The Zodiac Killer: A Story for YouTube or Amazon Prime

The aim of this essay is to gain a deeper understanding on the true crime genre and the effect that postproduction can have on the finalised product. This will be done by analysing two productions based on the same crime and delving into what makes them different despite having the same storyline. The productions that I have chosen are ‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ on the Buzzfeed Unsolved Network (Bergara), and Tim Roger’s ‘Serious Serial Killers’ (Rogers). These two productions were chosen as they have been edited very differently to one another due to the platform that each was published on. ‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ was made for YouTube as part of a larger series of true crime videos. ‘Serious Serial Killers’ on the other hand, was a one-off production published on Amazon Prime. This essay will use a series of metrics to analyse the chosen texts, gain an understanding on the true crime genre and examine the different editing styles. This includes the music, colour schemes and the narratological tone used. Music has a powerful effect on film and can influence how a viewer emotes the characters (Chang and Lin). Research shows that colours can directly affect a person’s mood and allows filmmakers to create a meaningful and emotionally powerful production (Beren). The language used is vital as it could be the difference between a comedy and a horror (Leschinsky). True crime as a genre is a genre of real-life stories where the law is the starting point (Austin). This genre is extremely popular as it allows the audience to feel involved and watch it play out in front of their eyes, gaining more information than they would from watching the news (Sayles). This can be linked to the sheer reality of what the viewer is watching (University of Oregon). It is also suggested that the increase in fascination with the true crime genre, evident in the increasing number of podcasts, series, and documentaries, is due to how it has transferred into somewhat of a participatory media culture. The term “internet sleuth” has slowly appeared in our vocabulary and it is defined as “a person who searches the internet for information on a person or an event, doing some kind of detective work through the internet” (Pumphrey). A true crime documentary can shape an audience’s opinion on a real case and therefore how a documentary is produced is particularly important (Horeck). Primarily, we must consider the language used and tone used. The narration can have the most obvious effect on a documentary. Language differs between genres and can set the atmosphere and mood (Leschinsky). Although both productions are based on the same crimes, that being of the Zodiac Killer, the scripting allows vastly different audience reception. Many scholars consider this genre to be sensationalized murder stories and this reputation is earnedthrough the language that is used which is often dramatised. The dramatisation is what turns crime journalism into true crime, and this is aided by the language and tone used (Punnett).

‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ is presented by Ryan Bergara and Brent Bennett in an investigatory style. Bergara and Bennett offer an interesting and compelling dynamic on screen. Bergara plays the role of the expert and presents the facts to both Bennett and the audience. Meanwhile, Bennett goes into the filming of the show with no prior knowledge of the crime and asks questions, almost acting as a real time audience member (Bergara). This allows the audience to feel more involved as they see one of the hosts representing them and reacting the same way that they themselves may be reacting at home. The language used is simple and relaxed, relating to the platform that this series is produced on. YouTube would be a more casual form of content streaming in comparison to Amazon Prime where ‘Serious Serial Killers’ was promoted. YouTube allows a more relaxed language including certain levels of profanity and other behaviour that might be deemed as “unprofessional” on other platforms. The crime is explained in a serious manner by Bergara before Bennett chimes in with his own thoughts (Bergara). Typically, these comments are witty and a reflection of what the audience may be thinking upon hearing the facts of the crime for the first time. An example of this is when discussing the Zodiac’s murders:

Bergara: “He claims to have killed thirty-seven people.”

Bennett: “Like he wrote a note?”

Bergara: “Yeah… he was a… he was a douchebag.”

(Bergara)

This is a very nonchalant way to discuss murders, but it adds a hint of comedy. By calling a murderer a “douchebag” it opens the floor to the audience to be a bit more relaxed in talking about a horrific event. It is controversial whether a relaxed environment creates positive or negative outcomes. A benefit of this is that it could allow viewers to be aware of danger as it highlights the telltale signs of a murderer (Dietsche). However, the downside could be that it allows a level of desensitisation to violence, as well as emotional distress (Soto-Sanfiel and Montoya-Bermudez). Additionally, true crime documentaries are often considered to be criminal stories sold as entertainment. This can certainly be said to be the case with ‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ as they use comedy to turn an otherwise dark story into a piece of light-hearted entertainment by using amusing language (Punnett). It allows a viewer, who may not usually watch true crime due to the distressing nature of them, to engage with this genre that they otherwise would not have. On the video, viewers have left comments applauding the channel for their humous content. With one audience member even commenting;

“I’m so glad they have those little dialogue because I’d be shitting myself without it” (47LG).

Of course, this relaxed language can have negative effects. This unbothered and almost uncaring tone may undermine what happened. By making comedy the central focus it could end up pushing the true story to the side, which is the loss of life. This could also be insensitive to the victims’ families and ignoring the topic’s seriousness. However, the show isn’t solely reliant on the comical interactions between the hosts. It also includes interesting facts about the event. When this is done, Bergara delivers these facts in a simple and straightforward tone and does not delve too much into the details. Details are kept minimal due to the nature of the platform. YouTube has clear guidelines on what a creator can and cannot post, such as suicide, violence, and criminal activity. However, if the content is posted in an educational manner, then it will not get flagged as a community guideline violation (YouTube).

“Seventeen-year-old David Faraday and sixteen-year-old Betty Lou Jensen.”

(Bergara)

When discussing the victims, they never tease or make jokes at their expense. They also do not go into gruesome details about their murder. This is quite a different approach to how they talk about the Zodiac Killer. It is not a sombre tone but rather monotone and emotionless. This indicates the seriousness of the situation, especially because in this example they were children. This allows a nice balance between their jokes about the murderer and the monotone presentation of facts. There are numerous raving reviews about the show, with the crux surrounding the language and humorous jokes (IMDb). On the other hand, if we examine the language and tone used in the documentary ‘Serious Serial Killers’ it is consistently monotone (Rogers). The voiceover sounds like a news anchor’s voice, emotionless, almost non-human. Furthermore, it has a journalistic tone, with none of the filmmaker’s opinion in the script, unlike ‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ in which the two hosts are supplying the audience with their opinion constantly (Bergara). Additionally, the crimes are described in simple terms, making it quite easy for the audience to understand and follow along with the story. Jargon is rarely, if ever, used and this accessibility is why a lot of scholars believe that the true crime genre is popular (Rogers). It is a complicated story, made simple for the masses to understand (Punnett). The language used is extremely detailed and does not spare any details in comparison to ‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ as there are few restrictions on what the producers could and could not convey in the film (Rogers).

“The next morning the town of Vallejo awakens to pictures of Betty Lou Jensen, her feet sticking out from under a coroner’s blanket.”

(Rogers)

The voiceover in ‘Serious Serial Killers’ is so matter of fact that it almost comes across as a police report. We never see the narrator, Robert Beattie, which is a documentary style that has been around since the 1930s (Rogers). This disembodied voice gives the audience the impression that they are all knowing, and this is since they are unrepresentable in human form (Wolfe). However, the host is not the only voice that the audience hears, there are also many interviews in the documentary, including interviews of a news photographer, police officers and editors from newspapers (Rogers). The interviews are somber and contain emotions. They tell the story of the Zodiac Killer from their perspective, whether they worked the case directly at the location of the crime, or they who worked at the local newspaper publishing company and they were forced to publish the Zodiac Killer’s letter. Although there is only slight emotion in their voice, it impacts the viewer as it is a personal side of the story. Colours can alter a person’s emotional state and therefore it is an enormously powerful tool in the film world. Filmmakers use specific colour choices to develop a story, influence the audience emotionally, and to create subconscious environments within the film or show. Cinematographers often use neuroscience and colour association to promote the audience reception to their production (Beren).

By exclusively looking at the colour scheme, ‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ is a very dark production. A lot of the production was filmed at night, promoting an earie impression. The documentary opens with the hosts sitting in a dimly lit car at the location of the first murder (Bergara). This was a creative decision to amplify the drama due to the production being made for YouTube, where a lot of the content published is highly dramatic. While the location is simply a car park, the poor lighting could be seen as a metaphor for how dark the story is. Majority of the clips are done in postproduction with a lot of them consisting of old images of the victims or visuals of the Zodiac Killer’s letters. These images are centred on the screen with the remainder of the screen blacked out, often with quotes from the Zodiac or police reports underneath in a white font (Bergara). This is done deliberately to push fear onto the audience. The colour black is often associated with grief, fear, and evil forces (LAFS). Overall, the visuals are black and greys, asides from when the hosts are humorously commenting on the case. When this happens, the screen goes black and subtitles in the centre of the screen appear as the men are talking (Bergara). The subtitles are yellow and blue, this is a deliberate decision to include bright colours in the middle of an otherwise dark scene. The colourful lettering mimics the light-heartedness of what is being said. Research shows that people often associate darker colours with deeper tones and sounds (Beren). This indicates that the colour choices in Bergara’s production could be linked to the musical choices. ‘Serious Serial Killer’ is visually a rich documentary, with recreations and interviews of those involved. A lot of the footage is recreation, not just for the crime scenes but also for every aspect of the case, including B roll of a printing press, cars driving, drone footage of the city (Rogers). This could indicate a large budget to make this documentary, reflecting the platform it was produced for. The be roll of the minor details allows the story to come to life and it almostmimics the news during the time of the murders. This is a creative technique to enhance the experience of the viewer and bring the story to life. There are also images of evidence including the Zodiac’s letters, police sketches and stamps. The footage is grainy and tinted yellow, despite the documentary only being made in 2012 (Rogers). According to scholars the colour yellow can increase anxiety. It is also known as a universal colour of danger, with many yellows in nature indicating poison and yellow being on man-made signs indicating danger (Beren). Background noises, such as music, can trigger certain moods in the audience (Fink). Horror movies are traditionally overly dramatic and therefore it could be said that any true crime documentary which is aiming to be dramatic would follow similar rules to the horror genre (Meinel and Bullerjahn). Music in true crime productions have a significant role to play as it must not be obvious and apparent but also should be strong enough to shape a viewer’s opinion (Huelin).

The music added to ‘The Horrifying Murders of the Zodiac Killer’ is an eerie, faint piano piece. It almost sounds like an echo which builds slowly (Bergara). This music only plays when the language tone is serious and laying out the facts. When the two hosts are making jokes and teasing the Zodiac Killer, the music stops, and it almost acts as if they are breaking the fourth wall. When they are laughing, it seems unedited with no background noise like a blooper. YouTube is a platform originally for amateur filmmakers who would upload videos that they made at home on their phones and that is still the style of the platform. Therefore, this act of making the content seem like a blooper makes perfect sense. About halfway into the investigation, the music changes when the hosts start to discuss the potential suspects and theories. From this point onwards, the music has a quicker tempo, and soft drums are added into the piano piece. This causes the tone to change from spooky to intense (Bergara). This reflects the pace of the documentary, as it starts off slow and by the end the facts are being delivered to the viewer not allowing them time to process what is happening. This is also like how the crime played out in real time, with the first few murders slowly happening and as more victims aremurdered the intensity of the case increased. There seems to be no rhyme or rhythm to the background music in ‘Serious Serial Killers.’ In some scenes it is sombre and sad with a slow piano and other times can be upbeat, with string instruments and drums, as well as some scenes having eerie music by using a rain stick (Rogers). This could be an attempt to mimic the landscape of the ever-changing crime scene. At some parts, the music is intense and other times it dwindles off into the background. The music, however, is not the only added background noise, with audio recreations of the crime scenes such as gun shots (Rogers). This brought the documentary to life and transported the viewer into the scene. This is key in producing a true crime documentary as the audience iscaptured by the intensity and drama. By adding in the sounds of a gun, it incapsulates the viewerand transports them to the scene of the crime.

In conclusion, the true crime genre is one that explores the stories of which the law is involved. Filmmakers use tactics to amplify the drama and therefore entertainment of these stories. Effective ways to heighten the tension in documentaries are through narrative language, music, and the colour scheme. From analysing the documentaries above, there is no set way to produce a true crime documentary. Bergara chose to make a humorous and witty production, while Rogers chose to have a more journalistic approach. This could be linked to whichever platform they were produced for. Both were successful documentaries, and this is due to the filmmakers knowing what platform they were published on and adapting their stories to that.

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