Miami - then & now

[S.FL84]

So I'm waiting for the summer semester to start while watching SMUGGLER'S BLUES and I'm comparing how different Miami (and life in general) was then compared to now.  At the beginning of the ep. it shows several locals fishing off the bridge going to Brickell Key and I'm wondering if people are still allowed to fish off the bridge now?  Its very interesting to me how if you fished on that exact same spot now at the same time of year there would be no discernible difference than fishing off that bridge in 1984 when this scene was filmed.  I could go there and feel the wind blowing just as it did that night during the scene and smell the the salt air thats the same now as it was then and touch the rail the "smuggler" touched when he tossed ransom  money to the kidnapper.  I'm sure there are many other locations filmed in 1984 that are essentially the same now as then.  < Thats why I want to go to Miami and see, smell and touch the same places DJ and PMT (and others) did in 1984-87.  Life is so different (at least for me) now than in 1984 that making physical contact w/ something that was so incredible to a skinny kid in northeast Louisiana it seemed a world away and I can now go and feel some of the wonderment I felt in 1984 watching MV on my 19" television would really make me happy.  I'm sure, as I've seen, alot of others obviously feel the same way or Vin Diesel wouldn't be trying to reboot the series and you wouldn't be reading this post much less relating to what I"m saying.

 

http://www.miamivicelocations.org/page31.html

Edited June 4, 2019 by S.FL84

[S.FL84]

To add more to my analysis - I bet in 1984 when they filmed this and all the other 1st season episodes when the average person was walking by while they were filming no one paid the entire crew a second look.  No one knew what MV was....then.  I bet someone actually asked someone "So what movie are they filming?" and the reply was "Some TV cop show called Miami Vice" then the two people just kept walking or just didn't care at all.  Then a year later after the show exploded in popularity and EVERY celebrity or musical artist in existence wanted to be on the show as a guest star and the two afore mentioned casual observers had turned into two hundred locals dying to see DJ and feel the magic everyone felt watching Brother's Keeper.

Edited June 3, 2019 by S.FL84

[S.FL84]

https://www.amazon.com/Unofficial-Miami-Vice-Episode-Guide/dp/0244710406/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=miami+vice+book&qid=1559577967&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Interesting isn't how this book was published barely a year about a freakin' TV show that premiered 35 damn years ago!  

The actual assistant director made an actual comment about this MV book (look at the bottom of page).

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Miami-Vice-Trish-Janeshutz/dp/0345336690/ref=pd_sbs_14_2/135-2350670-4910734?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0345336690&pd_rd_r=83f904ad-8619-11e9-bbb8-afc81129452f&pd_rd_w=VOFdD&pd_rd_wg=TJeLw&pf_rd_p=588939de-d3f8-42f1-a3d8-d556eae5797d&pf_rd_r=67E2S2JS3K44Z2H7V7C4&psc=1&refRID=67E2S2JS3K44Z2H7V7C4#customerReviews

^ Miami Vice's visual and musical appeal, cultural resonance, and topicality made it absorbing entertainment in its own day; Sanders proves that its exploration of social, moral, political, and philosophical issues make it worth watching twenty-five years later. Fans of the show and scholars of television history and American popular culture will appreciate this illuminating look at Miami Vice.

Edited June 3, 2019 by S.FL84

[S.FL84]

https://cinephiliabeyond.org/miami-vice/

[S.FL84]

An interesting side-note re: the SMUGGLER'S BLUES episode the abandoned hotel used in he scene where C& T meet w/ the DEA agent was actually demolished 2yrs later.

 

[S.FL84]

I've said this many, many times in the past & I'm sure I'll say it again the future but MV was, when you factor in ALL that MV totaled to be, one of the if the THE most incredible police/popular culture tv shows ever made.

Edited June 3, 2019 by S.FL84

[S.FL84]

https://www.amazon.com/One-Man-Construction-Decontruction-Patriarchal-Reagan/dp/1412050960/ref=pd_sim_14_4/135-2350670-4910734?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1412050960&pd_rd_r=a535f10b-861d-11e9-aef3-91e0c1ba0bc6&pd_rd_w=3ppey&pd_rd_wg=LnPJA&pf_rd_p=90485860-83e9-4fd9-b838-b28a9b7fda30&pf_rd_r=V3SKK0HRE7N5H9VPJJK1&psc=1&refRID=V3SKK0HRE7N5H9VPJJK1

 

^ A little too deep of analysis even for "J50", but still a quality book about MV.

[pahonu]

23 hours ago, S.FL84 said:

To add more to my analysis - I bet in 1984 when they filmed this and all the other 1st season episodes when the average person was walking by while they were filming no one paid the entire crew a second look.  No one knew what MV was....then.  I bet someone actually asked someone "So what movie are they filming?" and the reply was "Some TV cop show called Miami Vice" then the two people just kept walking or just didn't care at all.  Then a year later after the show exploded in popularity and EVERY celebrity or musical artist in existence wanted to be on the show as a guest star and the two afore mentioned casual observers had turned into two hundred locals dying to see DJ and feel the magic everyone felt watching Brother's Keeper.

I'm not sure I agree that no one gave them a second look.  Miami Vice, like any network series or feature film, had a very large crew, generally approaching 100 people, not counting extras.  Typically streets are shut down and people gather to see what's going on and look for possible celebrities.  Some of that crew would have been security even before people knew what the show was.  After it became a hit, I'm sure they had to have more than one or two security guards.  I worked for a few years in the industry back in the 90's and there were always some people around watching and waiting to see something.  Even here in LA where it is common and locals don't pay as much attention, tourists still stop to look for celebrities and ask what's filming, who's in it, what's it called, etc...  That's just my experience.

[S.FL84]

I might have exaggerated the degree of prominence to the casual observer to make my point a bit....But I think it stands to reason the degree of attention the film crew had during the first season and the second would have been like night and day.  Whereas you list approx. 100 people in the crew during season #1 I think its safe to assume the crew probably increased by at least 35-50 people whether they had a legitimate reason to be there or if they were just locals interested in seeing the #1 television of 1985 being filmed on location.  I'm sure there were other studio shot TV shows that garnered a much higher Neilson rating but as far as a a show shot almost entirely on location MV from 1984 - 1986 ruled the roost.

Edited June 4, 2019 by S.FL84

[pahonu]

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 9:43 AM, S.FL84 said:

I might have exaggerated the degree of prominence to the casual observer to make my point a bit....But I think it stands to reason the degree of attention the film crew had during the first season and the second would have been like night and day.  Whereas you list approx. 100 people in the crew during season #1 I think its safe to assume the crew probably increased by at least 35-50 people whether they had a legitimate reason to be there or if they were just locals interested in seeing the #1 television of 1985 being filmed on location.  I'm sure there were other studio shot TV shows that garnered a much higher Neilson rating but as far as a a show shot almost entirely on location MV from 1984 - 1986 ruled the roost.

I agree, once the show became a hit I'm sure far more people paid attention when it was filming.  One of the shows I worked production on in the 90's was Baywatch.  Lots of tourists watched filming just about every day.   The show was a much bigger hit overseas than here.  I remember hearing lots of other languages among the spectators and being asked questions in various accents about what was going on.  I was just responding to your original statement.  I understand the exaggeration.    During the summer of one of the seasons I worked, Beverly Hills 90210 was filming a lot at nearby Santa Monica Pier.  There were huge groups of fans watching the production, girls screaming, etc...  It was pretty popular then.

I'm not sure what you mean by the big crew increase and having a legitimate reason to be there?  The location production crew size is generally fairly fixed and in fact defined by union rules in many cases.  There are a certain number of people in lighting, sound, camera, wardrobe, make-up, props, etc...  If a day's pages of filming includes a large number of onscreen talent, including extras, then some of that crew will grow to accommodate all the bodies, such as wardrobe, make-up, catering, craft service, and production assistants to wrangle everybody.  Other crew like camera, sound, continuity, or script supervision may not change at all.  The extreme case is referred to as a "cattle call" where their might be hundreds of extras for a big scene or an establishing shot.  Lots of extra crew is brought on for those filming days.  Think of the difference between the number of people in the club scene in Whatever It Takes versus the scene with Eartha Kit in her house.  That would affect the crew size.

On Baywatch their used to be days when filming was done all out on the water or "boat days".  A "skeleton crew" was used that cut certain jobs like stand-ins, transportation and security, but there were actual life guards and medics on board those days.  Just some details from my experience.  There are lots of other details in one or two of Coop's pages.  Maybe I can find them.