It's All In The Presentation

David Berman (David Phillips) and Jon Wellner (Henry Andrews) shared their knowledge of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with students.

The two actors visited the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) and made a presentation about CSI. They gave the MU students an idea of what happens behind the scenes. "We put together a full season between June and April," Berman said. "A lot of work goes into making each episode, and it is very fast and furious." The process starts when the show's ten full-time writers come up with ideas, create an outline, and write the first draft of the episode. After conversations and revisions, a second draft is written. The director of that episode is given the second draft and has seven days to get ready to shoot. Filming itself takes eight or nine days per episode. Then the episode gets edited and the sound department checks for lines that the camera doesn't catch. Berman described how the actors occasionally have to drive to the studio to re-record troublesome lines. Sometimes, it's nothing more than "a cough or [to] say the word 'oops.'"

Berman and Wellner play lab technicians on CSI, but they contribute to the show in another way as well: they are both researchers. It's their job to find out the answers to any questions the writers may have. This can include subject matter ranging from animal costumes to the rate at which ice melts, not to mention everything in between. "We have to answer questions about all kinds of topics, and most of them have to be answered by a person," Wellner said. "Usually people help us because whether or not they do, we are still going to have whatever our question is in the episode."

During the presentation, Wellner and Berman also addressed the differences between real forensic science and what you see on television. In real-life, for example, it takes much longer to get lab results, and the investigators are not going to perform as many different jobs as the characters on the show. This can sometimes lead to the "CSI effect", causing viewers to have unrealistic expectations during real investigations and court cases. "CSI is changing the way crimes are being committed," Berman explained. However, Wellner said that there were "more positives than negatives" that could be attributed to the success of CSI. Things are not always what they seem to be on television, but in the end, "people are actually more interested in forensic science."

The original article is from The Maneater.

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