Allen talked to cinematographer Gordon Willis about how fun it would be to shoot the film in black and white, Panavision aspect ratio (2.35:1) because it would give "a great look at New York City, which is sort of one of the characters in the film". Allen decided to shoot his film in black and white because that was how he remembered it from when he was small. "Maybe it's a reminiscence from old photographs, films, books and all that. But that's how I remember New York." He always heard Gershwin music with it, too. In "Manhattan" he really thinks that he and Willis succeeded in showing the city. "When seeing it there on that big screen, it's really decadent". The picture was shot on location with the exception of some of the scenes in the planetarium which were filmed on a set.