VFX Supervisor Explains 'New York' Darkness

CSI: New York's visual effects supervisor Cathy Siegel recently said the show's dark atmosphere was a conscious design choice.

"We wanted to create a sibling that isn't a clone of the Miami or Vegas shows," Siegel told Iain Blair at Film and Video Magazine, "so right from the start we went for a much darker palette."

The sombre tone has been criticised by several television writers, including USA Today's Robert Bianco and Matt Roush of TV Guide. But Siegel said the use of "blues and blacks" enhances the "gritty urban feel of the city, while Vegas is green and Miami has a lot of warm orange colors."

The team from Brickyard VFX is also responsible for many aspects of the series which viewers wouldn't normally associate with visual effects. "The main challenge has been creating full-CG scenes that the other shows don't do so much of, and we have to come up with a lot more than you'd think," Siegel said, adding that she also applies "touch-ups to prosthetics and makeup" and creates "crash zooms and push zooms" to highlight a specific piece of evidence at a crime scene.

New York's own brand of "push zoom" is designed to have a softer effect to give the spin-off its own distinct style. "It still gives the audience the same information and the same chance to see what the characters are seeing, but in a slightly different way," Siegel said.

The complete interview can be found at Film and Video Magazine.

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