Rant about crappy realism in crime series

[syredronning]

Watching CSI NY (possibly second-to-last season) on German TV, and I start hating this series (and many similar ones) for this kind of crap:

Taking three pixels of a security cam and enlarging it so that you can read the chassis number or see the scene mirroring in the eye - WTF? CAN YOU PLEASE WRITE PLOT THAT IS WORTH THE NAME WITHOUT THAT SH*T!? If your story needs this kind of plot devices, it may be CRAP. Damn, the writers get paid for this kind of sh*t. I should change jobs.

Also on the hate list: 3D holograms of dead bodies that effortlessly and on button pushing show all layers of said body. And translucent screens that hang in the air. (Though that's another series, afair.)

Comments

[gokuma.livejournal.com]

The "Las Vegas" version of "CSI" has been always the best one. I can't even watch "Miami", it seems so fake ^^''' It's like watching some kind of crime-themed version of "Baywatch"

[shadowvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

I kind of like Navy CIS. As for the occasional technology-realism fail like transparent hover screens and super cameras, I just pretend it's sci-fi. ";-]

I don't like the Miami version because the main character is so incredibly ugly. Yes, I'm shallow, but I just. can't. watch it.

[shadowvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

It doesn't open. Aw. ":-(

[gokuma.livejournal.com]

*sighs*

I know, something was wrong with the clip. The link should work though => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glvGfQnx3DI

[shadowvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

*lol* Awesome, thanks!

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

*snort**********

[wuffelchen.livejournal.com]

IMHO, Navy CIS is the worst in terms of unrealistic characters. It too has lots of sci-fi tech, but someone like Abby would either get kicked out after her first week or getting streamlined until she conforms to government standards.

[shadowvalkyrie.livejournal.com]

I'm well aware of that, and to be honest, lack of realism improves most series appeal rather than diminish it. If I wanted realistic police procedures, I wouldn't look to popular TV. Sadly, real life police work is usually more tedious than watching paint dry, and futile and frustrating more often than not. Or they'd have damned well found my stolen bicycle. So, NCIS in all its over-the-top glory for me. ";-]

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

*G* I never get around watching it as I live with wuffelchen but I guess it's just as bad as all else *G*

[toastedtea.livejournal.com]

You'll like this comic, then: If TV science was more like real science.

*Edited to fix borked code.

[gokuma.livejournal.com]

"PHD" = WIN ^___^

I love the newest comic => http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1221 So true XD *munches a chocolate bar*

[toastedtea.livejournal.com]

PHD is awesome. This is the one that I related to even more than the chocolate one: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1219

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Oh, great. LOL!

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Gummi bears... my food of choice when stressed, sigh :)

[illariy.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Very fitting link! Gotta love &hearts phd comics.

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so true! I forgot all about this comic.

[illariy.livejournal.com]

Haha, that is indeed made of fail. Especially if a show constantly relies on that kind of sloppiness. *eyeroll* I admit, I'm willing to be more lenient with fanfic. Because any TV show that has a budget for special effects should also have a budget to do a quick factcheck to make sure that their effects actually do make sense, you know. (OTOH, I'm sure many errors in e.g. the medical field slip under my radar when it comes to h/c so I shouldn't preach. XD)

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Well, I think there are errors and BIG FAT FUCKUPS :) It's like House resurrecting a dead person or such *G*

[boombangbing.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one annoyed by that! The amount of 'no, it really doesn't work that way' science on TV is amazing. It drives me crazy when they magically make a grainy CCTV image into a super-zoomed in hi-res shot, especially as half the time they seem to be doing it with something as basic as Photoshop. :/

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

I really try to overlook or just buy all the fancy stuff, but this pixel thing is something everyone who ever tried to work with low-level resolution pics will know that it does not works like that.

It's different to exploding cars that are for the fun - the pixel things are major plot points all the time, and that sucks IMO.

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

Well, if we want to get technical, how about all those space shows that have the ships zooming around in outer space with sound effects? It's not like you can hear anything in space.

The pixels and tech stuff - they have a 40 minutes of screentime to tell their story and they're not about to bog it down in boring details. It's about getting the ball rolling toward the conclusion and advancing the plot, not about depicting procedures 100% accurately. I adore NCIS for the character interaction and the clever writing, not for "realism".

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

I don't watch NCIS.

I really like the crime shows, but this pixel zoom shit starts being the major plot point in about half the episodes, and it really gets on my nerves :( I really feel that the plots are worse for it.

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

I don't watch NCIS.

I was speaking broadly.

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

I know. However, for some strange reasons NCIS seems to "tick" a little differently than the other series, but as I've never seen it (husband hates it) I'm a bit clueless as to the difference :)

[lydia-petze.livejournal.com]

It's actually the only procedural I really enjoy, and it's for the characters and the writing. It's funny, and intentionally so. I really couldn't give a hoot about the technical side of it - I'm not watching for that.

[melodyclark.livejournal.com]

I make mistakes all the time in others' fields so I tend to be more forgiving. It's not all about the writing. A lot of it is production input.

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it's such a cheap cop-out at times :/

[de-len.livejournal.com]

"Taking three pixels of a security cam and enlarging it so that you can read the chassis number or see the scene mirroring in the eye"

Do you mean computers can`t do this in real or what is the problem? I really don`t get it! I mean every new show has many new high-tech camera settings and other new special effects. Very unrealistic sometimes but it works!

I love these scenes and CSI: NY is a very good show!

[syredronning.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you have just a few flurry pixels, it's just impossible to get a HD image from them, because where should the information come from? And everyone who's ever edited a pic of a low resolution knows that.

Of course lots of the stuff is unrealistic, but to use these enlarged pixel thingies constantly as major plot points is just bad writing IMVHO.