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"Smooth Criminal" Music Video / Short Film

Date range confirmed in Rolling Stone (“In mid-February 1987, Michael took yet another break to shoot an $8 million extended video for the song ‘Smooth Criminal,’... [The shoot] took two months…”); in Bad 25, it is confirmed that the break that occurs in the middle of the music video / short film is rehearsed on May 5, 1987, so the filming was most likely completed soon after this date.

 

Colin Chilvers, director, Rolling Stone (June 24, 2014)

For the 42-minute "Smooth Criminal," the centerpiece of Jackson's 1988 movie Moonwalker, director Colin Chilvers wanted the lighting of a noir classic and Jackson wanted to pay tribute to an MGM musical. Together they visualized Jackson's second most famous dance move — a gravity-defying lean. Chilvers, who had done special effects on Superman, affixed Jackson's heels to the ground and kept him from toppling over with piano wire.

“I showed Michael a movie that I felt would fit the theme of the piece, The Third Man. He loved the look of it, that sort of film-noir look, so we used that to get the cameraman to light it in a similar way. The dance piece was a tribute to Fred Astaire. And actually, he wears a similar kind of costume that Fred had used in one of his movies – The Band Wagon. We had the pleasure of having Fred's choreographer come on the set. [Astaire's choreographer] Hermes Pan visited the set while we were doing the song and dance piece and said that Fred would have been very happy and proud of being copied by such a wonderful person.

The lean that we did, obviously that was a bit of a heritage from my days of Superman. 'Cause we had Michael on wires and fixed his feet to the ground so he could do that famous lean. I fixed their heels to the ground with a slot, so that they were locked into it. If you look in the video, when they come back up from that lean, they kind of shuffle their feet back – they were unlocking themselves from the support they had in the ground.

We had 46 dancers plus the choreographers, hair, makeup, everything else. And every day, lunchtime, we'd go and watch the dailies from the day before. And it would be like a party going on in the screening room. Michael would be there as well and they would be hoopin' and hollerin' when they saw themselves and how good it looked – or else, Michael would say, "We can do better than that." Not the usual way to make a Hollywood movie, that's for sure.

It was Michael's movie and he was going to do exactly what he felt he needed to do to make it perfect. The producer, Dennis Jones, was coming in from outside the studio and obviously he was concerned about the time we were taking. He had a habit of walking towards me and looking at his watch. And [fellow director] Jerry Kramer, didn't drop a beat and said, 'Dennis, with Michael, you don't need a watch, you need a calendar.’ Michael wanted it to be perfect and that's the way he was.”

“Los Angeles Times” magazine (October 11, 1987)

"I started work February of last year.... No, I mean this year." He laughs at his mistake. "I expected it to be difficult, and it was. Michael's a perfectionist and when you are trying to break new ground and working with special effects as we were, it's inevitable that there is frustration. The main difficulty is that Michael is so busy. There is always something dragging him from one meeting to another. I don't know how he handles it all as well as he does. So, for anyone working with Michael, the greatest frustration is always going to be getting enough access to him."

 

Vinccent Paterson, choreographer, “Man Behind the Throne” documentary (2013)

When he rehearsed, he’d put on all the clothes. The shirt, the tie, the shoes, the spats, the hat, the jacket, the pants to see if the movement that he was creating for himself or that I was creating for him felt really comfortable and organic in the clothes that he wore. Michael would stand in front of that mirror just doing the same exact movement, same exact movement, hours and hours and hours on end, coming back to the same little section and repeating it and repeating it and repeating it.

...You know, I got the opportunity to work with Michael a lot during sort of what I call “the heyday” you know, and at that point everything was always a rush especially as a choreographer/director because you knew that, first of all, what was going to be seen by half the people on the globe. The fun part of the years I worked with Michael was that in every video, we sort of played with different techniques. I took stuff in Smooth Criminal and gave him the first bit of partner dancing that he had ever done or that most people had ever seen on MTV, as well as some effect things with those guys leaning over and all.

“Dancer's Studio - Vol.1” (2003) (listing) (archived listing)

I got a call one day from Michael asking him if I would come and meet him in the recording studio (smiles) and he played a song for me that he didn’t have a title to yet and said, “I have an idea for this song and I think it should be myself and maybe ten guys in tuxedos” and I didn’t know what he wanted from me because we never talked about choreography and he said, “why don’t you take this music home and listen to it and let the music talk to you and see what it tells you what it wants to be because I want you to create the idea and choreograph this piece for me”. So I did and it became “Smooth Criminal” and it was like for me, being a little boy in Santa’s workshop. Michael gave me a sound stage, he gave me 15 dancers, he gave me a set designer, a $40,000 dollar sound system and a video camera and said “Just create and just shoot and come to my house and show me at night and lets discuss it”. He loved it and he kept saying, “I think you need maybe 15 more dancers.” Cool, you know I can do that, take it to him and he said “Could you use 20 more dancers?” I was like, “Yeah man” so I got it and I worked with the set designers and I created the situation and it became “Smooth Criminal” and that became my sort of choreographic and directing relationship with Michael.

“Vincent Paterson: Master of All Media” (January 13, 2006) (archived)

At the tribute, Paterson remarked upon the violence in “Smooth Criminal,” saying, “I’m a very peaceful, save the whales kind of guy. All that killing and darkness was Michael’s idea.”

The MJCast, Episode 064, “Vincent Paterson Special” (August 28, 2017)

Jamon (The MJCast): When I became a Michael Jackson fan, I remember "Smooth Criminal" being the short film that I was watching the most, and going back to see the most. In my opinion, it's an absolute masterpiece, and I know Michael said during his career as well, that it was the short film that he received probably the most comments about—most positive feedback about.

Vincent Paterson: Yeah.

Jamon: Talk to us about that process, and what it was like making such a brilliant masterpiece of film.

Paterson: Well, it was so interesting because it was one of the first times really that I'd ever not worked with Michael or with any celebrity where I was left to do such a huge project. Originally, I was supposed to not only conceive it and choreograph it, but direct it. Later what happened towards the end, when it became part of "Moonwalker", "Moonwalker" was going to become a feature film—did become a feature film—and so they had to bring in a director from the Union, the DGA, and he wound up directing that video. But he was very appreciative of all the work that I had done, and the storyboards I had done in the visual video at that time, recordings that I had made and cut together and had a visual storyboard that he almost followed shot for shot for shot. So, his name was Colin Chilvers and he was a great man—is a great man, I don't know what he's doing now. But Michael called me up one day, and funny story. I've said it a thousand times, but I'll say it again. I'm sitting at home, and it was nighttime. The phone rings and I hear this voice, he goes, "Hi, is Vincent there?" I said, "Who's this?" "It's Michael, it's Michael". I said, "It's not Michael, who is this?" "No really, it's Michael, it's Michael Jackson." I said, "Get the fuck out of here, this is not Michael Jackson." He goes, "Yeah, it is Vincent, it's really me, it's Michael Jackson". I said, "If you don't get the fuck off this phone right now, I'm gonna hang up on you". He started laughing. When he started laughing, I knew it was him, right? I said, "Oh my God, Michael, I'm so sorry! I never would have used the word 'fuck', man". He starts laughing more. He starts laughing more. He goes, "Are you busy right now?" He asked me to come over to his recording studio, which was around the corner where I lived fortunately. So, I went over and he had the song, he was playing it, but it only had "Annie, are you okay? Annie, are you okay? You okay, Annie?", and the music. It didn't have any other lyrics. So, we talked for while, he kept playing it. "What do you think of it?" I said, "I love it. I mean, it's great, really inspiring." So, we talked for a long time about other things too, hung out for a while. So, I was gonna leave, and he said, "Take it with you". I think it was a cassette at that time. "Take it with you and listen to it, and let the music tell you what it wants to be, and I said, "I'm so confused Mike. What do you want me to do? You want me to dance in this video or what?"—this short film—and he said, "No, man, I want you to conceive it, and I want you to choreograph it, and I want you to direct it." Now, I had done "Beat It" and "Thriller" with him, and that was it. So, I was kind of floored and a little blown away but—well, very blown away—but I went home for a week, and I thought about it, I thought about it, I thought about it. And I called him up and I said, "Okay, this is kind of what I see." Now, I knew Michael loved old film, and I knew he loved that kind of era. And I knew he was a huge fan of Fred Astaire, but I was not, honestly—and I want to be really honest about this, people say, "Oh, you took it from 'The Band Wagon'". I really don't believe that I took it from "The Band Wagon", and I don't believe—I mean, Michael may have thought about the white suit and that white hat from Fred Astaire, but we weren't really even making it an homage to Fred Astaire... I was not thinking about that physically or anything, I just created the piece. So, what happened was, Michael was in the studio recording his album and he really couldn't leave, so he said, "Look, I just want you cast it, I'm going to give you a stage. On half the stage, they'll build the set. On the other half, they'll build you a dance floor, and give you a great sound system, and give you a video camera. You create it, shoot it, come see me. Let's look at the stuff, let's talk about it. That's how we'll work." So, that's basically how I worked. And I would create it, I would give everybody a dance class and create, and then I would move them over to the set. I turned them all from dancers to actors. I made them come up with a biography of who they were as this character. I made them come up with names. When they walked onto the set they weren't allowed to just walk onto the set. They had to walk through that green door. And from the moment they walked into that green door, they were only allowed to dress themselves as the character. Once we were done rehearsing, they were allowed to walk out the green door, and as soon as they walked out the green door, they were back to who they were as dancers. So, that was kind of how I got them to be actors, and I thought that was really important for this story. So, I would shoot everything and I would go and see Michael at his Havenhurst house, and we would sit and watch everything, and he would always wind up saying to me, "I think you need more people, don't you?", because it would start out with ten, and I would say, "Yeah." "Well, why don't you get ten more people?" "Ok, cool". So, I'd hire ten more people. Then I come back, and he'd go, "You know, I have a friend Jeffrey Daniels, and he's a street dancer, and he's really good, and I was thinking maybe if you could bring him in with maybe five of his guys or something, that would be really cool". I was like, "Great". So, now we're up to like fifteen. Then I'm shooting, and we're doing more stuff, and then he goes, "Wouldn't you like to have a second story on that place?", and I said, "Yeah, I'd love to have a second story, and I'd love to have a stairway that floats down, so that you can come down to the floor". He goes, "I love that, I love that, I love that! Tell them that's what you want." So, told them that's what I want. "And I think you need ten more dancers". I was like, "Really?" "Yeah, get ten more dancers". By the end, I think we had like 60 dancers altogether, I can't even remember. And also what was wonderful was he would say, "Look, if you think in the musical break or something, we need more music or any way you want to redesign this so we need more music, just talk to me about it, and let's do it". So, I mean, if you think about it, the short film is ten minutes long, and the song is only, what, four minutes long or something, so we added all that extra minute—maybe it's four-and-a-half minutes long—but we added all that extra music just for the short film. So, that's how I would work. And then eventually, when I had the whole thing down, then Michael and I went into a studio, and we started playing and worked him through every single section that he had to do with everybody, and then gave him time to create all of his own solitary moments. Yeah, and then I put him in the room and we'd all rehearse together, and go step by step, and if something felt uncomfortable, or he had great suggestions, which he always had, then we change it. But basically, it was the first opportunity that anybody had given me on that huge a scale to create something as important as that work. And, you know, to be with an artist who allows your imagination to just go wild is something that you can never ever, ever appreciate as much as you wish you could. I mean, I love this man beyond loving anybody, but I could still love him more. I mean, the fact that I said crazy shit like, "Okay, how about if you flip a coin and it goes across the room and lands in the jukebox, and that's how the music starts?". And he was like, "Yeah, I love that! I love that!" Other people would have said, "You're crazy, man. Are you kidding? I don't have the money for that. You're nuts". But not with Michael. Anything I came up with. The lean, when I came up with the lean, he was like "Yes! Yes, oh my gosh! We gotta do that, we gotta do that!" And that kind of became like the image of the entire short film—is that lean. So, it was a dream project. It was a dream project on many levels. I'll tell you two more thing—three more little things that were wonderful. One was that it was so much fun. Big celebrities came in all the time to watch, because they were all his friends. So, Elizabeth Taylor showed up one day and hung out. Jimmy Stewart, he was so old, but he came in and he hung out. He was great. And Fred Astaire's choreographer, his name is Hermes Pan, came in and hung out with us one afternoon. And he said to Michael and me the words that were the best words that anyone could have spoken. He said, "If Fred were here, he would love this." Michael and I just had the biggest smiles on our faces, like two little kids at Christmastime or something. It was amazing. But that was one thing. The second thing is in film, the producers rarely let dancers, and sometimes actors, but always dancers—they keep them away from the room where they show the dailies. Now, just if your audience doesn't know, when you shoot something, it goes to be printed, and then the next day, they show it to the producers and the director and the director of photography so that, if there's been any mistakes, they can come back and fix it when we shoot during the next day. So, we never get to see that. But Michael insisted that all the dancers and him and everybody who wanted to—craft services, the people in the food—anybody could come down to the room, and as long as the room fit everybody, we could all watch. So, every single day besides shooting this incredible short film, we had a monster party where everybody would get up and scream for each other. It was like a church meeting or something in the South. People were screaming, "Go! Go! You go, girl! Get it! Oh yeah, Michael, you got it! Girl, go, go!" They were screaming, and then we would go back down to the stage, and we would shoot again. And it was great. And that crazy little section where they're all like, "Annie are you okay? Are you okay?" in the middle of it, and then it explodes—I used to give them, as a director, acting exercises, improv exercises, and one of them was just that. "Okay you're a big mass of people and your body language is about confusion and pain and searching, and that's what it's about. And just see what happens". Well, we just ran the cameras and when Michael saw what we did, even though the first time we did it everybody was in rehearsal clothes, it was such a unique experience for him. He had never taken acting class, he had never done anything like that. So, when he did this improv with all these kids, there were all these bodies around him, these artists, and saw how everybody was as into it as he was, he just—it blew him away, and he said to us all, "We gotta shoot that! We gotta shoot that tomorrow! That's something that the world has never seen! I want that in this short film, we've got to do it! We've got to do it!" So, we came back, and that's why that crazy thing is in there. It had nothing to do with the short film at all, it was just that Michael loved it, and he wanted it in the middle. So, anyway those are three things about "Smooth Criminal".

 

Eddie Garcia, dancer, “ArticlesBase” (August 14, 2012) (mirror) (archived mirror)

Choreographer and dancer Eddie Garcia said he grew up in a family who loved dancing, and according to him, one of his dreams was to work with Michael Jackson. Casted by Vincent Patterson at the age of 17 as a background dancer in Jackson's short film, "Smooth Criminal," Garcia's dream came true, and according to him, the role was "awesome."

"I remember being on the set and we were rehearsing and something happened," he said. "The actions of everyone in the room changed when Michael walked in, and you could just feel his presence because the whole room changed." Garcia said his first memory of meeting Jackson was during a moment when they were standing by the door in the short film. He said Jackson acknowledged his previous work with Janet Jackson and complimented him on his dancing abilities. "For Michael to have that awareness that I worked with Janet is cool for me," Garcia said.

One of the first lessons Garcia said he learned from Jackson when it came to creativity and professionalism was that every detail mattered. Garcia said he learned this lesson firsthand on the set of "Smooth Criminal." "There was a care and time that went into making everything correct," Garcia said. "A lot of times today due to budgets, people rush things. But with ‘Smooth Criminal,' I could feel every person's presence in that film." To be more specific, he said he specifically remembers Jackson asking him a "creative question," that mattered to the final outtake of "Smooth Criminal." "When he does his chest pop when the music starts, he asked me, ‘Can you feel the music?,'" Garcia said. "I said, ‘Uh, yeah.,' but didn't physically feel the music. He said, ‘No, can you feel it?' He then got four or five monitors lined up and then you could physically feel the music. He wanted us all to truly feel it."

According to Garcia, "Smooth Criminal" was inspired by Fred Astaire's musical, "Bandwagon." He said the set was designed in dedication to the musical and said Jackson and Paterson wanted everyone to represent a piece of "Bandwagon." "We had a little television with a VHS player on the set that would play ‘Bandwagon,' and Michael and Vince would say, ‘Watch this guy and do this,'" Garcia said. "They both kept telling all of us, ‘You have to feel every moment. You can't have one moment that's not real.'" Garcia said he related well to Patterson's and Jackson's philosophies because both were goal-driven toward reaching perfection.

...Though Garcia said dancing in "Smooth Criminal," stands out to him, his resume of work with Jackson expanded over the years, leading to tours and a variety of performances. While on the set of "Smooth Criminal," Garcia said Jackson asked him if he would be interested in going on tour with him. "Three months later, I got a call, asking me if I wanted to be a dancer for the BAD tour," he said. According to him, dancing along side Jackson was a dream fulfilled during the filming of "Smooth Criminal," but Garcia said dancing live on stage with him is an experience he will never forget.

Looking back on his memories of dancing in "Smooth Criminal," and becoming a background dancer for Jackson's following tours, Garcia said he was grateful for Jackson's generosity and for believing in his abilities. "He was kind, wonderful and I have nothing but positive memories of him. That guy was awesome."

 

MJVibe article, “Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal – The Untold Story”

Moonwalker! A fan favorite and an 80’s classic. But Michael’s original concept for Moonwalker was far different to the one we know and love. The original title was ‘The Smooth Criminal Story’ and was to based around the song title of the same name and would sit neatly inside Moonwalker as an extended piece. In entering the world of film for the second time, this time as the creator, producer and brains behind the project and in 1985 under the business ‘Smooth Pictures’, Michael began developing a story that was unique for its time and would have been amazing to watch.

As a starting point, Michael had placed himself as a kitchen worker in a cabaret club. (Yes, Michael Jackson as a chef!). The owner of the club, ‘Annie’ is a performer at the club and also its owner who was supporting of her kitchen worker’s dreams of becoming a star. However those dreams are put on hold when, for unstated reasons the police burst into Annie’s club searching for Michael. Annie is knocked down in the process. (-Annie, are you ok?)

Michael exits the club where he is surrounded by police who begin to shoot. Bullets destroy the club entrance as Michael makes a break for it! The chase is on as all police cars in the area are sent a photo of Michael, whom they must look out for. Running down streets, Michael is spotted and makes a quick turn down a dead end. The police corner Michael ready to shoot, but the captain instructs them to take Michael alive!

In jail, Michael is looking out through the bars wondering how he can escape. He sees a dove and then through the power of magic, he turns into a dove himself and flies through the bars and out of the window to freedom, Landing in a tree, he climbs down (trademark socks on show) and morphs into a car, the Bertone Stratos Zero and clears the scene. It’s not long before the chase is back on, this time with dogs. Devising an escape plan, Michael transforms into a fighter plane. The transformation would have been ahead of its time, with mercury dripping down Michael’s face as he transitions.

As he flies away, Michael’s handwritten notes on that storyboards adds that “We now see a sea of police, stunned, feeling tricked again in disbelief this time.”

Looking for safety, he runs back to the Cabaret club, this time disguised as an older gentleman in a latex mask, where the evening’s performances are in full swing. Making his way through the backstage area, the camera cuts to a close up of Michael’s face and he is now on stage, in a bow tie and tuxedo and performs SMOOTH CRIMINAL with 1920’s gangster back up dancers on stage next to him.

During the performance, Michael spots the police in the bar searching for him. He keeps performing but watches the police at the same time. Finally the Captain looks to the stage and doesn’t notice Michael in the array of dancers. Michael uses this as his cue to slip out of the club and away to safety.

And there ends the original concept for the film. Variations of the script include Michael escaping the police across a beach front and also turning it to a rocket ship.

In the planning stages of the film, Michael was keen not only to study his craft, but become the best. He clips images of Bertone Stratos Zero cars from magazines and explored their dynamics and interior to determine how on screen, he could turn into one. He was also intent on pushing the boundaries, creating a piece that he believed would become a staple in the film industry like no other of its kind and as he put it “Setting a standard never to be equaled.”

Below you will see Michael’s desire to create on paper. These are the words and thoughts of a true visionary who saw boundaries as a challenge to be crossed.

The final result may not have been the blockbuster Michael intended or follow the same story idea, but this behind the scenes look demonstrates a hunger to create, to produce and to be the best.

 

LaVelle Smith Jr., dancer, Christina Chaffin interview (August 4, 2018) (archived)

Christina Chaffin: ​What is your first memory of meeting Michael Jackson and how did it all come about for you?

LaVelle Smith Jr.: The first time had to be on the set of 'Smooth Criminal'. I was a dancer on 'Smooth Criminal' - the long film, and yeah. I walked on the set and he was there, and a few days had gone past. We were working and everything, and I just watched him dance and thought, ‘This guy is amazing.’ I just thought, ‘He’s doing things that are so amazing.’ I was really shocked.

Christina Chaffin: ​How did you get chosen to be a dancer on 'Smooth Criminal'?

Well, first there was a big audition. I had just moved to Los Angeles and I think it was about a two or three-day audition. Just dancing, dancing and dancing. I had no idea if I would get it, but at the time, they didn’t even post who [the dancing] was for. They didn’t tell us the artist. They just said it’s for a video. So, I made it all the way through and got a call.

Christina Chaffin: ​​What are some memories you have with him from being on the 'Smooth Criminal' set?

LaVelle Smith Jr.: Just watching him work. Watching how much of a perfectionist he was. He wanted everything to be just right. The lighting had to be right and he wanted everything to be perfect.

​I remember doing something over and over and over again because he wanted it right. I think we ended up reshooting and extending that job to three months, because we had to reshoot the thing because the shot didn’t match. The smoke wasn’t on the same level, so it looked strange. He said we had to reshoot it and that’s what we did.​

We would watch 'Band Wagon' on the set of 'Smooth Criminal' because that set became like our home. It really became like our club. We were on set 14 hours a day sometimes, so we pretty much lived there.

 

Bea Swedien, wife of studio engineer Bruce Swedien, “My Life as a Studio Wife: A Lifetime of Love and Music with Bruce Swedien” (August 11, 2025)

When Michael filmed the video for “Smooth Criminal,” we, along with Carina, a cousin of mine from Sweden, went to sit in. During a break Michael, dressed in the gorgeous white suit he wore for the shoot, came out of his dressing room carrying Bubbles, who was, thank God, not fully grown yet. He put the little chimp in Carina’s lap where the rascal promptly unbuttoned her blouse. Bruce yelled, “Michael, you’ve trained him well.”

 

Rolling Stone (September 24, 1987)

In mid-February 1987, Michael took yet another break to shoot an $8 million extended video for the song "Smooth Criminal," directed by Colin Chilvers, in which Michael plays an A1 Capone-era gangster. When that took two months, Michael's advisers realized they had a crisis on their hands. Bad had to be completed and in the stores before the already-scheduled tour of Japan in September. Frank Dileo called an emergency meeting at Universal Studios, where Michael was still working on the video. Dileo and John Branca announced that the album had to be finished by June 30th. "This train has got to leave," Dileo said, imploringly. The album was finally mastered July 10th.

 

Chris Cadman, author, “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

Filming for Smooth Criminal began in early 1987, the working title being Chicago Nights (a clapper board of this title is seen in a picture of Michael with Sean Lennon and Kelly Parker).

Brandon Adams was just starting out when he got the part of Zeke. He had appeared in Bryan Michael Stoller’s spoof ‘The Shadow Of Michael.’

Initial meetings for the idea of MOONWALKER were held in Michael’s bedroom at the Encino home in 1985. At that meeting were Cocoon director Ron Howard and Back To The Future’s Kevin Pike. Howard later declined the offer to direct, claiming he was too tired and needed a rest.

Michael was pitching his idea of turning into a transformer and also invited Robert Zemeckis, who had also worked on Back To The Future. Unfortunately Zemeckis declined to work on the film also. Eventually it would be Academy Award winner for Superman The Movie Colin Chivers, who would help Michael achieve his vision. Chivers in turn also brought in David Newman (Superman writer) to write the storyline for MOONWALKER.

Michael held meetings with choreographers Jeffrey Daniel and Vincent Patterson for the video short. Patterson came up with the idea of dancing with gangsters, in an eventual outfit that would be a tribute to his hero Fred Astaire in Band Wagon.

In a note Michael wrote he asked for them to study all the greats, study Bob Fosse dances and watch films like, All That Jazz, Flashdance and Band Wagon.

 

Chris Cadman, author, “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

45 degree ‘lean’ in the short film achieved by using wires.

...‘Smooth Criminal’ was made on the same sound stage where they shot ‘Gone with the Wind.’