Shawshank Redemption Dynamics

Rating: 10/10 (30 April 2016)

The film The Shawshank Redemption is about Andy Dufresne, a prestigious banker ordered to serve time in prison for crimes he was found guilty of, however he claims that he has not committed. The film mainly follows Andy and his "friends' that he has made in prison around their day to day lives. From working in the prison or what is like to be in your cell by yourself at night, it also follows Andy through his plans and is most definitely brilliant and unbelievable escape.
Frank Darabont's The Shawshank Redemption is a film about hope and persistence and the rewards for being hopeful and persistent. Throughout this film the main character Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) shows that by being persistent and hopeful you can achieve whatever you want. Red (Morgan Freeman) is a character who plays the devil's advocate throughout the film; while he supports Andy and everything he does, he also manages to make it seem like his actions are pointless and a waste of time, however Andy did what he wanted and did not care what others thought, thus reinforcing the theme of persistence. The film uses Brooks (James Whitmore) actions to exemplify the decisions that are made when someone loses hope and does not have the persistence to move forward. The sound effects of this film are key to the added sense of realism and dimensionality of the film. Such as the background noises like small water droplets to the right up front noises like the slamming and locking of the prison cell doors. Other things such as background music are used to set the theme of the movie and the scene currently being viewed, while the background and foreground noises add depth and dimension to the film immersing the viewer and giving the sense of physically being there. Sounds like those of the prison cells, water droplets and the absolute silence of solitary confinement exemplify the theme because to survive all of that you have to have the determination, persistence and hope in order to move forward and survive. The director, Frank Darabont, used the cutting and duration of scenes in order to reinforce the theme and convey the emotions of the film. Such as when there is a dramatic/sad scene the panning is very slow and the scene last for an extended period of time with soft music playing in the background, thus providing the feeling of hopelessness, loss and sadness. On the other hand he also uses this technique to convey happy scenes in the film, such as when Andy's schemes went to plan, the scenes were very bright, usually with upbeat background music and were brightly lit. All in all this movie was done very well and tells the story while trying to immerse the viewer into the film. The story being that by being persistent and hopeful you can improve your always improve your situation and maybe achieve redemption for the wrongs that you have done.