Michael Mann's 2006 film Miami Vice was full of stunning locations and cinematography. For those fascinated by location, here is a fantastic site with CIA like level investigations as to where all the Miami Vice locations are at.... whoever did this web page should be working for the NSA!
http://www.sffl.comcastbiz.net/page13.html
Thanks to Rick who tipped me off on this link from my other site over at www.michaelmann.ning.com
If you haven't noticed, I am now on Twitter @michaelmannblog
See feed on left.
Showing posts with label miami vice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miami vice. Show all posts
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Michael Mann shooting difficult boat scene
Always great to find something new. I found this amazing YouTube clip of the Miami Vice film crew shooting the racing boat scenes that were supposed to feature at the start of the movie. I have only ever seen the original movie version and have only Standard Def DVD, so never saw the spoken of racing scene that Universal forced Mann to cut from the final edit to shorten the movie. Looking at this spectacular footage it was madness to cut it. Some shots are just stunning. Was this footage included on new bonus features for the BluRay edition?
You have Dion Beebe rigging up the cameras in the hull of the boat, and Michael Mann behind the cameras as they shoot that famous crane shot as the camera surfaces from beneath the bubbling water to reveal the boats speeding past. Great footage! Enjoy.
Also, I have never seen this featurette before... is this a BluRay edition? This is notable for watching Michael Mann location scout a guys house with a, errr, rather interesting "bed". I just think its great seeing Michael passionately looking at every detail with his DSLR. Us photographers are all the same... running around like rabbits finding aesthetic details under every rock!
You have Dion Beebe rigging up the cameras in the hull of the boat, and Michael Mann behind the cameras as they shoot that famous crane shot as the camera surfaces from beneath the bubbling water to reveal the boats speeding past. Great footage! Enjoy.
Also, I have never seen this featurette before... is this a BluRay edition? This is notable for watching Michael Mann location scout a guys house with a, errr, rather interesting "bed". I just think its great seeing Michael passionately looking at every detail with his DSLR. Us photographers are all the same... running around like rabbits finding aesthetic details under every rock!
Monday, 21 February 2011
Miami Vice Movies in 4 Frames
Every Mann movie has its poetic sequences, and one of my all time favourite's is a beautifully captured 4 frame sequence from Movies in Frames, featuring Crockett saying goodbye to Isabella. The cinematography is profoundly good, capturing the wind whisping across Crockett's hair with palm trees swaying in perfect harmony as if in empathy to the sadness and causality of the scene. Check the site out for a bit of fun. And remember, "time is luck".
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Michael Mann directing Colin Farrell and Gong Li
Can anyone tell me: Is this a featurette for the HD version of Miami Vice? I don't have a HD TV (whimper), so have never seen Miami Vice in HD on TV for my crimes. I only have the double disc standard edition DVD, and this featurette isn't on it (unless I have totally forgotten?!). So, this fantastic little clip is new to me! Amazing to see Michael Mann physically directing/choreographing Cuban dance! He is telling super cool Colin Farrell how to dance ... watch it, and you will see what Colin tells Mann. Hmmmm ... Is there anything Mann cannot direct? One thing shows in this featurette - a clear chemistry between Colin and Gong Li. Oh yes...
Previously unseen footage of Colin Farrell receiving fight training for Miami Vice
Mick Gould is Michael Mann's technical advisor on fight scenes and use of weapons. Ex special forces, this video clip shows Mick Gould training Colin Farrell for that opening scene in Miami Vice. The scene has a similar flavour to the nightclub scene in Collateral where Tom Cruise does a similar floor crunching move. For the girls, see a sweaty, topless Colin Farrell... if you must!
I have to say, Mick Gould shows the moves with frightening efficiency.
I have to say, Mick Gould shows the moves with frightening efficiency.
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Miami Vice Gun Training
On the theme of gun training, here are some more video clips, with former SAS weapons specialist Mick Gould on Miami Vice.
Monday, 25 May 2009
Miami Vice Interview
For the sake of archive, here is a small Michael Mann interview about Miami Vice. F0r those interested in Mann's movie making approaches, I thought it was interesting that he doesn't story board...
"Doing a hardcore Miami Vice meant doing it right, so the actors had to go practically undercover before they started filming. "Everybody went through training, and went through a lot of it. A lot of hard work went into it, and they look good because they are good, and they are good because they really can do everything that we see in the film, including all of the physical stuff. The most difficult thing to acquire is all the skills that I think these folks have, in terms of really being in an undercover situation. When they're confronted at Jose Yero's, and these guys have responses, and they accuse Yero of being the man hooked up with the DEA, or the street theater that they put down on Isabella in the house, when they pretend that they're bringing back the dope which we know they stole, and the skill and the self-confidence they have came from lots of scenarios that Colin and Jamie and Naomie and Gong Li did, with real folks who really do do this stuff. They did simulations that were very, very realistic, and they did it a lot. I'm real proud of their work, and the benefit of it is what you see on screen."
When the action breaks out, it's in grand Michael Mann style. "I don't story board. I do something else, which is I block it. We then train to the blocking. In other words, when everybody's training, they're actually training a lot of the moves that we are definitely going to use, and then, I do a lot of photography of that, and that becomes where the cameras go."
Read full article >
"Doing a hardcore Miami Vice meant doing it right, so the actors had to go practically undercover before they started filming. "Everybody went through training, and went through a lot of it. A lot of hard work went into it, and they look good because they are good, and they are good because they really can do everything that we see in the film, including all of the physical stuff. The most difficult thing to acquire is all the skills that I think these folks have, in terms of really being in an undercover situation. When they're confronted at Jose Yero's, and these guys have responses, and they accuse Yero of being the man hooked up with the DEA, or the street theater that they put down on Isabella in the house, when they pretend that they're bringing back the dope which we know they stole, and the skill and the self-confidence they have came from lots of scenarios that Colin and Jamie and Naomie and Gong Li did, with real folks who really do do this stuff. They did simulations that were very, very realistic, and they did it a lot. I'm real proud of their work, and the benefit of it is what you see on screen."
When the action breaks out, it's in grand Michael Mann style. "I don't story board. I do something else, which is I block it. We then train to the blocking. In other words, when everybody's training, they're actually training a lot of the moves that we are definitely going to use, and then, I do a lot of photography of that, and that becomes where the cameras go."
Read full article >
Monday, 13 April 2009
Gravity of the Flux: Michael Mann’s Miami Vice
There are not that many intelligent write ups available on Mann's underestimated movie, Miami Vice. Here is one that makes a lot of sense to me personally. With Miami Vice, my most personal journey, that somehow I could emotionally connect with, was this relationship between Sonny and Isabella. It was one of the most powerful and significant elements of the whole film. Whilst the very end of Miami Vice was rather disappointing, it was just before the end of the film that I actually found my most emotionally engaging scene. Isabella wistfully leaves the shores of Florida Keys (the actual location of that scene) on a boat. It was a beautiful, brilliantly acted and shot "moment". I found a great essay about Miami Vice, which I want to share with you. I quote below one interpretation, which relates in particular to that closing scene. I agree with the author's comments. What do you think?
The film closes as abruptly as it opened: Isabella escapes from the flux by the sea (the eternal utopia of Mann’s characters): “It’s magic”, says a fisherman about the sea near the beginning of Thief (1981), Sonny turns his back on the sea and returns to the flux. And loses himself therein. Life suspended on one side, perpetual flux on the other. No dead time or respite: the system runs at full speed but on empty, and possesses no other end than that of its own stability. To such an extent that one could, like Isabella, pass one’s entire life there: “It’s all that I know how to do; I’ve been doing that since I was 17”, she tells Sonny when the latter questions her on the possibility of an elsewhere, of an alternative life. The only thing that counts is the global balance of the system and its capacity to restore the unchanging order of things (disappearance of Jesus Montoya/death of Jose Yero, disappearance of Isabella/reappearance of Trudy, etc.). At bottom, between the beginning and the end of the film, nothing has changed. Like Frank (James Caan) at the end of Thief or Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) in the last shot of The Insider, Sonny recedes in depth of the field, with his back to us, and disappears. In the world in flux that Miami Vice follows, the human is only an event, a lost atom in the multitude, similar to the one described by the hired killer in Collateral. It is either arrogance and/or naïveté of the couple, Sonny-Isabella, to have believed that the human could be stronger than the flux.
See the full article here >
The film closes as abruptly as it opened: Isabella escapes from the flux by the sea (the eternal utopia of Mann’s characters): “It’s magic”, says a fisherman about the sea near the beginning of Thief (1981), Sonny turns his back on the sea and returns to the flux. And loses himself therein. Life suspended on one side, perpetual flux on the other. No dead time or respite: the system runs at full speed but on empty, and possesses no other end than that of its own stability. To such an extent that one could, like Isabella, pass one’s entire life there: “It’s all that I know how to do; I’ve been doing that since I was 17”, she tells Sonny when the latter questions her on the possibility of an elsewhere, of an alternative life. The only thing that counts is the global balance of the system and its capacity to restore the unchanging order of things (disappearance of Jesus Montoya/death of Jose Yero, disappearance of Isabella/reappearance of Trudy, etc.). At bottom, between the beginning and the end of the film, nothing has changed. Like Frank (James Caan) at the end of Thief or Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) in the last shot of The Insider, Sonny recedes in depth of the field, with his back to us, and disappears. In the world in flux that Miami Vice follows, the human is only an event, a lost atom in the multitude, similar to the one described by the hired killer in Collateral. It is either arrogance and/or naïveté of the couple, Sonny-Isabella, to have believed that the human could be stronger than the flux.
See the full article here >
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Mann loves his Shower Scenes
I couldn't help but laugh when I read this particular blog, noticing that Michael Mann seems to have a thing for "shower scenes". This blogger picks up on a nuance of understanding in Mann's movies that until now, eluded me. I now feel enlightened. His post is called April Showers: Miami Vice.
In between Michael Mann (Public Enemies) movies I always forget that I really like his work. If you could reach into one of his movies you would be able to feel something... a cold surface maybe, vibrations from a loud noise or a drop of sweat hitting you. He has a real gift for atmosphere and texture. And apparently he has a thing for sex in the shower since two of Miami Vice's three big sexual scenes take place there.
The first shower scene is basically relationship detail. The music is soothing and we're just observing the easy intimacy of co-workers/lovers Naomi Harris's Trudy and Jamie Foxx's Tubbs.
Ok, ok, before you get too hot under the collar, read the rest over at this blog! >>
In between Michael Mann (Public Enemies) movies I always forget that I really like his work. If you could reach into one of his movies you would be able to feel something... a cold surface maybe, vibrations from a loud noise or a drop of sweat hitting you. He has a real gift for atmosphere and texture. And apparently he has a thing for sex in the shower since two of Miami Vice's three big sexual scenes take place there.
The first shower scene is basically relationship detail. The music is soothing and we're just observing the easy intimacy of co-workers/lovers Naomi Harris's Trudy and Jamie Foxx's Tubbs.
Ok, ok, before you get too hot under the collar, read the rest over at this blog! >>
Friday, 16 January 2009
Miami Vice and the famous "In the Air Tonight" saga
Here is an extract from an article written just weeks before the release of Michael Mann's recent movie Miami Vice. It details Mann's decision making process of whether or not to include Phil Collin's legendary track (cover version by Nonpoint) In The Air Tonight. It also goes into a lot of what happened behind the scenes in making the movie. Read the whole article here.
By Daniel Fierman
By Daniel Fierman
Michael Mann looks tortured. But looming deadlines and complex marketing strategies aren't what's bothering him. It's Phil Collins. The 63-year-old director — a coiled knot of edgy intelligence, long esteemed for films like Manhunter, Heat, and The Insider — has been going back and forth over where to use a cover of ''In the Air Tonight'' by Nonpoint in his Miami Vice remake. Actually, he’s been trying to decide for weeks. The song goes in. It comes out. In again. Out. And the postproduction staff is starting to go a wee bit insane.
''What do you think?'' the notoriously detail-driven director asks his latest guinea pig, as one of his producers mouths a silent sigh. ''I kind of love it before the last battle, but the crew are all like, 'Don’t do it!' ''
A lot of people said the same thing about making the movie. Including Mann. Despite the fact that he executive-produced the original series — which boasted a splashy and surprisingly persistent cultural influence at the height of the Reagan era — Mann thought he'd left Miami Vice behind back in 1989, when it petered out in a legacy-annihilating haze of silly cameos, aliens, and bad fashion. (''The last years were crap,'' he says now. ''I'm a bad executive producer. My attention span is two years.'') But that was before Jamie Foxx sidled up to him at Muhammad Ali's birthday party in 2001.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Miami Vice Interview
Most interviews with the cast anad director of Miami Vice are similar, but there are one or two interesting snippets to be taken from this one at www.hollywood.com.
Here are my highlights:
HW: Michael, the music was such an integral part of the television show. How important was it for you to maintain that level of authenticity, in terms of the music, with this film?
Mann: Music is always key to me, whether it's Miami Vice or not Miami Vice. It's dictated by the story, about what Crockett and Tubbs and Isabella and Trudy are doing. And, since the movie tries to get into the lives of these folks as intensely as possible, I wanted music that, hopefully, had the power to do that, consequently, the Mogwai and some of the Audioslave. So that's what informed most of those choices.
HW: And he shares some pretty steamy scenes with Gong Li as a woman on the other side of the law – sexy even though not much dialogue between them.
Farrell: Isabella and Crockett are two people who find each other, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, though they're the right people. That's the unfortunate thing about what transpires between the two of them. To quote good ol’ Jerry Maguire, they do kind of complete each other. They are two people that live in very volatile environments. He's on one side of the law and this woman, Isabella, is on the other side of the law, and they come together in what is a very dangerous idea and a very bad idea. The scene they have in Havana, they say at the bar, "You know, this is never going to last. It's never going to work," but they find in each other, in that act of making love, that it's almost overwhelming. It's almost too much to take. Crockett's someone that would have had one night stands, over the years, prolifically, and never be emotionally attached to anyone, and one of the primary reasons would be the work that he involves himself in. But, he finds, with this woman, someone that seems to make complete sense, perfect sense. And so, doing our scene together was just about emotional investment, or emotional realization, in seeing some of yourself--maybe the best of yourself, and none of the worst--in the other person, but there is something quite tragic too it, as well, I suppose.
Here are my highlights:
HW: Michael, the music was such an integral part of the television show. How important was it for you to maintain that level of authenticity, in terms of the music, with this film?
Mann: Music is always key to me, whether it's Miami Vice or not Miami Vice. It's dictated by the story, about what Crockett and Tubbs and Isabella and Trudy are doing. And, since the movie tries to get into the lives of these folks as intensely as possible, I wanted music that, hopefully, had the power to do that, consequently, the Mogwai and some of the Audioslave. So that's what informed most of those choices.
HW: And he shares some pretty steamy scenes with Gong Li as a woman on the other side of the law – sexy even though not much dialogue between them.
Farrell: Isabella and Crockett are two people who find each other, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, though they're the right people. That's the unfortunate thing about what transpires between the two of them. To quote good ol’ Jerry Maguire, they do kind of complete each other. They are two people that live in very volatile environments. He's on one side of the law and this woman, Isabella, is on the other side of the law, and they come together in what is a very dangerous idea and a very bad idea. The scene they have in Havana, they say at the bar, "You know, this is never going to last. It's never going to work," but they find in each other, in that act of making love, that it's almost overwhelming. It's almost too much to take. Crockett's someone that would have had one night stands, over the years, prolifically, and never be emotionally attached to anyone, and one of the primary reasons would be the work that he involves himself in. But, he finds, with this woman, someone that seems to make complete sense, perfect sense. And so, doing our scene together was just about emotional investment, or emotional realization, in seeing some of yourself--maybe the best of yourself, and none of the worst--in the other person, but there is something quite tragic too it, as well, I suppose.
Wednesday, 31 December 2008
Miami Vice Draft Screenplay
Happy New Year everyone! A new year, a new Michael Mann film....can't wait!
I recently had a look at the Miami Vice movie screenplay, Michael Mann's first draft. Oh goodness, from first draft to final film it is obvious it has been hacked to pieces. It's worth looking at if you are interested in the cross over from story and character development to practical screen writing. The refining of script, as if refined by fire, is very apparent. In the first draft one senses a similar character style development from the 80's series, but this is obviously mostly cut out for the final draft, which feels more sombre. The earlier draft seems to see the film set for one of Mann's epic length, 3 hour adventures. I have never understood why critics and film company owners complain of lengthy movies - I much prefer getting a fix for 3 hours rather than just 2, or even a measly 1,5 hours. In truth, perhaps Mann realised that his character development of Crockett and Tubbs just could never have the depth, to bear any relevance to the main plot line of this movie, as limited within the framework of the screenplay already written. For this reason, it appears that a shorter script would be tighter and more appropriate.
Those are my initial reflections - if you have any, I would be interested to hear them. Those most critical of Miami Vice the movie, have said that the dialogue was incomprehensible most of the time. I personally disagree, although I did find myself straining to hear what they said occasionally. But critics also meant that the screenplay was weak. I admit to saying Miami Vice didn't in my view achieve the same alchemy as Heat or The Insider and wasn't near Mann's best work in terms of emotional engagement with the viewer, but there were some special moments and I have enjoyed watching it over and over.
Well, if you would like to see this first Miami Vice Screenplay draft then click here!
I recently had a look at the Miami Vice movie screenplay, Michael Mann's first draft. Oh goodness, from first draft to final film it is obvious it has been hacked to pieces. It's worth looking at if you are interested in the cross over from story and character development to practical screen writing. The refining of script, as if refined by fire, is very apparent. In the first draft one senses a similar character style development from the 80's series, but this is obviously mostly cut out for the final draft, which feels more sombre. The earlier draft seems to see the film set for one of Mann's epic length, 3 hour adventures. I have never understood why critics and film company owners complain of lengthy movies - I much prefer getting a fix for 3 hours rather than just 2, or even a measly 1,5 hours. In truth, perhaps Mann realised that his character development of Crockett and Tubbs just could never have the depth, to bear any relevance to the main plot line of this movie, as limited within the framework of the screenplay already written. For this reason, it appears that a shorter script would be tighter and more appropriate.
Those are my initial reflections - if you have any, I would be interested to hear them. Those most critical of Miami Vice the movie, have said that the dialogue was incomprehensible most of the time. I personally disagree, although I did find myself straining to hear what they said occasionally. But critics also meant that the screenplay was weak. I admit to saying Miami Vice didn't in my view achieve the same alchemy as Heat or The Insider and wasn't near Mann's best work in terms of emotional engagement with the viewer, but there were some special moments and I have enjoyed watching it over and over.
Well, if you would like to see this first Miami Vice Screenplay draft then click here!
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Miami Vice
First came the hit TV series, then came the movie. I loved the 80's Miami Vice, and the movie grows on me the more I see it. Dion Beebe holds the cinematography together just, with criticism from some quarters about the hand held effect being overdone and in places too shaky. Nevertheless, there are some superb shots by Dion in this film which far exceeds most photography you will see in other movies, which usually rely on special effects to sustain interest. Here, the cinematography does stand on its own two feet.
The movie trailer is here:
I first became aware of Michael Mann and his style of work in the original series 1 and 2 of Miami Vice, which in my view were the best episodes. Anyone remember that wierd Michael Mann logo displayed at the end? There is so much to write about just Miami Vice the TV series! If you want to know almost everything about the TV series as well as the movie you should pay a visit to:
www.miami-vice.org
And if you miss the iconic opening music by Jan Hammer, as ever, YouTube has it all:
Jan Hammer's other great piece of music for the series was Crockett's theme from a very poigniant scene. A personal favourite. Here is the music with an arrangement of Miami Vice clips:
The Miami Vice scene that is mixed with Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight is a cult classic, and if you click here you can see it in full.
And if you want to know what one of my favourite scenes is from the series, then you will find a lot of Miami Vicers will agree this clip from Calderone's Return is one of the highlights:
The movie trailer is here:
I first became aware of Michael Mann and his style of work in the original series 1 and 2 of Miami Vice, which in my view were the best episodes. Anyone remember that wierd Michael Mann logo displayed at the end? There is so much to write about just Miami Vice the TV series! If you want to know almost everything about the TV series as well as the movie you should pay a visit to:
www.miami-vice.org
And if you miss the iconic opening music by Jan Hammer, as ever, YouTube has it all:
Jan Hammer's other great piece of music for the series was Crockett's theme from a very poigniant scene. A personal favourite. Here is the music with an arrangement of Miami Vice clips:
The Miami Vice scene that is mixed with Phil Collins' In The Air Tonight is a cult classic, and if you click here you can see it in full.
And if you want to know what one of my favourite scenes is from the series, then you will find a lot of Miami Vicers will agree this clip from Calderone's Return is one of the highlights:
Friday, 12 December 2008
Dion Beebe - Miami Vice Cinematography
If you are like me and interested in cinematography, why not pick up a back copy of an interview with Dion Beebe on shooting Miami Vice the movie. You can purchase it at the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) website.
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Miami Vice Interview
This is a nicely shot interview with Michael Mann for the movie Miami Vice. The back projection of the Miami Vice scenes in the background works really well. Shame about the guy doing the interview!
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