Shawshank Redemption

1. Shawshank
Redemption

2. –Rooftop scene
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=C9uGLxRcLpw”

3. Mise en Scène
• This is a French term in film that means, “placing on
stage.” It is the arrangement of everything that is seen
on the stage/screen. The director is in charge of
overseeing the mise en scène and making sure that all of
the elements come together perfectly. These elements
are things such as lighting, costume, performance, props
and setting.

4. Costume
• The costume should accurately reflect the
character’s personality so that audience can
understand them better. This is shown in the
rooftop scene, the prisoners have all the
same dirty and faded clothing whereas the
prison guards have clean and nice looking
uniforms. Their costumes show that the
prisoners are truly treated like the criminals
they are and are thought of as scum to the
prison guards. This is important to the
narrative so that audiences realise it’s a big
deal when Andy walks over to the prison
guards in the middle of their conversation.
Audiences will realise that the prisoners are
not worthy of good clothing, so they are not
worthy of interacting with the guards who
have much nicer clothing.

5. Visual Elements
• Visual elements are
everything the camera does
and how that shows up on
screen. Examples of visual
elements are shot sizes,
camera angles, transitions,
camera movement and
special effects. Visual
elements show how the
director has imagined what
would happen, the visual
elements are the directors
tools to make their vision
come to life.

6. Camera Angles
• One of the camera angles in this scene was
the birds eye view of Captain Hadley holding
Andy at the edge of the rooftop that they’re
all working on. This angle showed the
viewers the dangerous fall that Andy could’ve
had as well as showing how safe Captain
Hadley was in that situation. This is
important to the narrative because it showed
how poorly prisoners were treated in that
time. It explained to the audience that Andy
should not have stopped working and
interrupted the guards’ conversation because
he could have had serious consequences. A
close up of Andy’s face showed that he
wasn’t scared of the consequences which is
important to the narrative so that viewers
learn that he is a tough character.

7. Sound
• Sound is very important to films because it engages viewers
and makes them pay attention to the narrative. What they
hear helps them understand what is going on and how they
should be feeling about the situation. Some of the
categories of sound are; dialogue, music and sound effects.

8. Music
• Music is an element of sound and it is used
to add emotion to the scene and bring
viewers into that moment so they feel
connected to the character. The music at
the beginning of the scene when Andy and
his friends are told they will be working on
the roof is played by a type of violin. It’s
quite playful and happy sounding. This is
important to the narrative because it helps
viewers understand that it’s a privilege to
be working outdoors. Andy and his friends
are happy that they get this opportunity to
all work outside together and the happy
music helps viewers understand that. The
music at the end of the scene after Captain
Hadley has agreed to buy them all beers is a
slow violin. This helps the audience realise
that it’s a rare moment in the prison, and
they should all savour this happy memory.