The Shawshank Redemption
ENG 225
Sarah Carson
May 7, 2012
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) was a remarkable motion picture inspired by Stephen King and Directed by Frank Darabont. It was not a big budget movie with a lot of special effects rather it was a story about two convicts Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), and Samuel Norton (Bob Gunton), the self-righteous, Bible-carrying Warden (Filmsite, 2012) that vowed they’d never be released from Shawshank State Prison. These actors are considered stars. A character actor is an actor that can fit into many different roles, “adapting to the needs of each script and director they work with” (Goodykoontz & Jacobs,
…show more content…
There are many different camera shots in the movie. The camera is used for close-ups, medium shots, and long shots of the characters which help generate a feeling of awareness. There were wide angles, high angles, and eye level angles used and these gave the audience a spectacular view of how the prison and characters looked. At the end of the movie the most memorable shot is just after Andy crawls through the sewage pipes and comes out on the other side. After he crawls out of the sewage pipe, there is a thunder storm and the rain is pouring down on Andy. He takes off his prison shirt and put his arms in the air and lets the rain hit his body, and as he is doing this, the lighting strikes so hard that it lights up the whole scene. Andy is free and this shot is the audience’s first view of Andy’s total freedom from the Shawshank prison. The editing style used is continuity and the shots and scenes fade into one another. During the movie you will hear a cell door close and it will signify the ending of a shot or scene. One scene in particular is where Andy is in solitary confinement and the warden comes in to talk to him and after the warden closes the door the lighting is gone and the scene ends. The next thing you know Andy is sitting in the prison yard talking with Red. We know time has passed since Andy’s appearance is sloppy with unkempt prison clothes therefore, the audience knows that he must have just been released from solitary
The other theme of freedom comes in both the film and the story, when Andy Dufresne got beer for all of the crew that tarred the prison's roof. In this example, even Red stated that the break "lasted twenty minutes, the beer-break, and for those twenty minutes we felt like free men."(48) Red recalls that the crew felt such freedom that they "could have been drinking beer and tarring the roof of one of our own houses."(48) This example serves the purposes of both the story's writer and the filmmaker because it shows the reader and/or viewer that this event happened because Andy wanted himself and his 'co-workers' to feel freedom. This event occurred because he made business dealings with "the hardest screw that ever walked a turn at the Shawshank State Prison" (48). Andy was always known to have something different to him, "a sense of his own worth,
The movie the Shawshank Redemption, based on the book by Steven King, I believe is one of the best movies ever made. The portrayal of prison life in the movie is the best I have seen and a star-studded cast including Morgan Freeman supports the characters and brings to life the everyday struggles of life behind bars. In this paper I will relate topics from class to the movie and discuss information we have learned through out the semester.
At the beginning of the Shawshank Redemption, Andy gets framed for the murder of his cheating wife. Which makes his life take a darker turn with him going to Shawshank prison. Shawshank prison is one of the worst prisons ever, the prison guards abuse the prisoners, and the warden orders them to do so and will do anything for money. The prison uses fear as a way to keep the prisoners in line. When you first show up to Shawshank they take you in, strip you down, and spray you with water. After that, they throw this powder on you then give you your clothes and walk you to your cell naked. The prisoners have a game to see who breaks down first, so they yell at the new prisoners until one breaks. Their goal is to break the person they bet on this shows fear because when a new prisoners break they cry and become very scared and the one who broke in the film was murdered by a guard.
The movie, Shawshank Redemption, is about a story of two men, Andy Dufrane and Red Abbott, who spent most of their lives in a prison together going through the ups and downs of prison life. Andy, who was once a vice-president at a bank, was in prison for murdering his wife and her lover, when he caught them in bed together; he was giving life in prison. Whereas Red, also a convicted murderer, got life but with a chance of parole. The two grew close to each other because they were both very educated men and had the same interests. After five years of doing the laundry, the warden thought it would in the prisons best interest to use such an educated man as Andy in the library. So they transferred Andy from the laundry to
Frank Dabaront also used many different camera angles during the filming of this movie. One he used to show the setting early in the film using an aerial shot. He used this at the beginning of the film when Andy was pulling up to the prison in the bus along with other inmates. In this shot you got to see the prison, the yard, the fences, sniper post, as well as all the new prisoners pulling up. This gives the audience an idea of the setting and how a prison looks. He also used other camera angles like the medium shot, the close up, and eye level shots. His reasons for always using different camera angles is to help the audience pay attention to what they should be looking at. He uses the medium shot in the court room when Andy is being questioned
When Andy plays music we see the prisoners shown form a bird's eye view, this is another camera angle used to display the prisoners as small and insignificant. The camera angles used by Darabont allow the audience to see the status of the characters. As the audience we get an instant look into who is a in control and who isn't.
Shawshank Redemption is the story of a friendship unfolding over thirty years. It is the story of the value and potential of a person, and how anyone can find the courage to keep fighting during hard times. One of the main characters, Andy Dufresne faces insurmountable odds, while still holding onto hope. Red is the narrator of the story and Andy’s closest friend. By following their stories, we can examine their lives inside the criminal justice system. To see how society and its elite players treat the people labeled as criminals, and how those elite men become criminals themselves.
Directed by Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption tells the Story of Andy Dufrane, a man who has been wrongly convicted of murder and must endure life inside the harsh and corrupt Shawshank prison, but despite this he never loses hope of finding freedom. Hope is an important inspiring idea in this film, as it is what sustains him during the long and difficult years within the prison, and it is the result of this enduring hope that Andy finally finds freedom. There are many visual and oral techniques used throughout the film to portray the idea of hope. This includes the hope that Andy holds, and
The Shawshank Redemption movie is about a man named Andy Dufresne who was falsely accused of murder and was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife and her lover. Being in jail, Andy faced many problems of being abused, but he also gained a strong friendship with a man named Red. Many of the things that the prisoners had to face showed a sociological perspective on how life was in jail and how it affected the prisoners. In Shawshank prison, the functionalism theory, the conflict perspective, and the control theory shows the life and adjustments a prisoner has to make in order to survive going into a new world.
There are many unique and innovative techniques used throughout the film. Some were sequencing which are different shots that represent purpose like flashbacks to another time period. Another that was interesting was the use of the newsreel footage. Also the many different angles that were used, and how the lighting and shadows were a big part of the film.
The movie, The Shawshank Redemption (1994), is based on a character Andy Dufresne. Andy is a young and successful banker who is sent to Shawshank Prison for murdering his wife and her secret lover. His life is changed drastically upon being convicted and being sent to prison. He is sent to prison to serve a life term. Over the 20-years in prison, Andy retains optimism and eventually earns the respect of his fellow inmates. He becomes friends with Red, and they both comfort and empathize with each other while in prison. The story has a strong message of hope, spirit, determination, courage, and desire.
The Shawshank Redemption is a film directed by Frank Darabont and written by Stephen King, released in the year 1994. This film was nominated for seven Oscars and is nothing less than phenomenal. The movie was based on Andy Dufresne who was played by actor Tim Robbins. He is sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of his wife and her and is sentenced to a maximum security prison. However, only Andy knows he did not commit this crime he is accused of. While serving his time in prison, he forms a friendship with Red who is played by actor Morgan Freeman, and they together experience the brutality of life in prison. Although the movie was taken place in a prison and it may seem extremely weird to feel this way. I think this movie gives viewers a warm and heart felt feeling. In many movies we get the vicarious experiences and quick, insincere emotions. "Shawshank" uses the narrator 's calm, attentive voice to include us in the story of men who have formed a community behind bars. It is deeper than most films; about continuity in a lifetime, based on friendship and hope. Although this movie was nominated for several different awards the movie violated many constitutional rights and had some issues that negatively affects the prison system. Inmates brutally beaten, remaining institutionalized upon the failure to become knowledgeable about the world, unfair treatment and denied parole for no evident reason, taken advantage of as the warden used inmates
Shawshank Redemption, directed by Frank Darabont and published in 1994 centres around a man by the name of Andy Dufresne who is sentenced to two consecutive life sentence for the murder of his wife and her lover. Andy serves his time in Shawshank Prison where he struggles to persevere and maintain hope even under appalling conditions. Hope and perseverance are some of the most important themes in the film and are central to the storyline. These themes are portrayed through the use of a variety of film techniques such as the lighting, the music and the colour scheme.
The Shawshank redemption depicts an innocent man, Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), sentenced guilty for murder of his wife and her lover. During the movie we follow Andy’s time in prison and with famous actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman working together with director Stephen King, the Shawshank redemption sends a strong message about both incarceration and hope. In my opinion it would be an insult to the film industry in whole to even attempt remaking a movie this powerful. Stephen King has created a character that, despite his wrongful conviction, is able to see light where there is dark. Andy Dufresnes makes the best of the future instead of evaluating the past.
The movie “Shawshank Redemption” shows what goes on in a prison. The movie depicts the part of a prison that most people are not aware of. People think of a prison as a place a person is tortured physically as well mentally. However, all that being said true, friendship, hope, and loyalty exists in prison. The movie shows how the main characters Red and Andy build a friendship that lasts in life after prison and loyalty among the inmates. Besides the development of friendship, the movie clearly shows the everyday routine of a prisoner’s life. The movie focus on the main characters Andy, who used to be the vice president of Portland bank before entering prison convicted with a double murder of his cheating wife and a man she was with and