So I was reading volumes 1 and 2 of "Echoes of All Our Conversations"
and it was mentioned that there were several stylistic changes between
Season One and Season Two.

It also mentioned comments in Season One about "Stillness" in some
scenes, and with one of the show's developers being a veteran of
"Miami Vice" as a director it got me to thinking about that.

I was a fan of "Vice" growing up and even today the show stands out
for the "tableau" feel it had in several scenes, conversations, people
sitting around, which was often combined with scene blocking and the
use of space and color to create the unique "feel" of that show.

In all the ways people have tried to create a sense of enhanced
reality, Michael Mann's work in "Vice" is one of the most unique. In
traditional black and white Film Noir, staging, light and shadow were
used to maximize effect on screen of an enhanced reality. In "Vice"
the question of how to deal with the different type of shadow effects
in color television as opposed to black and white were addressed by
using a pastel set of shades and focusing mostly on "cool" colors,
something that is actually mentioned in the B5 interviews, although B5
had a different palette than Vice, including lots of organic browns
and olive tones, and red and orange, colors that weren't common in
"Vice."

For people wondering about how the style was set in Season One, and
the changes going into Season Two, I found it pretty interesting. It
wasn't a connection I had known about and in rewatching a couple First
Season episodes recently it did strike me when I was thinking about
it.

Another possible influence of Miami Vice is in the character of
Commander Jeffrey Sinclair. Him being reserved and taciturn in his
conversations during some scenes might well have been influenced by
the Castillo character on Miami Vice, the Precinct Lieutenant, who was
played in a very taciturn way by Edward James Olmos. If the people
directing Mr. O'Hare as Sinclair had worked on "Vice" it is definitely
a possibility.

While "cool colors" like blues made their way to uniforms and the
exhaust jets of Station Starfuries, I wonder if that was just how it
wound up or if there was any Vice influence in the color blocking
which would have endured throughout the show, even after JMS decided
to go in a different direction in other areas of style and "feel"
heading into Season Two.

Of course, it also got me to thinking of how cool it would be to see
Garibaldi and Dr. Franklin go out on a mission together, rolling out
in their shuttle to some Phil Collins wearing 80s style threads and
Ray Bans :)

David

And I can feel it, coming, in the air tonight.... ;)
--- SBBSecho 2.13-Win32
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