Wednesday, May 13, 2009
sound
Sound is an important part of this film. The sound of steel cells clanking puts the viewer into prison. The sound of Red’s narration tells Andy’s story, without it there would be no story. Music in the film sets the tone for the scene. The music was composed by Thomas Newman whose prior work includes the films, The Lost Boys and Scent of a Woman. His later work in film includes American Beauty, The Green Mile, Wall-E and Revolutionary Road. He was nominated for an Oscar for his original score for The Shawshank Redemption. During the opening shots when Andy is holding a gun and the shots in the prison the music is the score is piano driven music with a dark feel to it. But the main theme that plays during the final scene and the closing credits is very uplifting. This is because Andy and Red are reunited in Mexico and since the movie ends on a positive inspirational note, so does the music.
Cinematography
The photography of The Shawshank Redemption takes the realism approach to shooting. Roger Deakins was the director of photography on this film. His previous work on films before The Shawshank Redemption include, 1984, Sid and Nancy, and Barton Fink. He later went on to be the Director of Photography on such films as Jarhead, A Beautiful Mind, No Country For Old Men, Doubt, and Revolutionary Road, all of which are realistic films.
The scenes that are inside the prison are very dark. They make the viewer feel like they too are apart in the prison with the characters. When the inmates are out in the prison yard the shots are open and bright, though it is still a prison the outside scenes have a different feel to them. This is because that when the characters are outside, it is a small touch of freedom, though there are guards everywhere and barbed wire fences holding them there, this is the closest thing they can get to being free. The lighting and the camera work shows this.
When talking about The Shawshank Redemption, one shot is known best. The shot just after Andy crawls there the sewage pipes and comes out on the other side. There is a thunder storm and rain is pouring down on Andy. He removes his prison shirt and raises his arms in the air and just lets the rain hit him, as he does this, lighting strikes, lighting up the whole scene. Andy is free and this shot in the film is the viewer’s first view of Andy’s total freedom from Shawshank prison.
In the film when a conversation is happening, close-ups are very common. There are virtually no shots of people talking that are shot from far away. This is because the viewer is supposed to feel close to the characters, to get to known them on the level that they know each other. To film conversations without close-ups would take away that and make the film seem less personal than it is.
The scenes that are inside the prison are very dark. They make the viewer feel like they too are apart in the prison with the characters. When the inmates are out in the prison yard the shots are open and bright, though it is still a prison the outside scenes have a different feel to them. This is because that when the characters are outside, it is a small touch of freedom, though there are guards everywhere and barbed wire fences holding them there, this is the closest thing they can get to being free. The lighting and the camera work shows this.
When talking about The Shawshank Redemption, one shot is known best. The shot just after Andy crawls there the sewage pipes and comes out on the other side. There is a thunder storm and rain is pouring down on Andy. He removes his prison shirt and raises his arms in the air and just lets the rain hit him, as he does this, lighting strikes, lighting up the whole scene. Andy is free and this shot in the film is the viewer’s first view of Andy’s total freedom from Shawshank prison.
In the film when a conversation is happening, close-ups are very common. There are virtually no shots of people talking that are shot from far away. This is because the viewer is supposed to feel close to the characters, to get to known them on the level that they know each other. To film conversations without close-ups would take away that and make the film seem less personal than it is.
Acting
The actors who bring these characters life are Tim Robbins who plays Andy Dufresne, Morgan Freeman plays Red, Bob Gunton plays Warden Norton, William Sadler plays Heywood an inmate who is friends with Red and Andy, Clancy Brown play Hadley, and James Whitmore plays Brooks, the old librarian who the library that Andy builds is named after. These actors are considered stars. The extras in the film are people from the town of Mansfield Ohio where the movie was shot. Some of the extras actually worked at the old prison in Mansfield. The genre of the film is a drama. The actors chosen are perfect for their roles. Morgan Freeman is an excellent dramatic actor, so is Tim Robbins. James Whitmore’s role is small, but it is a moving role for sure. Because of this role Clancy Brown has been type casts and plays a guard or some sort of law enforcement often.
Story
The Shawshank Redemption is a film that does not rely on big budgeted action sequences and special effects. The film relies on the story and the characters to make it great, something that a lot of movies lack. The story of Andy Dufresne and his time spent at Shawshank is narrated by Red. The viewer learns about Andy through the eyes of Red, and since he does not know what is happening inside Andy’s mind, neither does the viewer. This technique makes Andy’s escape that much more surprising, because Red thinks that Andy is going to kill himself, and since that is what Red believes, that is what the viewer is meant to believe.
Through the story we learn to truly care about these characters, even though they are criminals. Through the characters of Andy and Red the story is one of friendship, hope and as the title claims, redemption. In the last conversation between Red and Andy before he escapes, Andy says how though he did not pull the trigger, he drove her away and he killed her. He then goes on to say how he has down some bad things in his life and he has paid his dues for them and that he has had enough of the prison. Andy then talks about his dreams, he wants to move to Mexico and open a charter boat company. Andy then goes to escape through a hole in the wall and then crawls through 500 yards of a sewage pipe. Through his escape, a man innocent of murder is redeemed. Andy never gives up hope. He knows that one day he will receive the state funds to revamped the run down library, he never gives up on Tommy whom Andy is helping to get his G.E.D. and he never gives up on that fact that he is innocent and one day he will get out of prison.
The Shawshank Redemption is an adapted screenplay from the Stephen King novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.” Along with directing the film, Frank Darabont also wrote the screenplay. Since he wrote and directed, he got his vision completely. The character of Red was originally a red-haired Irishman, but when Morgan Freeman was cast, the character then became an African American. When Andy asked why they called him Red, he responds by joking, “Maybe it’s because I’m Irish.” In the Stephen King original story, Andy was a short pudgy man. Tim Robbins, the actor who plays Andy is far from that, so the script was altered to fit Tim’s description. The film stays faithful to the original story except for the few things mentioned and that there is only one warden in the film, in the novella there are several. When a book is too long, a lot of things are cut out of the movie, this is not the case with this film, since the story was a little over a hundred pages long, and almost everything was kept in, in some way or another. The film surpasses the novella in quality. The fact that the film only has one warden and that Captain Hadley, a guard at the prison has a bigger role makes the ending of the film more dramatic then it is in King’s story.
Andy is a symbol of hope in the film. He is hope to the other inmates and in some ways the guards. He does these larger than life things in the prison that no other inmate could have accomplished. Because of handling of the warden’s illicit money he has an office, he is allowed to live alone, and he is able to walk the prison freely without a guard. This symbol is repeated throughout the film. Unlike a lot of films, this film has no outright political agenda, it is just a story of a friendship of two men who are in prison, they are not gay or in love with each other. The simple story with a lack of agenda is something is not found a lot in movies that are a reason why this film and the story are so good.
Through the story we learn to truly care about these characters, even though they are criminals. Through the characters of Andy and Red the story is one of friendship, hope and as the title claims, redemption. In the last conversation between Red and Andy before he escapes, Andy says how though he did not pull the trigger, he drove her away and he killed her. He then goes on to say how he has down some bad things in his life and he has paid his dues for them and that he has had enough of the prison. Andy then talks about his dreams, he wants to move to Mexico and open a charter boat company. Andy then goes to escape through a hole in the wall and then crawls through 500 yards of a sewage pipe. Through his escape, a man innocent of murder is redeemed. Andy never gives up hope. He knows that one day he will receive the state funds to revamped the run down library, he never gives up on Tommy whom Andy is helping to get his G.E.D. and he never gives up on that fact that he is innocent and one day he will get out of prison.
The Shawshank Redemption is an adapted screenplay from the Stephen King novella “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.” Along with directing the film, Frank Darabont also wrote the screenplay. Since he wrote and directed, he got his vision completely. The character of Red was originally a red-haired Irishman, but when Morgan Freeman was cast, the character then became an African American. When Andy asked why they called him Red, he responds by joking, “Maybe it’s because I’m Irish.” In the Stephen King original story, Andy was a short pudgy man. Tim Robbins, the actor who plays Andy is far from that, so the script was altered to fit Tim’s description. The film stays faithful to the original story except for the few things mentioned and that there is only one warden in the film, in the novella there are several. When a book is too long, a lot of things are cut out of the movie, this is not the case with this film, since the story was a little over a hundred pages long, and almost everything was kept in, in some way or another. The film surpasses the novella in quality. The fact that the film only has one warden and that Captain Hadley, a guard at the prison has a bigger role makes the ending of the film more dramatic then it is in King’s story.
Andy is a symbol of hope in the film. He is hope to the other inmates and in some ways the guards. He does these larger than life things in the prison that no other inmate could have accomplished. Because of handling of the warden’s illicit money he has an office, he is allowed to live alone, and he is able to walk the prison freely without a guard. This symbol is repeated throughout the film. Unlike a lot of films, this film has no outright political agenda, it is just a story of a friendship of two men who are in prison, they are not gay or in love with each other. The simple story with a lack of agenda is something is not found a lot in movies that are a reason why this film and the story are so good.
Editing
The editing style that is used in The Shawshank Redemption is continuity. The film does not use the new “MTV Style” of editing which involves rapid cuts. The shoots and scenes dissolve into one another. Often times, when a cell door closes it signifies the ending of a shot or scene. There is one scene where Andy is in solitary and the warden comes to talk to him, after the warden closes the door all the light is gone and that scene has ended. The next scene is Andy sitting in the prison yard talking to Red. We know that time has past since Andy is disheveled looking and the viewer knows that he must have gotten out from solitary.
Review
The Shawshank Redemption, the 1994 film by Frank Darabont is a stunning piece of American Cinema. From the story telling, the acting, camera work and the directing, the film gives the viewer a sense of realism. The film has one of the most memorable endings in movie history. The Shawshank Redemption is one of the best films of the 1990’s and has turned into one of the greatest films of all time.
The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a man sentence to serve two lifetimes in prison for the killing of his wife and her lover. The film opens with Andy sitting in his car outside of the man his wife is cheating on him with; he has a bottle of whiskey and a gun. The next scene is in the courtroom and Andy denies killing them, he swears he threw the gun in the river. He is found guilty and sentenced to Shawshank prison. Andy arrives at the prison and then we meet the other characters in the film, mainly a character by the name of Red. Red and the other inmates are watching the new arrivals at the prison, they take bets on which of the “fresh fish” will crack first. Red puts his pack of cigarettes on Andy.
Andy’s first night in prison a man who is only referred to as “Fat-Ass” is beaten and killed by Byron Hadley, a guard at the prison. A few weeks go by and Andy approaches Red so he can purchase a rock hammer. Red is a man who has connections and can get things into the prison for the inmates. Andy assures Red that he will not get caught with it. This is how the friendship of Andy and Red is first formed. Andy’s first year in the prison does not go so well. He is beaten and sexually assaulted by a man named Boggs. Boggs is eventually paralyzed by Hadley. Before going to prison, Andy was a banker, he does the guards tax returns, and he gets his own office in the library where he works at the prison. Warden Norton uses Andy to launder illicit money, by doing this Andy and his friends, especially Red get privileges that others do not get.
Andy turns a run down prison library into a library that would rival a high school’s. Here helps a young inmate named Tommy get his G.E.D. Tommy learns Andy’s story and tells Andy that he knows the man that actually killed his wife and her lover. Andy talks to Warden Norton about this and sends Andy to solitary confinement for two months, during this time the warden has Tommy shot. Andy is released back into the general population of the prison and he and Red have a conversation, Red is convinced that Andy is going to kill himself. The next morning, Andy does not come out of his cell, the guards check his cell and he is not there. He has escaped through a hole in the wall that he chiseled with his tiny rock hammer that Red had got for him years before. Mayhem ensues at the prison; Andy has taken out the warden’s laundered money, and exposed the prison for the crime that has gone down there. The warden kills himself as he is about to be arrested. Red is eventually given parole and meets up with Andy in Mexico.
The Shawshank Redemption tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a man sentence to serve two lifetimes in prison for the killing of his wife and her lover. The film opens with Andy sitting in his car outside of the man his wife is cheating on him with; he has a bottle of whiskey and a gun. The next scene is in the courtroom and Andy denies killing them, he swears he threw the gun in the river. He is found guilty and sentenced to Shawshank prison. Andy arrives at the prison and then we meet the other characters in the film, mainly a character by the name of Red. Red and the other inmates are watching the new arrivals at the prison, they take bets on which of the “fresh fish” will crack first. Red puts his pack of cigarettes on Andy.
Andy’s first night in prison a man who is only referred to as “Fat-Ass” is beaten and killed by Byron Hadley, a guard at the prison. A few weeks go by and Andy approaches Red so he can purchase a rock hammer. Red is a man who has connections and can get things into the prison for the inmates. Andy assures Red that he will not get caught with it. This is how the friendship of Andy and Red is first formed. Andy’s first year in the prison does not go so well. He is beaten and sexually assaulted by a man named Boggs. Boggs is eventually paralyzed by Hadley. Before going to prison, Andy was a banker, he does the guards tax returns, and he gets his own office in the library where he works at the prison. Warden Norton uses Andy to launder illicit money, by doing this Andy and his friends, especially Red get privileges that others do not get.
Andy turns a run down prison library into a library that would rival a high school’s. Here helps a young inmate named Tommy get his G.E.D. Tommy learns Andy’s story and tells Andy that he knows the man that actually killed his wife and her lover. Andy talks to Warden Norton about this and sends Andy to solitary confinement for two months, during this time the warden has Tommy shot. Andy is released back into the general population of the prison and he and Red have a conversation, Red is convinced that Andy is going to kill himself. The next morning, Andy does not come out of his cell, the guards check his cell and he is not there. He has escaped through a hole in the wall that he chiseled with his tiny rock hammer that Red had got for him years before. Mayhem ensues at the prison; Andy has taken out the warden’s laundered money, and exposed the prison for the crime that has gone down there. The warden kills himself as he is about to be arrested. Red is eventually given parole and meets up with Andy in Mexico.
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