special effects clips

[talkingtocactus]

i was going to mention this in the party down thread but i think it's more widespread. is it just me or in the last season or two has the use of special effects cutaways, montages and so on got more and more elaborate and annoying?

i know we've always had montages and that's fine, it gives us all a chance to sing along with team america world police but it seems they're getting longer and more of them, it's like the content - montage ratio has changed.

also the cutaways - those bits were they say "oh victim must've been hit with x piece of evidence" and then they show the victim getting hit with the evidence - they seem to have got longer and more noisy. i'm sure they didn't come with so many whooshing sound effects in earlier seasons, and they were less glitzy and more functional.

also they seem to show them more often - in the past we'd get the odd reconstruction of a proposed theory as to what went down but now they seem to pop up all the time, i counted several in last night's ep alone.

i dunno, maybe it's just me, maybe i'm just getting fed up with the whole thing and noticing these irritating bits more, or maybe the writers are running out of ideas (let's face it, they totally are) and need to fill out the time with more effects stuff to make it up to the 40 mins. maybe if they're winding the show down they just don't care so much any more and think "ah sod it, let's just throw in a montage"... but they do seem to be getting longer and more frequent.

a couple of people mentioned in the party down thread about getting annoyed with having one case eps so much now and i think this is part of it - with the old 2 case format there just wasn't time for this much filler, flashbacks, clips etc, whereas now they seem to take up so much of it. as someone said in the interrogation scene in this week's ep, they kept cutting to flashbacks of the party and it was didn't just interrupt the flow of the scene, it also felt like filler, and lazy tbh.

or is it just me? anyone else have thoughts? on this i mean, not just random thoughts, although those are lovely

 

[Country233]

I agree the scenes are getting to be used more for fluff than as a help. Maybe they think people are so easily distracted that they need 5 or 6 reminders of how the vic died. This season began on a good note, but the last 3 new ones have been worse.

I think they need another scary killer like Shane Casey that can bridge several episodes and lead to a build up. Or at the very least, make for a 2-case show. I really miss that. I imagine they cut the other cases because of costs. But it really hurts the show.

I have been watching the older seasons more and more I see how weak the show is now. It is a big bummer, but all shows fade away.

But back to the montage clips, the music used for them really irks me a lot of the time. Weird lyrics and over sexual stuff. Just seems like it makes the show less dramatic. that goes kind of with the recent use of the dancing broads. That does nothing to make the show any different from other crime shows.

 

[talkingtocactus]

I agree the scenes are getting to be used more for fluff than as a help. Maybe they think people are so easily distracted that they need 5 or 6 reminders of how the vic died. This season began on a good note, but the last 3 new ones have been worse.

indeed, it's mallet central! but i think they need to realise that from the start viewers haven't been stupid, we never needed this many reminders in s1, why do we need them now? it hurts the show on the face of it and treating the audience like morons will not help!

I think they need another scary killer like Shane Casey that can bridge several episodes and lead to a build up. Or at the very least, make for a 2-case show.

agreed, they either need 2-case eps to show the team dynamic more, or they need a decent arc. or both!

I have been watching the older seasons more and more I see how weak the show is now. It is a big bummer, but all shows fade away.

yeah, it's faded a lot - s6 was almost unwatchable and the start of s7 was promising but now? not so much. i would just stick to 1-4 if i could.

But back to the montage clips, the music used for them really irks me a lot of the time. Weird lyrics and over sexual stuff. Just seems like it makes the show less dramatic.

yeah, it just feels more and more like filler, like "oh we couldn't think of anything for this 2 min segment so we'll throw in some edna and weird music" - actually the music is often quite good but we're not watching mtv!

that goes kind of with the recent use of the dancing broads.

oh yeah, it bothers me too. i mean, i see their point, y'know, i grew up in london, i spent many years living in night clubs so i know they're just trying to say "hey, look what the kids are up to!" but they overegg the pudding horrendously. also it *really* bothers me that they focus so much on the women and always have them doing sexy dancing or in tiny skirts or licking each other and stuff - yes, that stuff goes on, of course, but this is the 21st century, can we PLEASE get some gender equality? in this day and age if men want titillation they can read playboy or watch any number of soft porn channels. we don't need to see it on crime shows. it's fair enough to show *some* of that stuff, because like i said, it does happen, but they really need to make it (a) more balanced in terms of gender and (b) take up far less of the show. the last ep, for instance, with the inhaled booze, they could've got their point across with 1 minute of that scene, and with the men featured as much as the women. we didn't need 5 minutes of women shoved in our faces. it really bothers me, the franchise has been ok at showing strong female characters (stella, jo, calleigh, catherine, sara etc) but dear god they let themselves down when they counteract that with "hey, let's stick some naked girls in!" :scream::scream::scream::scream:

 

[Geeno]

I actually like most of the special effects. For example, the Hung Out to Dry SFX, I thought they were cool. Showing what's happening in the microscopic level is fun. The stunts are also great. I'm not a fan of slow motions though. Remember in The 34th Floor when Lindsay dropped the gun after shooting Casey? They slow-mo'd it that I thought the gun would fire back at her as soon as it hit the floor!

What I found annoying is when they are showing the same clips/scenes/flashbacks/whatevs more than once in an episode. Let the late viewers catch the episode by themselves (I think anyone can.). It's the consequence of tuning-in late. Just don't annoy/piss the early/faithful viewers. A recap in the middle of the episode is just fine, say when the CSIs gather in a room and layout all the evidence and progress they have.

I don't mind them showing processing scenes as long as it's something new and not just dusting off prints from a metal surface! Remember when Danny lift up a print from a lotion (I think) in the clown episode and he used liquid nitrogen to freeze the lotion? That's something new and I like seeing it. Or when Lindsay was lifting a print from a burnt concrete wall using liquid latex. That's also worth showing. New techniques, technology, equipment.

Not much related but I like the music in the show. I just don't like when it doesn't fit the scene. And, it's a relief NY isn't using split screens, with different sizes and proportions!

 

[Country233]

The dancing girls doesn't bother me quite as much but the constant party scene stuff is old.

I just think there are other ways to make the show interesting. using their guest stars more wisely would help. Larroquette was wasted in those early season episodes.

The montage clips would be better if they were shorter. And yes, they shouldn't think that we are dolts just because we live in a fast-paced world.

 

[talkingtocactus]

^ the party scenes are fine to an extent, although they should be a bit shorter. it's the lack of equality that really gets to me. why should it always be the women that are placed in sex object roles?

and yeah, laroquette was criminally underused.

I actually like most of the special effects. For example, the Hung Out to Dry SFX, I thought they were cool. Showing what's happening in the microscopic level is fun. The stunts are also great. I'm not a fan of slow motions though. Remember in The 34th Floor when Lindsay dropped the gun after shooting Casey? They slow-mo'd it that I thought the gun would fire back at her as soon as it hit the floor!

i'd forgotten the slomo - ergh, yeah, that was awful.

What I found annoying is when they are showing the same clips/scenes/flashbacks/whatevs more than once in an episode. Let the late viewers catch the episode by themselves (I think anyone can.). It's the consequence of tuning-in late.

i agree - like you i don't mind the flashbacks/sfx/montage stuff per se, it's just that they seem to be relying on it more and more at the moment. hell, if i really minded it for its own sake i wouldn't still be watching after 7 seasons, but i'm convinced that their use has got more and more frequent over the last season or two, and it's getting annoying.

again, like you, i don't mind if they show stuff that's relevant, actual technique that we may not have seen before (forensically speaking) or that is crucial for a viewer to understand if they want to grasp how the case was solved, the examples you gave were spot on.

so yeah, it's not these flashbacks, cutaways, montages etc in themselves that i mind, it's just that they seem to be multiplying, to be going on longer, and to be more mallety, ie they're being used less to make genuine points about the science and more to allow later/thicker viewers to keep up. they need to credit their viewers with more intelligence really.

Not much related but I like the music in the show. I just don't like when it doesn't fit the scene. And, it's a relief NY isn't using split screens, with different sizes and proportions!

i often like it but yeah, sometimes it really doesn't fit the scene, that annoys me. but meh, whatever. they did do a split screen recently, i can't remember which ep but i remember it bugged the hell out of me!

i think the thing really is just that they need to realise that sometimes less is more and no amount of montage cutaway stuff will make up for a lack of decent writing. i'd rather be told how they're solving the crime through the dialogue and action with the montages backing that up (as i'm pretty sure was the case in the first few seasons) rather than the other way around which is kinda how it feels now.

 

[Geeno]

hell, if i really minded it for its own sake i wouldn't still be watching after 7 seasons, but i'm convinced that their use has got more and more frequent over the last season or two, and it's getting annoying.

Exactly.

they need to credit their viewers with more intelligence really.

And also the actors. In Sela's recent interview, she also noticed how things are said repeatedly on the show. I hope she kind of become our little voice on the show.

i often like it but yeah, sometimes it really doesn't fit the scene, that annoys me. but meh, whatever. they did do a split screen recently, i can't remember which ep but i remember it bugged the hell out of me!

It's in Sange Por Sangre. I think the other time was in My Name is Mac Taylor - only one scene though. Only two episodes I remember them using split screens, so not bad.

 

[talkingtocactus]

And also the actors. In Sela's recent interview, she also noticed how things are said repeatedly on the show. I hope she kind of become our little voice on the show.

good for her i hope she does

It's in Sange Por Sangre. I think the other time was in My Name is Mac Taylor - only one scene though. Only two episodes I remember them using split screens, so not bad.

i thought it might be but i wasn't sure, so i decided to leave it! i'd forgotten it in my name is mac... - it's not a bad track record really but i wish it was zero:lol: