Camera Shots:
-1. The scene begins with a shot of Tony Soprano’s head framed in between the two legs of the green naked lady statue, then the camera slowly pans towards him as he maintains an intense fixation on the statue. -2. Medium shots of Tony and then of his therapist are frequently cut between during their conversation, which is typical of conversation/dialogue scenes like this one. -3. An overhead shot is used to show Tony in bed, looking directly up at the ceiling/camera, which makes it seem like he’s deep in thought and doesn’t want to get out of bed. -4. There is an extreme close up shot of Tony’s eye when he wakes up. -5. An over-the-shoulder shot following Tony as he picks up the paper transitions to eventually have him facing the camera, while also revealing the newspaper headlines he is discontent with. -6. A short establishing shot is used to introduce some of the other characters, including Tony’s daughter Meadow, Meadow’s friend, his son, and Mrs. Soprano. Sound: -1. The opening theme song has a lot of lyrics involving getting guns, which foreshadows that the show will take a more violent turn than what is presented in this clip. -2. When Tony is talking with the therapist, the sound design is extremely quiet and almost uncomfortable, which is accompanied with moments of awkward silence in between the two talking. This possibly represents Tony’s uncomfortability with being forced to go to therapy. -3. Background music is used to distinguish between Tony in the present talking to his psychiatrist, and the past when he’s with his family and the ducks, because whenever it cuts back to the therapist the music cuts off abruptly. -4. Tony discussing his current feelings, involving dissatisfaction with the idea that the best is behind him, to his therapist through doubles as narration that helps the audience understand his character better. -5. The sounds of the ducks quacking is originally non-diegetic sound because the audience is unaware what the source of the noise is, but becomes diegetic when the ducks come out of the trees. Editing: -1. When the psychiatrist asks Tony what caused his stress it cuts from him thinking to a shot of his house, foreshadowing that something related to his home life is probably what caused the panic attack. -2. The use of nonlinear editing is employed because the scene cuts between the present day and Tony’s flashback several times. -3. During the shot that establishes the Sopranos’ house the time is sped up to show the transition between night and day (kind of like a timelapse). -4. There is the use of an eyeline match when Mrs. Soprano is staring concerningly out the window, which then cuts to Tony playing in the pool with the ducks, implying she is concerned over her husband’s obsession with them. -5. A reverse eyeline match is also used when a shot of Mr. Soprano in his pool cuts to a shot of Meadow’s friend staring at him strangely. Mise-en-scene: -1. The green statue of the naked lady is the most striking element of mise-en-scene in this clip, since you wouldn’t expect that to be in a psychiatrist’s waiting room. -2. The therapist is dressed in a neutral, monochromatic beige outfit that causes her to blend in with the mostly brown environment, possibly because therapists themselves are supposed to be neutral towards their patients. -3. On the other hand, Tony Soprano is dressed in black and grey colors, again possibly representing his abrasiveness towards talking to a psychiatrist. -4. During the flashback Tony’s costume design is as concerning as his apparent mental state- a guy swimming in the pool in his underwear and a bathrobe is pretty concerning. -5. The setting of the Sopranos’ neighborhood seems very wealthy and upper-class, which accompanied with Tony saying “he never reached the heights like me” about his father, implies he is wealthy. Meaning: In this short clip we meet the main protagonist of the tv show, Tony Soprano, who is at a psychiatry office for an apparent panic attack, the cause of which is not revealed. Through this scene we gain some insight into his questionable mental state and current dissatisfaction with his life, which is possibly what will propel the events of this show forward. We are also introduced to some of the other central characters, and see some hints towards what their character dynamics will be (for example how Mrs. Soprano seems very concerned about her husband).
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