The Tootsie Shot

Decoder Ring

Slate Podcasts

Documentary, History, Society & Culture

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 July 2021

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

You know the Tootsie Shot. It’s that shot from the movies: a really busy midtown street, protagonist smack in the middle of it all, everyone going somewhere. It’s one of the most recognizable shots in film. It can be found 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. This is a short, transitional moment that often comes in the middle of a montage and takes up 30 seconds max, and sometimes just two or three. It’s just someone walking down a crowded street. So why is it so sticky? If you love the show and want to support us, consider joining Slate Plus. With Slate Plus you can binge the whole season of Decoder Ring right now, plus ad free podcasts, bonus episodes, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's a shot you've probably seen in a lot of movies.
0:10.1	It's of the film's protagonist, but it takes a second to spot her, because she's smack
0:14.9	in the middle of a crowd.
0:17.3	It's a dense, rush hour crowd.
0:20.0	Everybody headed somewhere, and she's headed somewhere, too.
0:23.0	There's usually a rousing song playing on the soundtrack, and the camera keeps her
0:27.3	in focus, as she walks down the street.
0:30.4	Even as everyone around her is a little fuzzy.
0:33.6	She's one of many, but she has our attention.
0:37.3	Do you have a favorite version of it?
0:38.9	Oh yeah, I mean, I would.
0:40.2	Anna Wenger is an executive producer for film and television.
0:43.9	Her favorite version is from the movie Working Girl.
0:46.4	Melanie Griffith and Joan Hussack are getting off the Staten Island fairy, you know, workers.
0:51.6	They're doing their commute.
0:53.6	Her 80s hair just fully blazing.
0:57.4	No lunch against speech class.
0:59.9	What do you need speech class for?
1:01.5	You talk fine.
1:02.7	The shot just shows you these masses of people, and everyone's trying to make it, but there's
1:08.2	your star.
1:09.2	She's special.
	...

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