Exploring how representations construct reality in the opening sequence of CSI Vegas

Check out the opening credits by clicking here!

What groups, places, issues and events are represented in this opening?

• White men 
• A white woman
• A black man
• Crime
• Police
• Detectives
• Forensic scientists
• Doctors 
• Las Vegas
• Middle aged professionals

How are the police represented in CSI Vegas?

• Serious and passionate and professional. This is connoted through the perpetual use of low key lighting, the age of the actors which connotes superiority, and the fact that almost every shot functions as a proairetic code, depicting an element of this job. We see a montage of various high end specialised activities. Yet the ultimate inference is that by doing so, these professionals will protect people's lives by locking up the bad guys
• The police have access to high end, expensive equipment to solve these cases. For example the MES of test tubes, lab coats, gloves and high powered torches suggests a huge amount of money has been attributed. 
• The Opening broadly represents the police force, in particular crime investigators and detectives and forensic scientists. The police are represented as being cool and desirable. This ideology is anchored through the gesture codes of the dancing officer walking down the corridor, signifying his confidence. 
• The police are also represented as competent and invested in their roles, which is emphasised through the montage of series facial expressions. This is further anchored through the actor’s poses and the MES of their equipment, such as walkie talkies and powerful flashlights, which suggests they are highly capable
• While we are presented with a montage of upsetting and gory images, the upbeat classic rock soundtrack provides a binary opposition and suggests that the competent and able cops are completely used to this situation, and violent death does not affect them. 
• The representation of a competent investigative crime scene force constructs an ideological perspective that a powerful police force protects American citizens everyday. While the crimes and events may be similar to ones that happen in real life, they are representations. Edges have been filed off, and elements have been skipped in order to construct a favourable and comfortable representation of the police force to the mass market audience.