Media comparison Sopranos/Manh

New York is a city well represented in the world of film and television. There have been hundreds of films and programmes, its distinctive skyline capturing the imagination of writers and directors everywhere. Scenes of New York feature, in contrasting ways in the openings of The Sopranos and Manhattan. The openings of both pieces give very different views of New York. Manhattan gives the famous stereotypical view of New York: glamour, bright lights, high, distinctive skylines and wealthy interesting people. From The Sopranos, the view is one of a far rougher tougher city with urban, industrial areas emphasised over the famous areas on Manhattan island. The Sopranos emphasises the masculinity of New York, the gangster related, multicultural society, every bit as dynamic as the refined society portrayed in the opening of Manhattan, yet featuring a faster pace of action, far more frenetic and frenzied than the laid back side shown in Manhattan.

The overall impression of New York given by The Sopranos is one of a city with a dark side. Unlike many images of New York, this does not emphasise the city’s glamorous side. The clip is very

fast moving: a montage of shots all of which are speed edited together and have little link to each other beyond the obvious New York theme. The cuts are very choppy, and somewhat disorientating which explains the inclusion of a medium long shot of the Statue of Liberty: it is an establishing shot, placing the action firmly in New York. Without the shot, it would be very difficult to place the drama, as the roads and scenery around them: industrial areas, highway toll points, the usual roadway scene, symbolising ordinary life, look much like any other part of America. The majority of shots are of real life: taken through the car’s side window or windscreen, a driver’s eye view, and are of downmarket industrial areas. There is no special lighting: they are taken as from a moving car on a bumpy road. The effect of these things is that a strong impression is given of New York as a fast moving place, where, however, ordinary people lead their ordinary lives. The man in the car, for example, seems to be on his way home from work. The fact that he may work as a gangster, or in some shady business, is somewhat irrelevant; he’s still doing the ordinary thing of driving home from work, stopping as everyone else does to pay his toll as he leaves the highway, driving through an ordinary, everyday suburban neighbourhood on the way home.

In conclusion: both openings are upbeat, high impact, celebrating New York for what it is, full of energy, strongly suggesting that the following feature will follow suit. The purpose of the Sopranos opening is to interest the viewing public enough to get them to watch not just this week’s programme, but also the rest of the series. This is why it is very important for this to be a fast paced opening: not enough attention grabbed means not enough ratings earned, and in the highly competitive world of American network TV low ratings sign a programme’s death warrant. Manhattan on the other hand, can afford to take its time a little more: the main purpose of this opening is not so much to attract attention: it was made for cinema, and those watching have already paid to see the film: they want to be t

Some topics in this essay:
Statue Liberty, Woody Allen, Sopranos York, Blue Gershwin, York Manhattan, York Sopranos, Manhattan York, Sopranos Manhattan, Scenes York, , black white, openings sopranos manhattan, fast moving, main purpose, impression york, send raptures, bright lights, manhattan hand, multicultural society, music music, representation york,