CSI's Technical Wizards Reveal Their Secrets

After talking with several of the CSI actors and producers, the official CBS web site has expanded its behind-the-scenes coverage of the show with new interviews featuring two CSI crew members.

"The best part of my job is: I really can't wait to see my next script to see what I have to do," make-up effects artist Matthew Mungle told CBS.com. "My role on CSI is to read the script, break it down, taking a face cast of the actor and making a head of them. Or doing a crushed skull. Or actually recreating a whole body."

Mungle, who said he got into make-up effects because he loves monster movies, provided a tour of the effects lab, showing the bodies he created for victims such as the body builder from last year's "4x4." "He took about five days to create," Mungle said, then went on to show such pleasant creations as a corpse head, a cross-section of an oversized leg, and the interior of a body.

More suitable for those wanting to preserve their appetite was the CBS.com interview with CSI technical adviser Richard Catalani, who came to the show after a 16-year stint with the LAPD. "I read and advise on every single script that comes in," Catalani said. "And if we're in the room here, breaking a story, I will suggest some cool forensics that could help them solve the case. The most fulfilling part is keeping these guys honest. I'm very happy when I can suggest a forensic process or procedure that hasn't been used before."

As a former criminalist, Catalani is part of the profession that has been made glamourous by CSI. According to Catalani, that's one of the main achievements of the show. "One of the things that people like about this show is that the science is fundamentally correct. I hope CSI's legacy in history will be that it took people that were science geeks in the past and now made them popular."

For the full interviews with Mungle and Catalani, please head over to the official CSI site and click on "CSI: Video."

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