Television Style » Chapter 2: Stylistic Crossover

Chapter 2: Stylistic Crossover

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Fig 2.01 A tight close-up of an interrogated prisoner begins an episode of Miami Vice.

Fig 2.01

Fig 2.02 Ricardo Tubbs’ face juts into the frame unexpectedly.

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Fig 2.03 A man is observed through binoculars. Surveillance is almost always of men, not women, in Miami Vice—confounding heterosexual voyeurism.

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Fig 2.04 Miami Vice: Surveillance turns deadly as a boat blows up, causing…

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…Sonny Crockett to wince. The disruption of his vision leads to him performing a masquerade.

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Fig 2.06 Dallas relies heavily on zooms to punctuate scenes. Here, the camera starts on a medium close-up of Kristin and…

Fig 2.06

…zooms into to a close-up. The lighting is notably high key.

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Fig 2.08 Dallas: director Irving J. Moore arranges Cliff, Pam and Digger like clothes on a line, in shallow space.

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Fig 2.09 Typical high-key lighting in Dallas, with Sue Ellen casting at least three shadows.

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Fig 2.10 Magnum, P.I.: even in a punk nightclub, the lighting is high key.

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Fig 2.11 In outdoor scenes from Dallas, reflectors fill in any shadows, including those cast by J.R.’s hat.

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Fig 2.12 Dallas: Pam on the beach is similarly devoid of shadows.

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2.13 Dallas: “Exterior” scene at Southfork that appears to have been shot in a studio or on a back lot, with shadows filled in.

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2.14 Miami Vice’s titles sequence contains iconography associated with the city—connoting…

Fig 2.14

…leisure activities…

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…conspicuous consumption…

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…and postmodernism (in architectural design).

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2.19 Miami Vice often eschews film noir’s darkness in favor of brilliantly lit beaches and pastel-colored buildings.

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2.20 Miami Vice: white decor, accented with pastel colors, in Calderone’s home…

Fig 2.20

…Detective Switek’s apartment and…

Fig 2.21