Post by margaret1234 on Apr 30, 2007 5:39:24 GMT -10
Found this article just a few minutes ago.......Hope you have not read elsewhere.........If so, apologies in advance....Margaret
S. Florida style and sizzle have transformed CSI: Miami into hottest show around
By Tom Jicha
South Florida Sun-Sentinel TV/Radio Writer
Posted April 30 2007
Miami remains the magic city for television.
It helped make Miami Vice an international sensation. Two decades later, CSI: Miami claims the distinction of world's most-watched program, seen weekly by about 83 million people in more than 200 nations and territories. Indisputably, the look and feel of South Florida is a major factor.
"Look at all this," director Scott Lautanen said after wrapping a scene involving a Coast Guard bust of a drug-running luxury yacht off Key Biscayne. "This color water is not something you can get in Los Angeles."
"Miami really translates in a very electric way to other cultures," said star David Caruso. "The challenge for us is to capture that electricity, the passions and the coolness."
Amazingly, the CBS series has managed to do this while spending almost no time in South Florida. The recent week long shoot that included the Key Biscayne scenes was the show's only visit this season.
The blueprint calls for a couple of cast visits each season, with scene-setters and local exteriors handled by second units. It's a matter of budget and control. It costs a fortune to shoot entirely on location. There's the additional expense of cast and crew lodging and a far more shallow pool of on- and offscreen talent, although South Florida is better than most off-Hollywood sites. Also, the writers and producers are based in Los Angeles, so tweaks and revisions have to be handled long distance.
CSI: Miami didn't even make its two minimum trips here during the past couple of years. A story-driven jaunt to Rio de Janeiro at the start of this season ate a lot of the travel budget, according to Caruso. Last year, the threat of hurricanes knocked out a visit. During the only trip the show will make to Miami this season, cast and crew made it clear they wish it were different.
Caruso especially would prefer the series to be anchored here. He has a condo in Miami and spends most of his off-time -- summer hiatus, Christmas break -- living where his character, Horatio Caine, does. When the show ends, he plans to make his permanent home in South Florida, he says.
Being in the actual places where scenes are supposedly set also makes Lautanen's life easier. "It's so nice not to have to hide things." Mountains in the background are the most obvious, but there are viewers who take delight in identifying any little thing -- shrubbery, signs, etc. -- that give away the fact that episode was shot on the West Coast.
Just being here seems to bring out the best in everyone, Lautanen said. "The whole atmosphere, the beauty, the people, the ethnicities, infects the cast and crew. Long Beach [the show's California base] is not Miami."
The recent visit was to shoot this season's final two episodes, which are due in May. Barring hurricanes, CSI: Miami will be back in town in mid-July to shoot scenes for next season's early episodes.
Caruso has resurrected his career playing Horatio Caine, a cop who must have Freon running through his veins. He is so cool, he never breaks a sweat, tropical heat notwithstanding.
This comes out of the material, Caruso said. "The world of CSI deals with horrific acts. Terrible things happen to people, so the captain of the team, who could maybe clarify or ground the situation, has to be based in poise. That's one of the things I was after as a character, the poise."
This has led to an approach that makes Horatio, in many ways, as distinct as TV's first iconic cop, Jack Webb's Joe Friday on Dragnet. Like Friday, Caine is a minimalist verbally, using tone and expressions to throw the fear of God into suspects. His exit lines from scenes, reminiscent of a hanging judge pronouncing sentence, have become a trademark of the series.
"We're beginning to realize that this show fits together like song parts," Caruso explained. "The teaser is a very important cue to our theme song. There is a very interesting cohesion going on, an understanding that there is a real rhythmic musical quality to what we're doing. The sound element mirrors the picture element and the pictures have their own hypnotic tone."
Horatio's dialogue comes from the writers. The interpretation and affectations are all Caruso's. "That just came out," he said. "When people think of Miami, they think heat. But the reality is, it is also a very cool city. The sunglasses became a very cool element of the character."
When he realized Horatio's fiddling with his sunglasses were becoming a signature, Caruso said, he began to use them to communicate with the audience. "I put in some little tricks and inside stuff. If I'm inside and wearing my sunglasses, I think this is the killer."
His curt lines and spectacle manipulations have become celebrated in pop culture. A medley of them can be found on YouTube, and online fans and detractors have christened Caruso's shades the Sunglasses of Justice.
Caruso said he knew he was really on to something when Jim Carrey mimicked him on David Letterman. To Caruso, it was the ultimate compliment. "That was amazing, astonishing. For him to take two minutes of his interview to do that, wow, we were just blown away. It means people have embraced the show."
Supposedly more people than any other show in the world.
Tom Jicha can be reached at tjicha@sun-sentinel.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
on tv
Program: CSI: Miami
S. Florida style and sizzle have transformed CSI: Miami into hottest show around
By Tom Jicha
South Florida Sun-Sentinel TV/Radio Writer
Posted April 30 2007
Miami remains the magic city for television.
It helped make Miami Vice an international sensation. Two decades later, CSI: Miami claims the distinction of world's most-watched program, seen weekly by about 83 million people in more than 200 nations and territories. Indisputably, the look and feel of South Florida is a major factor.
"Look at all this," director Scott Lautanen said after wrapping a scene involving a Coast Guard bust of a drug-running luxury yacht off Key Biscayne. "This color water is not something you can get in Los Angeles."
"Miami really translates in a very electric way to other cultures," said star David Caruso. "The challenge for us is to capture that electricity, the passions and the coolness."
Amazingly, the CBS series has managed to do this while spending almost no time in South Florida. The recent week long shoot that included the Key Biscayne scenes was the show's only visit this season.
The blueprint calls for a couple of cast visits each season, with scene-setters and local exteriors handled by second units. It's a matter of budget and control. It costs a fortune to shoot entirely on location. There's the additional expense of cast and crew lodging and a far more shallow pool of on- and offscreen talent, although South Florida is better than most off-Hollywood sites. Also, the writers and producers are based in Los Angeles, so tweaks and revisions have to be handled long distance.
CSI: Miami didn't even make its two minimum trips here during the past couple of years. A story-driven jaunt to Rio de Janeiro at the start of this season ate a lot of the travel budget, according to Caruso. Last year, the threat of hurricanes knocked out a visit. During the only trip the show will make to Miami this season, cast and crew made it clear they wish it were different.
Caruso especially would prefer the series to be anchored here. He has a condo in Miami and spends most of his off-time -- summer hiatus, Christmas break -- living where his character, Horatio Caine, does. When the show ends, he plans to make his permanent home in South Florida, he says.
Being in the actual places where scenes are supposedly set also makes Lautanen's life easier. "It's so nice not to have to hide things." Mountains in the background are the most obvious, but there are viewers who take delight in identifying any little thing -- shrubbery, signs, etc. -- that give away the fact that episode was shot on the West Coast.
Just being here seems to bring out the best in everyone, Lautanen said. "The whole atmosphere, the beauty, the people, the ethnicities, infects the cast and crew. Long Beach [the show's California base] is not Miami."
The recent visit was to shoot this season's final two episodes, which are due in May. Barring hurricanes, CSI: Miami will be back in town in mid-July to shoot scenes for next season's early episodes.
Caruso has resurrected his career playing Horatio Caine, a cop who must have Freon running through his veins. He is so cool, he never breaks a sweat, tropical heat notwithstanding.
This comes out of the material, Caruso said. "The world of CSI deals with horrific acts. Terrible things happen to people, so the captain of the team, who could maybe clarify or ground the situation, has to be based in poise. That's one of the things I was after as a character, the poise."
This has led to an approach that makes Horatio, in many ways, as distinct as TV's first iconic cop, Jack Webb's Joe Friday on Dragnet. Like Friday, Caine is a minimalist verbally, using tone and expressions to throw the fear of God into suspects. His exit lines from scenes, reminiscent of a hanging judge pronouncing sentence, have become a trademark of the series.
"We're beginning to realize that this show fits together like song parts," Caruso explained. "The teaser is a very important cue to our theme song. There is a very interesting cohesion going on, an understanding that there is a real rhythmic musical quality to what we're doing. The sound element mirrors the picture element and the pictures have their own hypnotic tone."
Horatio's dialogue comes from the writers. The interpretation and affectations are all Caruso's. "That just came out," he said. "When people think of Miami, they think heat. But the reality is, it is also a very cool city. The sunglasses became a very cool element of the character."
When he realized Horatio's fiddling with his sunglasses were becoming a signature, Caruso said, he began to use them to communicate with the audience. "I put in some little tricks and inside stuff. If I'm inside and wearing my sunglasses, I think this is the killer."
His curt lines and spectacle manipulations have become celebrated in pop culture. A medley of them can be found on YouTube, and online fans and detractors have christened Caruso's shades the Sunglasses of Justice.
Caruso said he knew he was really on to something when Jim Carrey mimicked him on David Letterman. To Caruso, it was the ultimate compliment. "That was amazing, astonishing. For him to take two minutes of his interview to do that, wow, we were just blown away. It means people have embraced the show."
Supposedly more people than any other show in the world.
Tom Jicha can be reached at tjicha@sun-sentinel.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
on tv
Program: CSI: Miami
