ON
🔍
← Back to feed
United StatesCulture4 days ago

Why Is This One Film Shot So Sticky?

The article discusses the 'Tootsie Shot,' a common cinematic technique where a protagonist walks through a crowded urban street, often used in films set in cities like New York. The piece explores why this shot is so memorable and widely used despite being brief and seemingly simple. It includes interviews with various industry professionals such as authors, cinematographers, producers, and lawyers who provide insights into the cultural significance and technical aspects of the shot.

We're sorry, but something went wrong while fetching your podcast feeds. Please contact us at plus@slate.com for help.

Episode Notes

You know the Tootsie Shot. It’s that image that pops up all the time in movies set in a dense city: a really busy midtown street, everyone going somewhere—and smack in the middle of it all is the protagonist. You can find it in Working Girl, Midnight Cowboy, Wall Street , Heartburn , Elf , Bridget Jones’s Diary , The Devil Wears Prada , The Wolf of Wall Street , and so many more. But while it’s one of the most recognizable camera shots in all of film, it only amounts to a short, transitional moment, often in the middle of a montage, and sometimes lasting for a couple seconds. It is, after all, just someone walking down a crowded street. So why is it so sticky?

Some of the voices you’ll hear in this episode include James Sanders, author of Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies ; cinematographer Adam Holender; producer Anna Wenger; assistant director Joe Reidy, author Christopher Bonanos, media and entertainment lawyer Sam Bayard, and location manager Mara Alcaly. Also thanks to Jason Bailey, Sam Levy, Glenn Kenny, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, J.D. Amato, David Sims, Bill Parker, Doug Brody, Sean Fennessey, and Jody Rosen.

This episode was produced by Willa Paskin and Benjamin Frisch. Decoder Ring is also produced by Max Freedman and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.

If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.

Read the full article at Slate →

1 reports

SlateIndependentCenter4 days ago
Why Is This One Film Shot So Sticky?

The article discusses the 'Tootsie Shot,' a common cinematic technique where a protagonist walks through a crowded urban street, often used in films set in cities like New York. The piece explores why this shot is so memorable and widely used despite being brief and seemingly simple. It includes interviews with various industry professionals such as authors, cinematographers, producers, and lawyers who provide insights into the cultural significance and technical aspects of the shot.

Bias read (Center): The article focuses on a cinematic technique and its cultural impact without taking a political stance. It provides balanced perspectives from multiple industry experts and does not exhibit any biased language or framing.