Shawshank Redemption
Tagline for the film: 'Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free'.
Production
Institution/Company:
The company that created Shawshank Redemption was Castle Rock Entertainment. The production company was based in America. The company Castle Rock Entertainment is also well known for 'The Green Mile' and also 'Friends With Benefits.' It also made a film about the classic Shakespeare novel 'Hamlet.'
The Film:
The idea for the film came from a short story 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption' by Stephen King. Their was 4 short stories in the book. 2 of them remained as stories and the other two became movies, Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. The genre of the film is Crime and Drama.
The producer of the film is Niki Marvin.
Cast & Crew:
Niki Marvin also made the very popular and successful horror film Nightmare on Elms Street. He has not made any films that are similar to Shawshank Redemption. He has made another successful film Nightmare On Elms Street. The person who wrote the screenplay was Frank Darabont. The stars that were involved in Shawshank Redemption were Morgan Freemen, Tim Robbins and Bob Gunton, these are the main characters in the film.
Financing:
The budget for Shawshank Redemption was estimated to be around 25 million and it didn't go over budget.
Production:
Shawshank Redemption was mainly based in Mansfield Reformatoryn which is the prison, where most the movie happens. An interesting thing that I found out when I researched, the Spanish title for the movie is “Cadena Perpetua”, which means “Life Imprisonment”. Also The ambulance that took Boggs away had to be pushed as its engine had died. Finally in and Red's opening chat in the prison yard - in which Red is pitching a baseball - took 9 hours to shoot. Morgan Freeman pitched that baseball for the entire 9 hours without a word of complaint. He showed up for work the next day with his arm in a sling.
Distribution
Companies:
The film Shawshank Redemption was distributed by Columbia Pictures in the USA in 1994. In addition the film was distributed by Rank Film Organization in the UK in 1995.
Prints & Copies:
Shawshank Redemption was not released in every country singularly, it was released world wide by PolyGram Film International. Shawshank Redemption released 1,364,000 prints in the UK and 1,973,000 in the USA. All together the film released 5,000,000 prints world-wide.
Marketing, Advertising, Promotion:
$18,000,000.00 was the marketing budget for Shawshank redemption. When the film was originally released it was considered a 'box office flop' and not many people went out to watch the Shawshank Redemption. So as the film was not very popular, one of the promotional ideas was to make posters to try and entreat people into watching the movie. Also as the movie was based on a book they were lucky as they said that it was based on the book which automatically gave them publicity as a lot of people purchased Stephen King's book. Another way they advertised their movie was by a trailer. Every film has a trailer to show the audience what the film is going to be about. Morgan Freeman used his familiar tone of voice to narrate the trailer and bring suspense towards the audience. Another way they promoted the Film Shawshank Redemption was shortly after the film was released, they did a raffle and if you was to win you could go to the prison and have a tour around the prison itself, seeing things like the cell Andy was in and also see the hole that he created to get out of the prison. You would be accompanied by Morgan Freeman (Red) and Tim Robbins (Andy). This brought in $14,000,000 which nearly broke even with their initial marketing cost.
Exhibition
Cinema:
Shawshank Redemption was shown at mainly Multiplexes and independent cinemas and also hit the big one the IMax. It was shown in Blu-ray 3D as well. Shawshank Redemption was shown in the cinemas for about 10 weeks. After the movie started to rapidly promote it started to be shown all around the world, with everyone wanting to show the unique movie. The Shawshank Redemption received a limited release on September 23, 1994 in North America. During its opening weekend, the film earned $727,000 from 33 theaters an average of $22,040 per theater. It received a wide release on October 14, 1994, expanding to a total of 944 theaters to earn $2.4 million which is an average of $2,545 per theater. Finally finishing as the number 9 film of the weekend. The film left theaters in late November 1994, after 10 weeks with an approximate total gross of $16 million. It was later re-released in February 1995, during the Ocean season, and made an additional $9 million. In total the film made approximately $28.3 million in North American theaters, making it the number 51 highest grossing film of 1994 and 21 highest grossing R-rated film of 1994.
Success:
On box-office it made $28,341,469 and on DVD sales it made $5,000,000 on DVD's.
Shawshank Redemption- Escape Scene Analysis
The film I have chosen to analyse is Shawshank Redemption, and I have chosen to look specifically at the escape scene. Here is what I have found out from the scene in terms of mise-en-scene and cinematography.
The mise-en-scene in this scene is dark and dirty and is mainly consists of the colours black and grey, which I think represents the whole film very, as it fits in it the emotions of loneliness and darkness that is in the prison. The main character has had enough of living in these exceptionally poor conditions and decides to try and do something about it. I think this because throughout the film you see the main character caring less and less and does not feel affected by it at all, as if he was a broken man.
As the scene begins we see Andy in his gloomy prison cell, with ropes on his hands. This tells us that he is in this disgusting cell and that he feels he has been tied up. This has been the theme throughout this film. How Andy feel’s trapped and has been deprived of his freedom. We then see Andy mesmerized at this poster on the wall of this girl. Then he slowly starts to pack up his possessions. Which in my opinion is quite bazaar as I think ‘why is he packing up his belongings it is not as if he is going anywhere?’ In addition the fact that he is wearing a shirt and tie is also very unusual as well, as people in prison usually wear orange jumpsuits or old clothes. I think that the narrator has done this to make us confused and unaware of what’s going on. We then see what he has been staring at the whole time, he has made a tunnel in the wall and the way the camera is zooming out shows us how big and long this tunnel is. This suggests to us that he has been working on the plan for a long time and has thought everything through. The camera is glued to Andy as he is crawling through this dirty tunnel, and his facial expressions look determined and focused. His face looks dirty as if he hasn’t cleaned himself properly in a while. As he is crawling through this sewage tunnel there is not a lot of lighting except from the torch that he has brought with him which shows us that there is nothing for him to see except this dark tunnel. In this scene Andy takes up most of the view which shows how significant he is in this scene. He then comes out of the tunnel and you can see him and also you can see the prison behind him which shows us that he is finally free.
Throughout this scene we hear Red’s (the narrator and Andy’s best friend in the prison) voice and the dialogue that he says, instantly tells us that Andy and Red are good friends and that Red is very proud of Andy. This could also suggest that Andy didn’t really trust anyone in the prison as the only person he become attached to was Red.
This scene begins with Andy staring at a poster on the wall. Then when he starts to pack his belongs, some happy music starts playing. Then it stops and becomes a more triumphant music but is in the background and we don’t really acknowledge it’s there. But as soon as Andy comes out of the tunnel we instantly realise it and fit’s with the scene very well as Andy has been triumphant of breaking out of the prison.
We can see a high-angle shot on Andy (1) and how he is so happy he can’t even stand up. We can also see how he is embracing nature as he hasn’t felt it for a long time. Moreover we can see a close- up of Andy (2) which helps the audience feel close to Andy as we can see his facial expressions more clearly. Finally we can see another close- up of the Warden Norton (3) and we can see the facial expression on the Warden’s face, which tells us as an audience how he is feeling puzzled and confused about how Andy could escape. You can see Andy’s prison cell in the background.
Production
Institution/Company:
The company that created Shawshank Redemption was Castle Rock Entertainment. The production company was based in America. The company Castle Rock Entertainment is also well known for 'The Green Mile' and also 'Friends With Benefits.' It also made a film about the classic Shakespeare novel 'Hamlet.'
The Film:
The idea for the film came from a short story 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption' by Stephen King. Their was 4 short stories in the book. 2 of them remained as stories and the other two became movies, Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me. The genre of the film is Crime and Drama.
The producer of the film is Niki Marvin.
Cast & Crew:
Niki Marvin also made the very popular and successful horror film Nightmare on Elms Street. He has not made any films that are similar to Shawshank Redemption. He has made another successful film Nightmare On Elms Street. The person who wrote the screenplay was Frank Darabont. The stars that were involved in Shawshank Redemption were Morgan Freemen, Tim Robbins and Bob Gunton, these are the main characters in the film.
Financing:
The budget for Shawshank Redemption was estimated to be around 25 million and it didn't go over budget.
Production:
Shawshank Redemption was mainly based in Mansfield Reformatoryn which is the prison, where most the movie happens. An interesting thing that I found out when I researched, the Spanish title for the movie is “Cadena Perpetua”, which means “Life Imprisonment”. Also The ambulance that took Boggs away had to be pushed as its engine had died. Finally in and Red's opening chat in the prison yard - in which Red is pitching a baseball - took 9 hours to shoot. Morgan Freeman pitched that baseball for the entire 9 hours without a word of complaint. He showed up for work the next day with his arm in a sling.
Distribution
Companies:
The film Shawshank Redemption was distributed by Columbia Pictures in the USA in 1994. In addition the film was distributed by Rank Film Organization in the UK in 1995.
Prints & Copies:
Shawshank Redemption was not released in every country singularly, it was released world wide by PolyGram Film International. Shawshank Redemption released 1,364,000 prints in the UK and 1,973,000 in the USA. All together the film released 5,000,000 prints world-wide.
Marketing, Advertising, Promotion:
$18,000,000.00 was the marketing budget for Shawshank redemption. When the film was originally released it was considered a 'box office flop' and not many people went out to watch the Shawshank Redemption. So as the film was not very popular, one of the promotional ideas was to make posters to try and entreat people into watching the movie. Also as the movie was based on a book they were lucky as they said that it was based on the book which automatically gave them publicity as a lot of people purchased Stephen King's book. Another way they advertised their movie was by a trailer. Every film has a trailer to show the audience what the film is going to be about. Morgan Freeman used his familiar tone of voice to narrate the trailer and bring suspense towards the audience. Another way they promoted the Film Shawshank Redemption was shortly after the film was released, they did a raffle and if you was to win you could go to the prison and have a tour around the prison itself, seeing things like the cell Andy was in and also see the hole that he created to get out of the prison. You would be accompanied by Morgan Freeman (Red) and Tim Robbins (Andy). This brought in $14,000,000 which nearly broke even with their initial marketing cost.
Exhibition
Cinema:
Shawshank Redemption was shown at mainly Multiplexes and independent cinemas and also hit the big one the IMax. It was shown in Blu-ray 3D as well. Shawshank Redemption was shown in the cinemas for about 10 weeks. After the movie started to rapidly promote it started to be shown all around the world, with everyone wanting to show the unique movie. The Shawshank Redemption received a limited release on September 23, 1994 in North America. During its opening weekend, the film earned $727,000 from 33 theaters an average of $22,040 per theater. It received a wide release on October 14, 1994, expanding to a total of 944 theaters to earn $2.4 million which is an average of $2,545 per theater. Finally finishing as the number 9 film of the weekend. The film left theaters in late November 1994, after 10 weeks with an approximate total gross of $16 million. It was later re-released in February 1995, during the Ocean season, and made an additional $9 million. In total the film made approximately $28.3 million in North American theaters, making it the number 51 highest grossing film of 1994 and 21 highest grossing R-rated film of 1994.
Success:
On box-office it made $28,341,469 and on DVD sales it made $5,000,000 on DVD's.
Shawshank Redemption- Escape Scene Analysis
The film I have chosen to analyse is Shawshank Redemption, and I have chosen to look specifically at the escape scene. Here is what I have found out from the scene in terms of mise-en-scene and cinematography.
The mise-en-scene in this scene is dark and dirty and is mainly consists of the colours black and grey, which I think represents the whole film very, as it fits in it the emotions of loneliness and darkness that is in the prison. The main character has had enough of living in these exceptionally poor conditions and decides to try and do something about it. I think this because throughout the film you see the main character caring less and less and does not feel affected by it at all, as if he was a broken man.
As the scene begins we see Andy in his gloomy prison cell, with ropes on his hands. This tells us that he is in this disgusting cell and that he feels he has been tied up. This has been the theme throughout this film. How Andy feel’s trapped and has been deprived of his freedom. We then see Andy mesmerized at this poster on the wall of this girl. Then he slowly starts to pack up his possessions. Which in my opinion is quite bazaar as I think ‘why is he packing up his belongings it is not as if he is going anywhere?’ In addition the fact that he is wearing a shirt and tie is also very unusual as well, as people in prison usually wear orange jumpsuits or old clothes. I think that the narrator has done this to make us confused and unaware of what’s going on. We then see what he has been staring at the whole time, he has made a tunnel in the wall and the way the camera is zooming out shows us how big and long this tunnel is. This suggests to us that he has been working on the plan for a long time and has thought everything through. The camera is glued to Andy as he is crawling through this dirty tunnel, and his facial expressions look determined and focused. His face looks dirty as if he hasn’t cleaned himself properly in a while. As he is crawling through this sewage tunnel there is not a lot of lighting except from the torch that he has brought with him which shows us that there is nothing for him to see except this dark tunnel. In this scene Andy takes up most of the view which shows how significant he is in this scene. He then comes out of the tunnel and you can see him and also you can see the prison behind him which shows us that he is finally free.
Throughout this scene we hear Red’s (the narrator and Andy’s best friend in the prison) voice and the dialogue that he says, instantly tells us that Andy and Red are good friends and that Red is very proud of Andy. This could also suggest that Andy didn’t really trust anyone in the prison as the only person he become attached to was Red.
This scene begins with Andy staring at a poster on the wall. Then when he starts to pack his belongs, some happy music starts playing. Then it stops and becomes a more triumphant music but is in the background and we don’t really acknowledge it’s there. But as soon as Andy comes out of the tunnel we instantly realise it and fit’s with the scene very well as Andy has been triumphant of breaking out of the prison.
We can see a high-angle shot on Andy (1) and how he is so happy he can’t even stand up. We can also see how he is embracing nature as he hasn’t felt it for a long time. Moreover we can see a close- up of Andy (2) which helps the audience feel close to Andy as we can see his facial expressions more clearly. Finally we can see another close- up of the Warden Norton (3) and we can see the facial expression on the Warden’s face, which tells us as an audience how he is feeling puzzled and confused about how Andy could escape. You can see Andy’s prison cell in the background.