In this week’s post we will discuss some of the actors in The Shawshank Redemption and attempt to classify their acting types. First, let’s explore Tim Robbins.
Tim Robbins is an actor that is able to accurately portray his on film character, yet you still know its Tim Robbins. This being said many could argue that his acting type is more of an interpreter or character. Interpreters style of actors take the material of often well-known roles and put their own stamp on it, and character style actors are able to fit into a wide variety of characters adapting to the needs of each script and director. (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). In the film The Shawshank Redemption Tim Robbins character, Andy Dufresne, can be classified as an impersonator style. Andy Dufresne is an everyday man who is sent to prison for allegedly killing his wife and her lover. You can classify this character as an impersonator because Tim Robbins doesn’t really have to create the mannerism or behavior of the character but rather just becomes him.
Now let’s talk about Tim Robbins co-star in the film, Morgan Freeman. Throughout Morgan Freeman’s career he can be classified in multiple categories. For The Shawshank Redemption however I would classify his character as an interpreter. We discussed earlier, and interpreter takes the role and puts their stamp on it. Morgan Freeman has done this very well as his character, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, who plays Andy’s best friend in the prison. He lends a bit of mystery to his character yet you still know his character is a prisoner who is essentially unable to control anything.
Mr. Bob Gunton can easily be classified as a character actor. In this film he fits seamlessly into the role of the warden. A man who claims to be a devout Christian who is well versed in the bible, but as the film progresses we learn he is corrupt, almost heartless, and extremely ruthless. Character actors are able to fit into a wide variety of disparate characters, adapting to the needs of each script and Bob Gunton does this flawlessly.
Focusing on Tim Robbins and all of his other films, one would be well within reason to state that his acting style is Wild Card. A wild Card actor exists outside traditional, easy-to-define categories. Tim has played a slew of characters from a baseball pitcher in Bull Durham to his character in this film, a prisoner sentenced to life in prison.
Cast:
Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly
Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brown
Lea Thompson as Lorraine McFly
Crispin Clover as George McFly
Thomas F. Wilson as Biff Tannen
Music by: Alan Silvestri
Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Edited by: Arthur Schmidt and Harry Keramidas
In this week three’s selection of Robbyrob’s blog we will discuss the film Back to the Future and the sound of film. First and foremost we will break down each of the three basic categories of sound, dialogue, sound effects, and music.
Dialogue as stated in the text is spoken words by two or more characters in a scene. (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). In the clip Back to the Future 1.21 Gigawatts Marty Mcfly, Michael J. Fox, is showing past Doc Brown, Christopher Lloyd, a VHS tape of them in the future. Right off the dialogue between them lets the viewer know how completely bewildered the past Doc Brown is at what he is watching and how it is being played. At one point Marty is searching the VHS tape and you can hear the tape winding in the background. That sound instantly sets Doc Brown into studying the camcorder, or as he calls it, the portable television.
Sound Effects are utilized to enhance the dialogue and improve the mood of the scene to the viewers. For example in the clip, Back to the Future I’m From the Future, Marty is yanked into Doc Browns house and immediately a suction cup is stuck to his head and you can hear the electricity moving up and down the wires from behind them. All are examples of sound effects and how they enhance the viewing experience.
Music has been a crucial part of the moviegoing experience since before the advent of recorded sound in films. (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014) Chapter 8.4). In the clip, Back to the Future Back to the Future, past Doc Brown is trying to get a cable set up on the clock tower from across the street so that when lightning strikes the DeLorean can connect to it and be sent Back to the Future. Alan Silvestri’s choice in music for this clip is spot on. The viewer is cast into frenzy as you see Doc Brown unable to connect the cable, lightning striking all around, and Marty speeding down the street in the DeLorean towards the cable. The music helps to exaggerate the entire situation leaving the viewers in suspense.
The Shawshank Redemption and the impact of lighting.
In this week’s post we will discuss the type of lighting used during the Fresh Fish scene. Low-key Lighting was utilized during this scene amplifying deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest. (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014) Film: From watching to seeing). During this scene a character is shown cowering in his cell distraught at his new surroundings. The lights in the cell block are turned off bank by bank adding to the low-key Mise en scene. By using low-key lighting the viewer is drawn in not only to the man crying and moaning but also to what is or is not happening in the shadows. The lighting alone builds and incredible amount of drama in this scene.
Low-key lighting contributed to the theme of this particular scene by adding eeriness to what is happening. Prison is a harsh unforgiving environment. This scene in particular displays some of what prisoners go through after first arriving at any prison. Add to that the way the lighting is used, it almost becomes a character all in itself.
This lighting technique suited this films genre incredibly well. This film is listed as a Drama which the low-key lighting works perfectly for. There are also hint to a sub-genre of mystery thriller. From this scene alone you see the severe beating the “New Fish” takes after Capt. Byron Hadley tells him to be quiet. Hadley works the fish over past the point he should have stopped yet you wonder if he is going to stop.
This scene would have played completely different if high-key lighting had been used. The scene would have been much warmer and less nerve racking. High-key lighting floods the scene with light taking away the shadows and what may lie within.
Story: The Shawshank Redemption is a film adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. The film stars Andy Dufresne, a banker who murders his wife and her lover and is sentenced to a life sentence at Shawshank State Prison yet he claims his innocence. He becomes friends with Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding and begins laundering money for the warden resulting in protection from the prison guards.
Plot: In 1947 Portland, Maine, banker Andy Dufresne is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover and is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences at the fictional Shawshank State Penitentiary in rural Maine. Andy becomes friends with the prisons biggest contraband smuggler, Ellis “Red” Redding, who is also serving a life sentence. Red procures items for Andy including a rock hammer as well as a poster of Rita Hayworth. Andy’s prison job is in the laundry where he is constantly assaulted by the “bull queer” gang “the Sisters” lead by Bogs.
In 1949, Andy overhears the captain of the guards, Byron Hadley, complain about being taxed on an inheritance. Andy offers to help Hadley shelter the money legally. After yet another vicious assault by the Sisters that nearly kills Andy, Hadley beats Bogs severely. Bogs is sent to another prison and Andy is never attacked again. Hadley speaks to Warden Samuel Norton about the assistance Andy provided him and the warden reassigns Andy to the prison library to assist Brooks Hatlen, and elderly inmate. Shortly after his reassignment Andy begins managing the prison employees financial matters. The warden uses Andy to handle matters for a variety of people from other prisons, including the warden himself. Andy begins writing letters to the state government weekly for funds to improve the prison library.
In 1954, Brooks is paroled, and after fifty years of prison confinement he has a hard time adjusting to life outside the walls. Brooks ends up hanging himself after a week outside. Andy receives a library donation including a recording of The Marriage of Figaro. Andy decides everyone should here this and plays an excerpt over the public address system landing him in solitary confinement. Andy tells everyone that hope got him through his time in solitary. In 1963, the warden begins utilizing prison labor for public work, skimming money for himself by undercutting the labor costs and receiving kickbacks. He makes Andy launder the money under and alias, Randall Stephens.
In 1965, Tommy Williams is joins Andy and Reds circle of friends after he is sent to prison for burglary. Andy studies with Tommy and helps him pass his G.E.D. exam. In 1966, Tommy tells Red and Andy that a prisoner at another prison claimed responsibility for the murder of Andy’s wife and her lover, implying Andy’s innocence. Andy tries to tell the warden about this new information but is ignored and he is sent back to solitary. The warden has Hadley kill Tommy making it seem as if Tommy was trying to escape. Andy refuses to launder anymore money, but the warden threatens to burn down the prison library, take away the protection of the guards, and move him from his cell and put him into worse conditions. After two months of solitary Andy is released and tells Red how he dreams of living in Zihuatunejo, a Mexican coastal town. Red laughs at the idea but jokingly promises Andy that if he is ever released he will visit a specific hayfield near Buxton, Maine and retrieve a package Andy buried there. Red starts to worry about Andy after he asks another inmate for six feet of rope.
At roll call the next day Andy’s cell is empty. The Warden is furious and throws a rock at the poster of Raquel Welch hanging on the wall in Andy’s cell. The rock tears through the poster reveling the tunnel Andy dug with his rock hammer over the previous two decades. The night before, Andy used the tunnel to escape to the prison’s sewage pipe and then on to freedom. Andy escaped with the wardens suit, shoes, and a ledger with all the money laundering details.
While the guards are searching for Andy, he poses as Randal Stephens and visits multiple banks withdrawing the laundered money. After completing his bank visits he mails the ledger and evidence of the corruption and murder at Shawshank to a local newspaper. Hadley is taken into custody but Warden Norton commits suicide to avoid arrest.
Red is paroled after serving forty years. He has a hard time adapting to life on the outside and fears he never will. After remembering his promise to Andy, he visits the hayfield in Buxton and finds a cache containing money and a letter asking him to come to Zihuatanejo. Red heads to Texas, violating his parole, to cross the border to Mexico feeling a bit of hope. On a beach in Zihuatanejo he finds Andy, and the two friends are happily reunited.
This film is presented chronologically. Through the entire movie time years tick by, yet you are held in suspense as to how Andy is doing with his rock hammer tunnel. Added to this is the trial and tribulations that happen in prison, new jobs, guard interaction, and associated prison politics. You slowly see Andy’s character appear to loose hope then are pleasantly surprised by the ending.
Had this film been presented non-linearly the viewers would have become lost in the details. Because of the chronological presentation you are much more attached to the characters and are pleasantly surprised by the ending.
Week 1 The Shawshank Redemption 