Waiting for Redemption

Each of the three CSI TV shows is filmed through a very specific color filter. And the filters all tend to be dark.

“Darkness is the new light.”

That’s the premise behind a visual effect in the TV series that until recently was the most popular on the planet: CSI. According to Eurodata, a firm that ranks shows by their worldwide ratings, in 2007 nearly 84 million viewers around the world watched the original CSI series (the one set in Las Vegas). In 2008, House edged it out of first place, but the spinoff CSI: Miami still holds second place.

The notion that dark is the new light refers to CSI’s lighting scheme, which gives the series a visually dark effect. In fact, none of the three CSI series shoots in natural light. The Las Vegas CSI is shot using a blue filter, the Miami CSI uses a yellow filter and the New York CSI, as well as some other shows set in New York, uses a black filter. These light-altering lenses give each of the three series a distinctive look, and they add a layer of darkness to the shows’ appearance.

Ron Rosenbaum, writing in The New York Observer,...