. now i can watch the various seasons in order and you're right, s1 did have a sense of cohesion about it, but because i never got that initially i don't see it in that way really. i guess watching random episodes for so long means that the idea of cohesion is just gone and even when there is a cohesive season i just kinda go "right..." and ignore the cohesion! it's a flaw, i tell ya!

also i have to confess and i'll probably be lynched, i never much liked aiden :S

 

[PerfectAnomaly]

S1 is what got me hooked into the series. But what I loved about it was not necessarily that it was dark, but that it was cohesive, and knew who and what it was.

i think this is where i struggle - having watched the seasons back in order i can totally see what you mean and i agree but when i started watching csi:ny it was shown on various channels at various times in various order - there was no sequential order at all, it was just whatever episode the channel felt they wanted to show. which means that when i started watching it was just random, i never had a cohesive sense of what was what. now i can watch the various seasons in order and you're right, s1 did have a sense of cohesion about it, but because i never got that initially i don't see it in that way really. i guess watching random episodes for so long means that the idea of cohesion is just gone and even when there is a cohesive season i just kinda go "right..." and ignore the cohesion! it's a flaw, i tell ya!

also i have to confess and i'll probably be lynched, i never much liked aiden :S

That makes sense to me. There are other shows where I started out seeing them randomly and I had the same feeling about the cohesion.

I didn't really start watching until S2 so I never really knew what all the hubub about S1 was. But then I got the S1 DVDs during S3 to catch myself up and even though I thought the first episodes were too dark and overall the morgue and interrogation scenes were too dark visually I thought S1 was outstanding with it's cases and overall grittiness and very "New York" feel.

But I can see how if someone didn't like Aiden S1 might not be viewed in as favorable a light as the seasons without her. Everyone knows I can't stand Lindsay, so every season is of lesser quality to me to a certain extent just because she's there. It might not be enough to say the whole season sucked, but she definitely brings down the quality and enjoyment of the show for me. It makes sense the same would be true for someone who doesn't like Aiden or any other character.

 

[talkingtocactus]

agreed. i actually like lindsay, but she does grate on me sometimes. aiden i found quite annoying - i thought she was an interesting character but for some inexplicable reason she bugged me.

i love s1, i think it's great but i don't see it so much as an arc, because it was all random. i think the first one i watched 'properly' was s3 and that to me has a lot more cohesion, but i don't think it's because they intended it to but because i actually paid attention in the right order :lol:

 

[CdfSjaI]

For me, the first couple of episodes of S1 were kinda depressing but they were always intriguing and had me coming back for more (not that it still doesn't) but that grittiness was exactly what i loved about this season. That's the only thing I miss and wish TPTB would incorporate into the show again. It was definitely a huge difference coming from Season 1 into season 2 premiere. And IMO, S1 was more "New York." Nonetheless, it has still kept a sort of "dark feel" To me the characters are what makes it NY, nothing else really. The cases don't seem as NY either. Seems like they only show the rich folk of the City. But this show is still my favorite, so they must be doing something good. Nothing else on TV has had me this hooked...

 

[Railynn]

I def. like the lighter verison of NY I never liked that it look like the show was shot in a dunegon in season 1. But what I did like was it felt like they had more of the NY attiude esp. Flack and Danny. They both grow up in NY, Danny seems to coem from a tough neighborhood, Flack dad was a cop, they'd have a no bs kind of attiude, they kind of had that in season 1 but not really anymore. Sometimes it can come out esp when they work together but not enough in my opinion.

 

[meggzie]

S1 is what got me hooked into the series. But what I loved about it was not necessarily that it was dark, but that it was cohesive, and knew who and what it was.

i think this is where i struggle - having watched the seasons back in order i can totally see what you mean and i agree but when i started watching csi:ny it was shown on various channels at various times in various order - there was no sequential order at all, it was just whatever episode the channel felt they wanted to show. which means that when i started watching it was just random, i never had a cohesive sense of what was what. now i can watch the various seasons in order and you're right, s1 did have a sense of cohesion about it, but because i never got that initially i don't see it in that way really. i guess watching random episodes for so long means that the idea of cohesion is just gone and even when there is a cohesive season i just kinda go "right..." and ignore the cohesion! it's a flaw, i tell ya!

also i have to confess and i'll probably be lynched, i never much liked aiden :S

thats exactly what i did in season1 and i felt the same.

and dw i never liked aiden much. she has sort of grown on me now though. which is useless coz shes not around anymore:lol: