LOS ANGELES — No one says a word in the opening sequence of "The Sopranos," but you'd never think to watch it with the sound off.
It's not that the vistas of industrial and working-class New Jersey are particularly evocative. It's the song that plays as mobster Tony Soprano drives through them — Alabama 3's "Woke Up This Morning," a propulsive, bluesy number about loss and unfulfilled promise — that transforms the sequence into something tense and menacing, hinting at the violence that will eventually erupt on screen.
The crew member who's responsible for marrying the right recorded music to scenes in a film or TV show is called the music supervisor. Most projects also have a composer who handles the musical score written for them. The music supervisor and the composer, along with other top creatives on a project, decide which scenes will have recorded songs, original music or both.
