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.