Warden Norton is displayed as a very corrupt man; however, he claims the two things he believed most in were the Bible and discipline. The warden accepts bribes and treats prisoners unfairly, punishing them if they did not bend to his will. He got Andy to make his accounts to cover up all the money he was embezzling and Andy did this in a very clever way. Andy created a whole new man who had a birth certificate, national insurance number and bank account and so the stolen money could never be traced back to the warden. Andy gets his revenge on the warden at the end of the film. When he escapes he posts a letter to the newspapers containing the accounts book which showed all the money the warden was making and telling his story. He also takes the money from the account using the identification for his fictitious man leaving the police to go after the warden. The warden shoots himself before he can be arrested. The audience is made to hate the warden as much as the prisoners do and they feel a great sense of justice when Andy takes his revenge as the warden finally gets his comeuppance.
For the first couple of years Andy serves in Shawshank prison, he is targeted by a gang named “The Sisters.” The leader of this gang, named Bogs, takes a liking to Andy and upon his first encounter with Andy says “hard to get… I like that.” Andy is severely beaten by the gang several times and we assume that he is also raped. Andy fights back but does not always get the better of them. One time Andy is cornered by Bogs and his sidekicks once again and Bogs tells him, “I’m going to put my dick in your mouth and you’re going to swallow what I give you”. Andy replies, “Whatever you put in my mouth you lose.” This angers Bogs and he threatens Andy that if he tries anything like that he’d stick a knife in through his ear. Andy wittily responds that if he did so the body naturally responds by the jaw clamping down so hard that it has to be pried open. The sisters were seriously put off by this but beat Andy “towards an inch of his life.” Andy spent a month in the prison infirmary, however Bogs got what he deserved when the prison guards beat him up for his actions so brutally that he spent the rest of his days in a wheelchair, taking in his food through tubes. Naturally the audience is disgusted by Bogs and his behaviour towards Andy and is glad when he was given a taste of his own medicine!
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ was set in Mansfield, Ohio correctional institution; a large almost medieval type of building which helps create the atmosphere of the film.
The film follows a formalistic style of direction under Frank Darabont. He interweaves scenes with nice fluid shots. The shots are not jarring or rough cut. Darabont tends to take the story at a distance allowing the characters to establish their traits to the audience instead of pushing a barrage of angles at the audience. The position of the camera is intricately placed in all scenes. The movie is a perfect example of classical cinema.
The screenplay written for The Shawshank Redemption is exact and precise, everything in the movie compliments the development of characters and presents underlying motifs such as prisoner's dependence from long term incarceration, prisoner camaraderie, and feelings of hope in hopeless situations. The plot has a smart climax that is not fully understandable until the last few scenes. The ending is a total surprise as to how Andy escapes from Shawshank. The dialogue is also clever and witty at times. The film has many memorable quotes such as when Andy tells red, "On the outside I was always straight as an arrow, I had to come in here to be a crook" and "Get busy living or get busy dying." Some other quotes in the movie are a little more subtle like when the warden hands Andy his bible back with the words, "Salvation lies from within." Only at the end of the film do we find that Andy had hidden a rock pick in the bible that the warden had given him.
Darabont used different types of media throughout the film to show the audience different aspects of the prison life: voiceover, camera angles, lighting and sound effects.
The lighting that goes along with the scenes is interesting. The whole film is shot primarily in high contrast with the exception of the guards who are mostly in the shadows. The lighting that follows the guards present darkness to their characters, they are displayed as harsh and villainous. The violent scenes all take place in the shadows as well, with low key light. The lighting of these scenes gives a sense of violence without actually showing it in the film.
Darabont uses camera angles a lot during the introduction to Shawshank scene; the use of camera angles gives the audience the image of imprisonment. The scene starts with a dramatic crane shot that shows us the prison from a birds eye view, the sweeping views establish and emphasise the prisons size creating the feeling of this being a whole new world. As the inmates begin running we notice just how insignificant they are; they are like small insects compared to the sheer size of Shawshank. In this scene the prisoners are just one of many and are seen as nothing. This quickly changes during the film; soon the audience are on the prisoners' side.
After the view of the prison the camera angle changes. We see Andy encased in a van. This is a very claustrophobic shot compared to the vast amount of space, which had just been shown. The camera is showing us what he is seeing; this is a great way of putting the audience in Andy's shoes and drawing them on to his side. As the van pulls up to the prison gates the camera is focused on the window where we can see the gates opening; representing the start of the film and a new life for the prisoners.
The journey to Shawshank in the introduction scene was fast almost too speeded up, but once the van enters the prison suddenly the speed rapidly slows down. Darabont did this for a reason; it's a very effective way of showing the long stretch of time, which awaits Andy in the prison. Also it could represent the image of how compared to time outside every minute in Shawshank passes like an hour.
Another piece of technology that Darabont uses to his advantage is lighting and use of shadows. The first significant use of light also links in with camera angles. When the new inmates are leaving the outside world, the camera sweeps up the dark eerie building and only stops when it reaches the light of the sky, this could show a last look up to freedom or represent the hope of the prisoners.
When we actually enter the prison there are contrasting colours, in one step it's gone from light to dark portraying an image of freedom to imprisonment. Inside the prison its dark, lit by natural light from the small windows protected with bars. This creates long shadows along the floor, which give an eerie, cold feeling. The prisoners are lined up made to look like bars, and the warden himself is stood in a shadowed area, portraying him as a dark character.
Slow music, played by strings and drawn out bass is very emotional in this scene. Music is an important aspect as it creates the atmosphere of the scene and gives the audience a feeling of what is happening. The sound effects in this scene create a feeling of imprisonment instead of hope: highlighting the new inmates' fear. Once in the prison there is no music played. This action has been thought about by Darabont because even though it is silent it is still creating an image for the audience contrasting with the dramatic music played on arrival but giving the audience the same feeling.
Having a voiceover is a simple but effective way of getting a clear picture across to the audience. In the introduction to Shawshank scene Red sets up the story and gives us a small amount of background. He introduces characters into the story by giving us their points of view. Darabont has carefully thought about what language would be best used by Red and choose for Red to speak informally (colloquial language) which will relate to the audience keeping them on track with the story line.
The atmosphere and use of media in the introduction to Shawshank scene, leaves the audience un-settled. At this point the characters have not been developed enough for the audience to have opinions of them. When all the media in this scene is put together the audience can see all is not right, but it is too early in the film for them to know what exactly is wrong.
The rooftop scene was set after Andy had been in prison for two years. This scene is brilliant for representing hope, as each and every one of those men on the rooftop had a sense of short-lived freedom. Throughout the scene Andy knew what he was doing; as well as being liked by the prisoners he was also secretly out smarting the guards.
Camera angles and lighting played a huge part in this scene. The scene starts off by using a close up shot of the men chosen for the job, clearly showing that the guards had been bribed to let them have the job, by Red. Once we actually see the men working we can sense the feeling of freedom and hope from the prisoners, although the camera angle shows the audience that the boundaries between the guards and prisoners are still evident. Andy shows no signs of fear when he decides to cross the boundary, even though the other prisoners warn him of the consequences. As the guard holds Andy over the edge of the building, the camera angle shows the drop that he faces, making the audience nervous. Fast movement of the camera is used creating a more intense atmosphere. Once Captain Hadley agrees with Andy's deal, the camera no longer shows the height of the building but instead shows both prisoner and guard as equal. Andy had successfully secured the deal, giving him more hope about his future.
The sound effect being used during the rooftop scene is very up beat and has a quick tempo. Country and western music was used in this scene which reflects the happy mood and atmosphere of the scene. This scene shows a strong feeling of hope within the prisoners because finally for a time they feel free once again. This short encounter with freedom renews the hope that Andy began the film with.
Red adds the final touches to the scene by giving the audience more background about the scene. Red explains how he manages to bribe the guards, so that his men could do the job, he uses humour and speaks light heartily which lets the audience relate to the scene. Why didn't Andy take part in the beer drinking? Red explains to us that he got a sense of freedom by just watching the other men drinking knowing that it was he who made the event occur. This was the starting point for Andy's whole sense of hope. From that day he knew whatever goal he had could be reached. We also find out how Red felt about the whole event and for the first time we see signs of hope from Red as well.
This was not the only time that Andy used his wit to give the prisoners a feeling of freedom. One of the best scenes in the film is when Andy is looking through some records that the state has just sent to the prison. He decides to play the record on the intercom and locks himself in the room so the guards couldn’t stop him. The camera goes through a montage that captures the prisoners love for a simple thing such as listening to a record. The montage consisted mostly of panning shots with a crane shot mixed into it. The montage was made fluidly with the camera moving at the same speed in all the shots. The director took special notice to the actors’ expressions by using many close-ups in a film that does not consist of many close-ups. The lighting on this scene was evenly illuminated, there were no shadows evident. The director wanted to get the facial expressions and convey there feeling of yearning for simple freedoms.
The mise-en-scene for this montage was strategically done to express the number of prisoners the music was reaching. The prisoners are all evenly spaced out in the courtyard with the crane shot moving up enhancing the idea that the music is reaching great masses of people. The music in the montage has the faint static that makes the audience aware that the music is coming from the intercoms. The music also helps add to the atmosphere of the scene causing a surrealistic feeling of calm. The acting is also done quite well. The reactions of the prisoners turns from surprise to appreciation in a realistic way.
Another scene worth noting is the scene in which Brooks feeds pigeons in the park. The audience listens to the character recite a letter which he has recently sent to his friends in prison. The acting by Whitmore resembles that of a lonely old man. The light source in the scene seemingly comes from the sun, causing the trees to cast streaks of shadows onto the character. What makes this a particularly good scene is the directors' choice of angles. The camera at first pans along the ground, giving us a full shot of the pigeons eating seed. It then tilts up into a low angle shot of the old man. The camera gently slows to a close-up of the man's facial expression. Darabont then shows us a full shot with the man sitting on the bench all alone. This scene conveys a sense of emptiness to the audience which is dramatic and memorable.
In the scene where Andy escapes to freedom there are a lot of crucial events, which happened beforehand. The director cleverly diverts the audience away from the clues that he shows. The audience is convinced that he has lost all hope and that he has asked for the rope so that he can end his life.
The first significant camera angle used is when Andy is placing the books in the safe for the very last time. The angle is shot from in side the safe looking out towards him. As the door is shut so is the metaphorical door on the audience because they no longer know what's really going on in the film. Then the director shows us a photographic shot of the rock hammer used by Andy when he escaped showing just how much effort it had actually taken for him to escape. From this point there is a use of flashback to let the audience reopen the metaphorical door.
We now see the actual escape and with the help of Reds voiceover the audience finally click onto the intriguing story line. As we see Andy in the tunnel we get an intense feeling of claustrophobia, compared to the wide open space which a waits him at the end of a tunnel.
The use of light in this scene is brilliant the, storm (lightening) creates the perfect atmosphere for an extremely tense scene. It reflects the danger that Andy is putting himself in and the mood of him. This is pathetic fallacy that the director has chosen to use. Pathetic fallacy is when the weather reflects the atmosphere of a scene. The darkness inside the prison doesn't let us see Andy's face clearly. That's where the flashes of lightening help; they allow the audience to have quick glimpses of the expression on his face. As Andy reaches the end of the tunnel the director used imagery to create light at the end of the tunnel.
Probably the most important part of this scene was the use of sound effects as the escape could not have took place without it. The use of thunder aided Andy because he simultaneously tries to break the pipe as the thunder roars; this hides the sound of him breaking the pipe. The thunder also creates an atmosphere for the scene. The background music played is upbeat then slows down making things more tense for the audience, but the music changes dramatically once Andy reaches freedom.
During Red's voiceover he lets all the secrets out to the audience. He explains how Andy outwitted the guards and managed to break tofreedom:
"Some birds aren't meant to be caged because their feathers are too bright, and when they fly away that part of you that knows it was a sin to lock him up does rejoice."
Red says this during the voiceover; it shows that throughout the film Andy always had hope and determination. It also shows that he managed to get the audience on to his side. Red also says that "Andy crawled through a river of shit and came out clean.” This shows that Andy went through a lot to get out again but finally he managed it and it was all worth it for him.
Andy never loses his hope through the film. In his scene with Red just before the escape we are made to think that prison life had got the better of him. Darabont's use of light in this scene is very significant. First of all we see Andy in the shadow talking to Red who is in the light. As their conversation develops we see the roles reverse, when Red loses all hope and suddenly moves in to the shadowed area.
The most unique part about the style of the movie is in the cinematography by Roger Deakins. The whole story looks like it was filmed with a blue filter. The filters give a special beauty to the scenes, which in turn causes more dramatic feelings for the audience. With this filter the movie tends to bring out the two different colours of blue and brown. The blues of the uniforms are all the more dramatic compared to the drab brown buildings surrounding the prisoners. The colours also produce dramatic irony; in the last scene of Red and Andy on the beach. The blue and brown colours that once gave feelings of confinement and despair in the prison are now colours of freedom and happiness.
Overall ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ is a very well made and carefully planned film. Darabont made great use of media such as voiceover, camera angles, lighting and sound effects, and also made great use of witty dialogue to keep the audience interested. The film shows Shawshank prison to be a very corrupt place indeed highlighting many flaws in the system. The person in charge of the prison was ironically the most corrupt person of all. I think it is wrong that Andy was put in prison in the first place however it was a mistake easily made as all the evidence pointed towards him as the perpetrator of the crime. What is really wrong is that even when a man is proven to be innocent he is kept in jail. I do not believe that institutionalised people should be forced to immediately go out into the outside world but should be gradually reintroduced into society. This is one of the flaws in the system highlighted by the film. I believe the “baddies” in the film such as Bogs and Warden Norton got their comeuppance and was glad to see that their crimes did not go unpunished. Andy is made to be an inspirational character that had a good affect on all the convicts he met and he greatly improved the prison. I think the ending was particularly clever and a great twist to the plot; a deservingly happy ending to a fantastic film.
