Chalk outline

A chalk outline is a temporary outline drawn on the ground outlining evidence at a crime scene. The outline provides context for photographs of the crime scene, and assists investigators in preserving the evidence. Modern investigators almost never use chalk or tape as outlines at a crime scene to avoid contaminating the evidence. Although rare in modern investigations they have become a literary trope in popular culture.

Form

Classically, white or bright yellow chalk is used, although some may use paint or white tape. In the case of a body, a chalk outline might be drawn immediately before the body is to be removed, but after the medical examiner has examined the body.

Chalk outlines in practice were typically rough shapes of the body's position and did not include specific arms and leg orientation.

History and modern use

While chalk outlines were occasionally used in the past, they often were drawn by the police for press photographers, not for investigative purposes. It allowed the press to take a picture and represent the scene without the gruesomeness of a body.

Chalk Outline (song)

"Chalk Outline" is the lead single from Canadian rock band, Three Days Grace's fourth album, Transit of Venus. The band released many "snippets" of the song before August 14 to tease fans. It reached No. 1 on the U.S. Active Rock Chart for a total of 10 weeks and won the "Rock Song of the Year" award given by Loudwire.

Music video

"Chalk Outline" has a lyric video, which shows the lyrics of the song over a clip of a man walking around a city. The band also released an official music video for "Chalk Outline" on October 5. The video shows Adam Gontier walking through a city, singing to the camera and passing the other band members on the way, culminating with the four of them meeting in a dark room, performing the song. The video was directed by Shane Drake.

Charts

References

External links

Chalk

Chalk /ˈtʃɔːk/ is a soft, white, porous sedimentary carbonate rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO₃. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite shells (coccoliths) shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores. Flint (a type of chert unique to chalk) is very common as bands parallel to the bedding or as nodules embedded in chalk. It is probably derived from sponge spicules or other siliceous organisms as water is expelled upwards during compaction. Flint is often deposited around larger fossils such as Echinoidea which may be silicified (i.e. replaced molecule by molecule by flint).

Chalk as seen in Cretaceous deposits of Western Europe is unusual among sedimentary limestones in the thickness of the beds. Most cliffs of chalk have very few obvious bedding planes unlike most thick sequences of limestone such as the Carboniferous Limestone or the Jurassic oolitic limestones. This presumably indicates very stable conditions over tens of millions of years.

Chalk (disambiguation)

Chalk may refer to:

Surname

Chalk (TV series)

Chalk is a British television sitcom set in a comprehensive school named Galfast High. Two series, both written by Steven Moffat, were broadcast on BBC1 in 1997. Like Moffat's earlier sitcom Joking Apart, Chalk was produced by Andre Ptaszynski for Pola Jones.

The series focuses upon deputy headteacher Eric Slatt (David Bamber), permanently stressed over the chaos he creates both by himself and some of his eccentric staff. His wife Janet (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and new English teacher Suzy Travis (Nicola Walker) attempt to help him solve the problems.

Because of the very good reaction of the studio audience, a second series was commissioned before the first had been broadcast. However, journalists were critical of the show, highlighting stylistic similarities to Fawlty Towers. Some members of the teaching profession and its unions objected to the negative representation of teachers and the comprehensive system. The second series did not receive a stable broadcast slot, with many episodes aired after 10pm. The first series was released on DVD in December 2008.