Semiotics – Criminal Minds Shelby Edmunds

Editing - Hero The heroes in Criminal minds

get shown with clear shots of their faces/bodies

They are surrounded by bright lighting

They take up most of the episode with the majority of the shots focused on them as they are trying to work out the case

They are the emphasis in most shots as they are the key

Editing - Villain

The villain is very mysterious as you aren’t supposed to know who they are until the very end

The lighting is very dark surrounding any shots of the villain

The villain isn’t shown in as many shots as they don’t want to give anything away too soon

Music: Heroes VS Villains

When it comes to revealing a scene in which the villain is going to take his next victim the music changes to how it would show heroes

When he kills his victim the music becomes very fast and in a minor key

When the heroes have music in a major key

The music is more happy or relaxing as opposed to trying to cause a stressful atmosphere

It can be more slow, flowing, a nice piece of music to compliment the feelings

Characters - Heroes People who play the hero are people

whose appearance is encoded by our social codes

They’re socially central types who embody the dominant ideology

For example in criminal minds some represent :

Morgan– a strong, team-player, attractive

Spencer – smart, wise

JJ & Emily - confident, happy, smart, attractive

They have the lifestyle which makes the viewer want to follow

Female Character

Penelope Garcia can challenge the stereotypes of characters as she doesn’t wear typical casual clothes she like to wear things that are out there. She can however been seen as quite girly i.e. wearing dresses and lipsticks

JJ also challenges stereotypes to an extent