Establishing Shots, New York City | MCU: Location Scout

Nighttime aerial of New York City.

What are you doing back in my city?

DAREDEVIL SEASON 1

Episode 7 is the first episode to contain any establishing/stock shots of the city as a whole. The image above is looking west into Midtown Manhattan, with the blue-spired One Bryant Park on the left, and Rockefeller Plaza (labeled with the “GE” logo) on the right.

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The second image from the episode is looking towards the East River and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, over the Financial District, with the South Ferry terminal in the bottom middle.

  • Nighttime aerial of Manhattan.

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Episode 10 featured an aerial shot of Battery Park City and the Financial District, focused on the tower at 117 West St, Manhattan.

  • Aerial shot of lower part of Manhattan.

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JESSICA JONES SEASON 1

The second Netflix show out of the gate has transitional shots that show views of the city to remind viewers where the action takes place, and fewer shots to establish a specific portion of the city.

Episode 1 opens with an image of midtown Manhattan, featuring the Empire State Building, shot just off Noble Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

  • View of Manhattan skyscrapers at night.

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Episode 2 contains two back-to-back shots of Midtown. One is a zoomed-in shot of the Chrysler and the MetLife Buildings–possibly filmed from the same location off Noble Street as listed above, while the other is a wider shot that includes buildings within Brooklyn. This appears to be overlooking the brown trees of McCarren Park.

  • Slightly out of focus shot of midtown Manhattan from Brooklyn.
  • View of midtown Manhattan from Brooklyn.

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THE DEFENDERS SEASON 1

Episode 6 contains this aerial interstitial separating two scenes. This flyover is a piece of stock footage hovering over the intersection of Avenue B and E 7th Street in the East Village.

  • Aerial of a New York intersection.
  • Aerial of a New York intersection.

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A shot later in the same episode shows the Empire State Building (lit red) as seen from the Broadway Stages in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The yellow piping seen in the image is part of the Newtown Creek Wastewater Plant.

  • New York city at sunset.

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Episode 8 features two separate stock shots of the city. The first one is an aerial night shot over the west side of Manhattan showing the West Side Yards.

  • Aerial view of New York City at night.

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In the wrap-up for the episode, a tilt-up shows Harlem from Malcolm X Blvd around W 116th Street, looking north.

  • An aerial view of Harlem.
  • An aerial view of Harlem.

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JESSICA JONES SEASON 2

The second season of Jessica Jones contains the most transitional/interstitial shots of any season so far.

Episode 1 starts off with a shallow focus shot of traffic on 6th Avenue at W 43rd, looking east in Midtown.

  • New York city street corner.

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Episode 1 also features this shot of the Empire State Building (lit green for Saint Patrick’s Day) as seen from the bridge over the train tracks by The Cardinal Building in Long Island City. This same shot appears in episode 8 as well.

  • The Empire State Building at dusk as seen through other buildings.

Street View

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Episode 3 also had two interstitials, both of which have been difficult to track down.

The first is a piece of footage of a Metro-North railcar traveling towards the camera. This is looking north along the New Haven Line at the E 97th Street Bridge at Park Avenue in East Harlem.

  • Nighttime shot of Metro North Railroad train.

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The second shot from Episode 3 has this sequence of a train passing by on an elevated track at an unknown location. It looks like it should have been filmed in Long Island City, but no location has panned out, yet.

  • View of elevated train line.
  • View of elevated train line.

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This is an unknown location on MCU: Location Scout. If you have any information about the whereabouts of this location or any other tips, please send them to MCULocationScout@gmail.com

Episode 4 features a deep-focus stock shot looking south on the Avenue of the Americas from W 48th Street.

  • Long lens view down a busy New York Avenue.

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Episode 6 shows the Brooklyn Bridge from around 174 Plymouth St in DUMBO, Brooklyn. This is similar to a transitional shot in episode 2, showing the exterior of Robert Coleman’s apartment.

  • View of Brooklyn Bridge along a street in Brooklyn.

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Also in episode 6 is a shot of the 125th Station from W 122nd Street in Morningside Heights.

  • A train track running through Morningside Heights.

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Episode 7 features three varied shots. The first is footage behind the railings at a subway station. It’s not 100% confirmed, but this is believed to be a view from Queensboro Station.

  • A subway train drives past fencing at a station.

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The second image from Episode 7 features this image looking North from Broadway at W 23rd, in Midtown.

  • A cab in an intersection with the Empire State Building in background.

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The final interstitial from episode 7 is the Williamsburg Bridge, as seen looking Southwest from Domino Park.

  • Nighttime view of three bridges on the east River.

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Episode 8 has this lovely shot through a chainlink fence, which is a daytime view from the same location as the nighttime shot of the Empire State Building in episode 1.

  • New York City as seen through a chain link fence.

Street View

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Episode 13 has this nighttime closing shot for the season. It is looking south into Midtown West, from over Hell’s Kitchen, with the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in the distance and the yellow tip of the Two Worldwide Plaza Condominium below it. Possibly filmed from the top of the Hearst Tower.

  • The New York skyscape at night.

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(Daredevil S01E07 & E10, 2015; Jessica Jones S01E01-E02, 2015; The Defenders S01E06 & E08, 2017; Jessica Jones S02E01, E04, E06-E08 & E13, 2018)