Shawshank Redemption Director notes (English)

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                   Director’s notes on Shawshank Redemption

The first week of film was very stressful as we had so much preparation to do. The murder scene dark to symbolise the dark hideous act of murder, which would create the uncertainty as to who actually committed the crime. The passionate music was added to show the contrast of the violent act of murder and the irony that there was romance but it was tainted in deception and lies. This challenges the audience as to who is actually guilty. The courtroom was bright white to create the strong contrast from the darkness of the opening scene, to show there was no where for Andy to hide. The bright white courtroom also created the feeling of a stage spotlight on Andy. I decided on a moving shot of the jury was used to show that they were all individuals and to make the audience feel like the jury also because through the film we have to decide if Andy is guilty and if he deserved his punishment. The murder scenes and the courtroom scenes were intertwined using a flashback technique to emphasise and remind the audience how horrific the crime was, showing how the past affects the present. Andy will always be haunted by these memories.

              The scene when Andy entered the prison and his first night as a prisoner pleased me; it turned out exactly the way I wanted. I think it is important for the audience to be aware of the harshness of a prison environment, a high moving shot gives an immense impression of a concrete building cut off from society, contrasting with everything outside the prison gates which were colourful and full of life whilst everything on the other side looked colourless and almost dead. I used a birds eye view shot to show hundreds of men shuffling in the same direction, showing how they were all institutionalised. A tilting shot of the men entering the prison through its high and imposing gates was a final reminder that when the doors closed behind them was a symbol of their destiny. The powerful contrast between the silence and the noise of the name calling was made to show the prisoners experience, first hand. The audience’s first impressions of the warden were paramount. He was wearing a dark suit with a silver cross and clutched a bible, suggested he was a dark man but had religious beliefs. But when he spoke he sounded hard and cold as though hiding behind his religion. It felt right that the prisoners should have been seen as animals, being deprived of their dignity, while being hosed down and deloused naked, to make the audience feel uncomfortable. The first night was shown as the reality of it all with the lights gradually going out and only seeing shadows and silhouettes, everyone the same, criminals. The audience were to feel sorry for the new prisoners and to show that I added silence and darkness which made the heartless attack on the prisoner even more horrifying as he was only a scared human being. I think this is possibly my favourite scene.

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               The scene when Andy meets the sisters and how they treated him was a difficult scene to shoot in many ways. It has some disturbing content that I had to think seriously about editing out. I did however feel it was crucial to show the brutality. That is why I decided to only hint what was happening to Andy, instead of actually showing the violence, I used a camera shot which slowly takes the audience away from the scene to show that there is nothing that they could do to help Andy just ...

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