[Dexter Filming Locations

3 views

Skip to first unread message

Sofia Gilcrease

unread,

Jun 11, 2024, 4:41:21 PM6/11/24

to scotemsaldi

But this isn'tthe only neighborhood in Long Beach where they have filmed. Theyhave also shot in two locations down by Long Beach's NaplesIsland, two more near Bay Shore Beach,once at Shoreline Village, and twice ata Long Beach hotel on PCH. (I've heardthat in the second season, they added a hotel near the Queen Mary to thelist).

dexter filming locations

DOWNLOAD ⚹⚹⚹ https://t.co/VsQU20yKHI

Surprisingly,perhaps, only one of the first season's memorable crime sceneswas shot in Long Beach, but it was one of the most gruesome - the onewhere the "Ice Truck Killer" left his dismembered victim'sbody parts neatly wrapped as presents under a Christmas tree at a Santa's Village.
Most of the murder scenes were shot in Miami, while they used Long Beachfor most of the residential shots.

But then again,Long Beach was also the location of the "Ice Truck Killer's"home base, where he actually did-in his many victims (off-camera) beforedispersing the bodies around to various other locations. (And that villain'slair is also where the "Ice Truck Killer" eventuallymet his fate, at the hands of Dexter.)

Only Miamiwas used more often as a filming location than Long Beach in the firstseason. And that Miami filming was mostly limited to the show's first fiveepisodes - amazing when you consider that Dexter is supposed to livein Miami...

After that,the producers decided that it wasn't worth the expense of going all theway to Florida, when they could recreate the look of Miami so easily inLong Beach and other L.A. locales. All they needed to do was dropin an establishing shot or two ofthe real Miami and they were good to go.

Of course, theydon't limit their California filming to Long Beach. They've shotall around the L.A. area, from Marina Del Rey to Exposition Park, fromSan Pedro to Sun Valley... Click here fora list of the locations indexed by city.

TheDexter screenshots from the show and all related characters & elementsare trademarks of and Showtime.
All other photos & text are Copyright 1999-2024-Gary Wayneand may not be used without written permission.

Return to Seeing-Stars.com

We're in the midst of our spring campaign, and we have until June 7 to raise$4,000. This money directly supports the journalism Miami New Times produces and helps keep our work freely accessible for all, because not everyone can afford to pay for news. If you value our work, please make a contribution today to help us reach our goal.

With the final season of Dexter quickly approaching -- it starts this Sunday! -- it's only fitting to pay tribute to the city where it all began: our vibrant Miami. Even though Dexter himself (Michael C. Hall) says in the pilot: "Miami is a great place for me, great place for me to hone my craft -- viva Miami," filmmakers took the filming of the series out of Florida after the first few episodes.

Generic aerial shots mixed with the Miami skyline and some street signs cleverly inserted into various scenes give the show enough credibility to fool the average viewer. But Miamians know better, and so do L.A. natives, like Gary Wayne of seeing-stars.com.

Wayne runs the popular website that tracks down the real-life locations of the places seen on television or in movies. His interest in Dexter began when he drove past a film shooting in San Pedro, California, and was told it was for the Showtime series. After watching the first season on DVD, Wayne discovered most of the filming was done in Long Beach, California, an area he is very familiar with and that also greatly resembles Miami.

But tracking down the exact location where scenes were filmed wasn't as breezy as a walk on a beach. "I had to do a lot of detective work," Wayne says. With online searches, aerial photos, and spotting the details -- or "clues," as he says -- Wayne has uncovered an impressive number of sites seen on Dexter. Lately, his work has gotten easier with the help of his growing network of fans/tipsters, who often send him pictures of what they see.

"There are no real Miami locations after the first season," he says, "at least none with the cast present." The establishing shots seen throughout the series are filmed here -- or at least were. According to Wayne, and to his knowledge, "everything after the first few episodes was filmed in the L.A. area -- mostly Long Beach and the Hollywood area around their studio, Sunset-Gower."

Despite Wayne having never visited Miami, his favorite Miami-filmed scene was his first find: the Pepper Fountain at Bayfront Park. The fountain appears in the pilot episode and is the scene in which the second victim of the Ice Truck Killer is found. "It's a rather memorable scene in its own right," Wayne says.

The series opens with Dexter cruising down Ocean Drive with neon signs blurring the background, but one particular sign, "Crescent," clearly stands out. Ocean Drive is used various times throughout the series as a backdrop, but it is mostly seen in season one when Dexter drives or walks up and down the street.

In season one, Miami is plagued with a serial killer who goes after prostitutes. The first time we encounter one of his victims -- or at least her dismembered body -- is at the pool of the Seven Seas Motel. And that's not the location's only brush with Hollywood; the motel also had a starring role in Pain & Gain earlier this year.

When Debra (Dexter's sister) discovers the ice truck that the Ice Truck Killer has been using, it's parked across the street from the Colony Hotel on Ocean Drive. Inside the truck, the painted fingertips of a victim are frozen in a block of ice, like a cold and colorful high-five.

While in the show, Dexter's apartment is located in fictional "Palm Terrace," in reality the condo community is the Bay Harbor Club. The gorgeous view of the water cannot be faked, but the inside of the apartment can. After getting initial exterior shots in Miami, a replica of the condo was built in L.A..

Dexter and Rita (his then girlfriend and future wife) go out on a Friday night to some place where they publicly smash crab bits and eat 'em; this location is actually Bayfront Park by Bayside. The second victim of the Ice Truck Killer is also found here in front of an easily recognizable fountain in Bayfront Park. If you notice how the yellow police tape is positioned in the scene, it mirrors the round shape of the fountain.

When Dexter goes to a local flea market to look for Jeremy Downs (the kid who reminds Dexter of himself), a pair of great big eyes stare back at you from the green building of the Guadalupe Dollar Store.

In episode four of season one, the Ice Truck Killer gets personal with Dexter by recreating moments from his childhood. One photograph he mimics was taken when Dexter was a boy on "Rand Beach," which was later renamed "Petrie Beach," but in reality it's just a part of our very own South Florida coastline.

One of Dexter's fond memories is going with his dad and sister to a pumpkin patch, complete with a hayride. In the flashback and crime scene shots, you can catch a great view of the Miami skyline, which can only be seen from Bicentennial Park.

Remember that creepy looking valet character who would abduct women, then rape and kill them, and film it for his even creepier website? Well, he worked at the Doral Park Country Club, which we get a glimpse of while Dexter creeps on him in the first episode.

Dexter meets up with Debra for a quick bite and to talk shop at some hole-in-the-wall fish restaurant, which turns out to actually be a local gem: Jimbo's. Since then, Jimbo's has closed down, but it's a sight worth mentioning and remembering.

I think only the first two seasons were actually shot in Miami. In later seasons most of the shots were in LA, until eventually in the last couple of seasons it was 100% shot in LA. Dexter's apartment is indeed on Bay Habor Islands, but I believe they made a studio set for it in the later seasons to shoot it all in LA.

I feel like it lost its way after a while (when they moved more towards filming in LA), I like the first 2 or 3 seasons because it feels very Miami, very Cubano. I sometimes get the feeling I'm on a holiday when watching it.

Excellent location site. I like the organization, clickable map, organized by type of site, location etc. I had heard about it being filmed in Miami but didn't realize that so many scenes were shot there, at least for the first few seasons. The fact that Dexter, the lead character, is a serial killer discouraged me from watching it. Are any Vice locations used in the series?

While the show is set in upstate New York, all of the locations you see in the trailer are right here in Massachusetts, where the series has been filming since late January. The trailer highlights the picturesque downtown area of Shelburne Falls, where Showtime spent several weeks filming earlier this year.

A. In the early seasons, I usually had to hunt down the locations after viewing the episodes, using clues from the various scenes. By the now, though, I've developed a small group of fans, spies & tipsters who kept an eye out for Dexter filming in their neighborhoods, and let me know in advance when something is about to film there.

Between those reports, my own personal reconnaissance around town, and a few new resources I discovered, by the time the new first episode airs, I already know most (but not all) of the filming locations, and only need to watch the episodes and match up the scenes with the correct locations.

This group of helpful fans includes Rick, Ellen, Suzi, Elaine, Mia, Julie, Kerry, Joel, Eric, Jeff, & others. My thanks to all of them.