The Shawshank Essay

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The Shawshank Redemption Elisabeth Hartmann Essay 22 June 2012 In the film “The Shawshank Redemption” directed by Frank Darabont, there are both visual and verbal techniques used throughout the film. The strong idea, which relates to those techniques, is the idea of hope. Hope is the desire of something to be true. The two main characters, Andy Dufresne and Red have different ideas of how the idea of hope is perceived. Some of the techniques used to show this are lighting, narration/voiceover and costume. Lighting is a very important aspect of the movie regarding the idea of hope. Lighting is important because it shows how the idea of hope is shown throughout the Shawshank prison. For example, when we see Shawshank prison, the lighting is very grey and dark with lots of shadows to suggest that there is no life or hope in the prison. The shadows along the building tell the audience that the men inside are trapped and aren’t free. Throughout the scene, the lack of bright light shows how Andy might be feeling as he approaches Shawshank prison. This shows the lack of hope in this scene. In contrast, there is a scene where the character, Red is on the bus leaving the prison. The lighting in this scene is bright and there us a yellow filter being used to show how the idea of hope has helped Red through his journey in Shawshank. The yellow filter is used to the main idea of hope and happiness. While Red sits on the bus, he looks out the window and lots of yellow light shines on his face to tell the audience that he is finally a free man. The theme of hope surrounds Red as he leaves the prison and while he’s on the bus. Another important aspect of the movie regarding the idea of hope is the voice-over and narration. Voice-over and narration are important because
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