The Directors¶
Chase directed exactly two episodes — the pilot and the finale. Everything in between was a small rotating group with an unusually consistent house style.
The regulars¶
| Director | Episodes | Notable |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Van Patten | 20 | "Members Only," "Long Term Parking," "Soprano Home Movies" |
| John Patterson | 13 | "I Dream of Jeannie Cusamano," "Funhouse," "Whitecaps" |
| Allen Coulter | 12 | "College," "Pine Barrens"'s season, "The Test Dream" |
| Alan Taylor | 9 | "Kennedy and Heidi," "The Blue Comet," Many Saints |
| Jack Bender | 4 | "Mayham" |
| Henry J. Bronchtein | 4 | "From Where to Eternity" |
| Dan Attias | 3 | "46 Long" |
| Steve Buscemi | 4 | "Pine Barrens" |
| David Chase | 2 | "The Sopranos," "Made in America" |
Tim Van Patten is the show's most-used director and drew the largest share of its heaviest hours. He went on to Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, and The Pacific.
John Patterson directed most of the season finales through the early run and died in 2005, during production; season six's opening credits carry a dedication to him.
Allen Coulter directed "College" — the episode that established what the show was — and went on to Boardwalk Empire and features.
Alan Taylor won an Emmy for the show, then directed Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Thor: The Dark World, and The Many Saints of Newark.
The guests¶
The show periodically hired filmmakers rather than television directors, and the results are among its most distinctive hours:
Steve Buscemi directed "Pine Barrens" (S3E37) — widely considered one of the greatest television episodes ever made — plus three more, before being cast as Tony Blundetto in season five. Directing his way into an acting role is a genuinely unusual career move.
Peter Bogdanovich directed "Sentimental Education" (S5E58) while also playing Dr. Elliot Kupferberg, Melfi's therapist, across multiple seasons.
Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) directed "Cold Cuts" (S5E62).
Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors) directed "Toodle-Fucking-Oo" (S2E16).
Rodrigo García (In Treatment) directed "All Happy Families…" (S5E56).
Nick Gomez, an independent filmmaker whose work Edie Falco had appeared in, directed "Denial, Anger, Acceptance" (S1E3).
The house style¶
Whoever was directing, the show looks consistent, and that's deliberate. Chase's room broke scripts down shot by shot before shooting, which pushed the decisions upstream.
The signatures: long takes, static or slow cameras, a lot of medium-wide staging that lets scenes play out in space rather than in cutting, natural light where possible, and a willingness to hold on a face for far longer than television convention allows.
The show also uses 35mm film and a feature-film aspect ratio throughout, and its cinematographers — Alik Sakharov (who went on to Game of Thrones) and Phil Abraham (who moved into directing, including on Mad Men) — light it like a film rather than like television.
That combination is the single most imitated thing about the series' craft. See Direction & Craft.