Guest neworder Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I have just started watching Season 4...yipee.And i have observed something.Reading a lot of reviews about Season 4 you hear phrases like 'Miami Vice has lost the Miami' and i think that sums it up perfectly, as over the past week or so I have noticed more than ever the extensive use of Interior shots at the start of Season 4 and if they are outside its at night so you dont see much.Was it too hot to go outside? They managed it in the other seasons...Examples;Contempt of court - outside shots for possibly 3 minutes max??? lolAmen Send Money - Daytime shooting very limited, Bill Bob's house you dont see much miami then tailing him for a bit, then the scene towards the end chasing Becker, love that bit the palm trees and blue skies, awesome optics in that scene...but again outside shoots total maybe 5-10 mins and hardly any of it is interesting.Death and the lady - very interior focussed, lots of night time scenes. Dont get me wrong this is how this ep should be, like little miss dangerous style but LMD in season 2 was substituted with other episodes that had lots of MiamiThe Big Thaw - no miami locals worth mentioning, if the sun wasn't so bright it could've been filmed in Chicago...Childs Play - no decent miami locals to be fairGods Work - FINALLY, we get some sick day time shooting showing the beauty of Miami, in particular the awesome boat chase and the nice scenes at the beach where C&T & Castillo chat.So why? Ive mentioned weather already, was 87 a busy hurricane season? Erm in a short answer NO, although a cat 1 hurricane passed over Miami at the time of The Rising Sun of Death's filming. I havent watched this for a while but will look for clues as to the hurricanes affects next time i watch lol!In fact the summr of 87 in Miami yielded a few record low temps, obviously in Miami thats still in the 60's. So whats my point? Well im wondering why does Season 4 lack so much Miami and why are large swathes of it filmed in doors? It does affect the style somewhat! I mean, its not as though the weather was bad, not an active hurricane season and they managed it in pass seasons. Surely filming indoors was more expensive...??? Anyone got answers lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viceman Cometh Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 You're not nuts. When you think of the clasic seasons, you think of a lot of really cool night scenes. Later seasons, more of a flat-looking interior look. Why? My best guess is because it's cheaper to shoot on soundstanges where you can control the lighting and aren't subject to the weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiamiCop123 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I would agree with Neworder, Season 4 doesn't have alot of good Miami shots. The first seasons have great shots, which is why lots of people visited Miami during 1984-1986. But Season 3 was okay, Season 5 not bad. (Don't like Season 4 at all). Oh well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shill Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 "Mirror Image" saves the day though. Great outdoor and night time shots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agent 47 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 You have to remember that a different producer took over after Michael Mann, while I haven't got season four on DVD, (yet) I consider season four my favorite, (season one is my second favorite, season five is my least favorite, but that is for my different discussion) why did they use less outdoor shots? I guess to add a darker theme to the show. (such as Indian Wars, my favorite Vice episode of all time. Notice it's mostly the Glades and night shots.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Legba Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Another factor you might have to take into account is that in the early days of Vice, when the series was fairly unknown, outdoor scenes that included the cast would have been easier to film without the interference of fans or onlookers. As the series (and in particular Don Johnson) gained immense popularity, it would have been a lot harder to film in public locations without generating a lot more hysteria. For example, a scene like the one in Season 1's "Cool Runnin" where Crockett, Tubbs, and Noogy walk down a crowded street, full of what were obviously non-equity card holding members of the public, would have been impossible to film by Season 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiamiCop123 Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Shill is right, Mirror Image did save the day, or Vice would have been shoved down the tube and been cancelled after Season 4 (good thing Dick Wolf was smart to do that:evil:) but I missed Michael Mann's work. Oh well.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shill Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 "Mirror image" was ineviatble from "Brother's Keeper" onwards. Only a matter of time before an undercover cop cracks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neworder Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 You have to remember that a different producer took over after Michael Mann' date=' while I haven't got season four on DVD, (yet) I consider season four my favorite, (season one is my second favorite, season five is my least favorite, but that is for my different discussion) why did they use less outdoor shots? I guess to add a darker theme to the show. (such as Indian Wars, my favorite Vice episode of all time. Notice it's mostly the Glades and night shots.)[/quote']Interesting not many people out there who like season 4 the best. To be fair there are hints in there that make it awesome, I too am a fan of Indian Wars it is a good episode.There are many decent episodes and I love crocketts style during the first half of the season (pre vote of confidence), but obviously there are a few issues like missing hours. Death and the lady is my highlight. My ratings on .org showed little difference when average between Season 4 and Season 3, with season 3 beating 4 by 0.2 of a mark roughly lol. Good points made about the popularity meaning less out doors shots. Notice how outdoor shoots increase in season 5 again when vice was considered to have jumped the shark.SJB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Love Season 5 Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Season 4 is the weirdest season for sure. I recently rewatched it, and am currently in the final episodes, and I think the summing up over the years of "A Strange Ride" is the most accurate you can make.It is one of the most inconsistent seasons of any television show, i've ever watched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lar Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Notice how outdoor shoots increase in season 5 again when vice was considered to have jumped the shark.SJBS5 was the lowest rated season, but a huge turn-around from the inconsistency of S4. Too bad not enough people were watching to notice how good it became again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasyED Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Hi there,I have been watching through season 4 lately...and I definitely agree with that they filmed a lot indoor... just a small example in epi "Rock and a Hard Place" in the beginning after the the party were Caitlin introduce Sonny... the scene is the next morning when they two are on the balcony..you can really see that it is in the studio the background is blurred and the noise from the streets of LA are quite low the "sun light"...there is even no breeze when you look at DJ hair.......hehe howsoever I just wanted to agree on that there are a lot more indoor scenes in season 4 than the other season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodriguezisdead Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 For me the paradox of S4 is that it really does have some of the highs and lows of the show. It probably has the largest number of relatively weak/poor eps that the show ever gave us (Missing Hours, Cows of October, the Big Thaw, etc.), but simultaneously has at least 2 of the all-time classic MV moments/eps - Sonny blasting away Hackman, and then the chilling escapades/scenes of an amnesiacal Burnett in Mirror Image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary1911A1 Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 You have to remember that a different producer took over after Michael Mann' date=' while I haven't got season four on DVD, (yet) I consider season four my favorite, (season one is my second favorite, season five is my least favorite, but that is for my different discussion) why did they use less outdoor shots? I guess to add a darker theme to the show. (such as Indian Wars, my favorite Vice episode of all time. Notice it's mostly the Glades and night shots.)[/quote']I agree with you. I think after Mann left things started to go downhill for the series. People often don't appreciate all the other people who make a great show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Vercetti Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Season one was totally Mann's which is obvious as it's a superb season with the right balance of style and strong storylines.I think he was less involved with the show after season 2 as he was off working on other projects. He was there sometimes but not all the time.He was off making Manhunter during season 2 so that might account for the mostly poor quality storylines in season 2.He was working on his other show Crime Story during seasons 3 & 4 so he brought in Dick Wolf to run Vice and come up with stronger storylines, which he did in season 3 but not so much in season 4.Mann returned to Vice full time in season 5. He wasn't working on other projects then so he could give it his full attention. That's why I think season 5 is such a high quality season. I'm a huge fan of S5. It's a great season.You could tell Mann was running things again with the high quality storylines and the return of characters from season one like Lombard, Valerie and May Ying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neworder Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 Mann returned to Vice full time in season 5. He wasn't working on other projects then so he could give it his full attention. That's why I think season 5 is such a high quality season. I'm a huge fan of S5. It's a great season.You could tell Mann was running things again with the high quality storylines and the return of characters from season one like Lombard' date=' Valerie and May Ying.[/quote']He must have gone into a coma during the filming of Miracle Man and Cell Within though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodriguezisdead Posted July 24, 2009 Report Share Posted July 24, 2009 and did Mann really have anything at all to do with leap of faith? please, tell me no! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agent 47 Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 I also have been watching Season Four lately, I am starting to prefer the style of the later seasons to earlier seasons, to be honest I don't know how much Mann really had to do exactly with the show, but it did go on without him, and it got better in terms of writing and became more serious, it's like the trasition of Moore to Dalton in the Bond series, takes something good, made it better.By the way, season five isn't my least favorite season nowadays, I place it at third, now it stands as: 1. Season Four 2. Season Three 3. Season Five 4. Season One 5. Season Two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neworder Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 and did Mann really have anything at all to do with leap of faith? please' date=' tell me no![/quote']OH Yeah forgot about that one lol, I do try hard to erase it from memory though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt5 Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 Season 4 is such an up and down season with many variations on style - particularly Crockett's clothes .But , I too, noticed that there was far less shooting on location - I put this down to a number of factors1/Cost- MV was out of the top 25 and falling relatively fast in the ratings - just a year earlier in Season 3 it was a top 10 show.2/ Hurricanes - the 1987 season was a busy one - which meant there was more studio/inside shots - also the crew shot in North Miami a little bit extra.3/ The Popularity of Miami Beach - By the fall of 1987 - Miami was a full fledged resort gaining huge popularity ( solely thanks to Miami Vice ) .Between 1984 and 87 there was a boom in tourism. This must have made it more difficult to film.There was some talk of moving filming from Miami to La in 1987 due to the high cost of filming in the Miami area but that didnt happen. Saying that, there was still a lot of location shooting , and in different locations too, that we hadnt seen before such as Overtown and areas near North Miami, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Vercetti Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 One thing I noticed was the weather was much better in season 3 then in season 2.For most of season 3 it is lovely and sunny with lots of clear blue skies but when you look at season 2, it was cloudy and windy in the Callie pool scene in Definitely Miami, it was cloudy and rainy in Yankee Dollar and it was cloudy and overcast in One Way Ticket.I like sunny weather on the show much better myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neworder Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 2/ Hurricanes - the 1987 season was a busy one - which meant there was more studio/inside shots - also the crew shot in North Miami a little bit extra.Overall yes a busy one, but as stated when I started this thread only The Rising Sun of Death was shot during a period where a Hurricane occurred, only 1 hurricane hit Miami that year; using the filming dates on the Glossary here to support that fact so I hope they are correct.I mean yeah I think there were a a few tropical depressions but to be fair, tropical depressions are nothing more than a standard rain/wind event in the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neworder Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 One thing I noticed was the weather was much better in season 3 then in season 2.For most of season 3 it is lovely and sunny with lots of clear blue skies but when you look at season 2' date=' it was cloudy and windy in the Callie pool scene in Definitely Miami, it was cloudy and rainy in Yankee Dollar and it was cloudy and overcast in One Way Ticket.I like sunny weather on the show much better myself.[/quote']I always thought Season 2 was a sunny season but when Ive been watching this last run I completely agree, Yankee Dollar is one that stuck out to me as very dark and cloudy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D. Posted July 25, 2009 Report Share Posted July 25, 2009 My opinion is that it may have been cheaper to film indoors, & easier since they didn't have a daytime crowd of fans to contend with.....but I also believe that the happy, sunny, fun Miami feeling was giving way to the dark, moody, brooding feel that led to Burnett's Trilogy. The whole TV & movie scene was getting darker......which ultimately led to the Miami Vice Movie, which had almost no sunshine at all ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agent 47 Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 I always thought a light rain looked good on Miami Vice, I remember on One - Eyed Jack there was a light rain, I kinda prefer the overcast look to the sunshine look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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