The Film the Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The film The Shawshank Redemption (1994), this is a classical style film that combines many elements of formalism and realism. It has elements of a dramatic, escapist (prison break), and romantic genres. This film symbolism was made to appear the use of many techniques and elements of cinematography and high-key and low-key lighting effects that have important roles in the film. In discussing the film, I will illustrate some ways director, producers, cameramen, used cinematography and lighting to help to make the film into a cinematic. The environment of an abandoned prison, living conditions of a prison cell, and the experiences of prisoners made the film Shawshank Redemption a great film.

The use of dialogue, music and sound effects was used to make for an interesting and full feature film. Andy the main character is using a thick, with intensities, but serious voice full effective dialogue. Sound-effects are attributed to the overall mood, with the characters voices, doors opening, and closing, laughing and sounds you could hear in prison making the for sound-effects. This film falls into classic cinema genera, by using a combination of realistic and formalistic styles and elements give the audiences the best of both worlds. By using long takes (realism), close-ups and slow zooms (formalism within the characters makes the theme intimate to the emotion of the audiences. The plot and theme of the story are about the human spirit, a spiritual journey through each character lives. While spending their time in a maximum prison for crimes they committed sentencing to Shawshank Prison. Colors were dull and dreary seem to create most of the visual effects for the film shades of gray, setting the tone for the characters feelings of despair and isolation. It was cool, gray lights and cool exteriors, with brown tones throughout most of the scenes to make for a gloomy, depress and lonely life within the prison.

One of the characters the warden greets the new inmates welcoming them into the prison there's a painted wall behind him that was chosen for the color grey, that uses a light that dropped off into looking like almost black. The cameramen using crane shots inside the cells for a full camera effect of the inmates living conditions and the harshness of the environments which was nasty and cold. The film cinematography and lighting directors felt that the uglier the shots were, and by using the worst nasty environments of the cold, broken down, old abandoned prison would make the best for this film.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994), it's a movie about hope, endurance, redemption, friendship, power, that gives the inmates the humans a spirit, a sense of strength to live. This theme is about living in an environment of being in prison who may have been forgotten, lost and no longer connected to the outside world. With Andy, the main character in the movie who rises above the normal does not accept being an inmate even if he does one thing out of the usual routine as a prison inmate to gain pity. The main character has the determination to make a sense of self-worth and to free himself from dying of anger, solitude, confinement or lose hope. It's a story of hope that strives the inmates at Shawshank with the hope strengthens the characters to share with all of the prison inmates. Andy writes to his friend Red another main character in the movie that by 'hoping can be a good thing".

The environment of an abandoned prison, living conditions of a prison cell, and the experiences of prisoners made the film Shawshank Redemption a great film. In gaining redemption is the most important element of the theme of the film. As Andy gains his redemption after committing a crime of murder the director uses the heartfelt provoking sympathy of the audience to manipulate footage by showing the good within Andy. He learns that he must be able to survive in a prison of abuse, disrespect, and harsh environment. Learning that no inmates are appreciated even though Andy takes on a job that makes the warden rich with money he's earning off the backs of the inmates. With the spiritual hope, kindness, and caring that Andy has, he discovers that even in prison for a crime he committed he was charged for but spending more time in prison than his crime equitable for. He realizes he must do as any criminal would do to survive and to require redemption to salvation. Without the harsh environment, the cinematography, the lighting and editing this film and its theme, the plot and the characters would and could not have been effective because it takes all of the elements to make for a movie to engage an audience to appreciate and love a film of this genre of drama, suspense, romantic and escape. This film director uses the theme as the reality of living in a prison, with many different personalities to create the plot and usages of a slow-moving elements from one character to the next to manipulate the audience, make them think, gain opinions and provoking the audiences into sympathy for the main characters by using camera angles, lighting, sounds, colors, low and high tones in the dialogue and the sounds of music.

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