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Shawshank Redemption Essay

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The Shawshank Redemption was based on a short story written by Stephen King. It is about Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker who is condemned to Shawshank prison after being falsely being convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. He later finds friendship and hope with prisoner Ellis Boyed ‘Red' Redding (Morgan Freeman). It was directed by Frank Darabont who used a number of filming techniques such as symbolism, narrative and lighting to present the themes of the plot that include losing and gaining hope and Institutionalisation.
To begin with, the theme of hope is heavily played throughout the film as it can be an inspiration to ‘get busy living'. For Andy it becomes his key to surviving. However, it can be dangerous as stated by Red …show more content…

It would appear reasonable to conclude that the director's main point was to show that the theme of hope is a good thing even when things are that there worse which allows the audience to relate to the characters, therefore relating more to the film by using these …show more content…

At one point in the film Red explains to Andy how he believes that he is institutionalised, "These walls are funny. First, you hate them, then you get used to them until it gets to you depend on them." In The Shawshank Redemption Red is introduced as the man who can get ‘stuff’ for the prisoners, it's his very existence for most of his life, if that was taken away from him he would no longer be the man who can get ‘stuff’, his life would end up with no meaning which is why he believes he is institutionalised. This idea about institutionalisation is confirmed by the character Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore)
Darabont used the parallel technique (when two or more things are compared) in the film to show the experiences of Brooks and Red when they leave prison on parole which follows the same pattern. However, lighting and framing was used to show the differences between how they react/feel, for example, when Brookes is realised the audience sees him cast in the shadow of a barred doorway, the lighting and framing was used to show that what was supposed to be a shot at freedom for Brooks was actually just a shift from one prison to

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