Wednesday, 14 November 2012

How does sound and Mise en Scene create a response from an audiance in a 3-5 min clip of the film Shawshank Redemption?


The film depicts the life of a young prisoner called Andy, who is serving two life sentences for a murder he did not commit. Throughout the film he is shown to be strong against everything he faces and the use of the stoic theme (Phillip Newman) and mis en scene really highlights these moments, the tone of the songs and the pitch. While in prison he befriends the inmate red and together they share their troubles.  Finally Andy does escape and Red (Morgan Freeman) follows him soon after. Throughout the film we are driven by hope, promises and good but we also see the ugly side of life and how the better side overcomes it.

Tall drink of water scene (Andy entering the Shawshank)

Sound

As we all know the music and sounds in the film are just as important as the visuals.The stoic theme presented in this film do a lot of things and make the audience feel very attached to the character Andy. The song maintains a high pitch through out which dominates the lower pitch throughout the two minute piece. I believe this in its self tells the story, the high pitch representing hope and the lower pitch representing his struggle, but just as Andy conquered his struggle the music does the same. Though when it ends we are left with a eerie low pitched violin which leaves us with a sense of fear. The music does not really reach a climax and stays the same throughout, that is more common in horror films, in the Shawshank Redemption it does not idolize prison as many other films do, and so the music is simple and slow which describes to the audience how bad a situation it is, Andy is not in an action film where he will fight and become the Alpha male, he is a man who will just be trying to survive like most of the others. The timbre of the song is heavy throughout, that heavy underlining violin is the constant reminder of bad things happening. We are exposed to violins playing throughout this piece and overlapping each-other and also a trumpet towards the end. Throughout the scene and overlapping the music are the shouts and swears from the other inmates which tells us that this is not going to be an easy ride for Andy and these men are not just others who have been accidently put in the Shawshank but killers and rapists. Even though at this point we have neither seen or heard Andy deny these murders so we do not know if he is innocent or not and so do not sympathize for him but more get a better understanding of the Shawshank. Also whenever the guards seem to speak the camera closes up on Andy and the guards voices seem to be distant perhaps showing that Andy is far away from the prison mentally or perhaps tries not to listen to the guards and the hoots showing the pressure he is under. When Reds friends and him are speaking and betting their voices are the only ones that seem calm and friendly in all of this chaos of screaming and cage rattling and it almost gives the impression to the audience that they are a source of calm and good  compared to everything else around them.

Mise en scene

The camera is watching from above as it sweeps through the prison and through its guarded walls. The largeness of the walls and their density strongly relate to that sense of being caged and so far away from the outside world, it comes as a shock to the audience. The use of uniforms the guards wear and the prison jumpsuits worn by the inmates also gives us a good understanding. The guards wear black which is commonly regarded to be the colour of danger, evil, and other things that are not good, and through just the colour of their clothes the audience is instantly given the impression that they are all those things that are associated with the colour black. This also gives a clear distinction between the two people as they are very light and dark colours. The use of confined or caged spaces in which the guards and the inmates are surrounded in strongly suggests that they are dangerous but also acts as the physical metaphor of the obstacles Andy will face during his stay at the Shawshank. When Andy gets of the bus ad through the gate the camera closes up on his face as it begins to sweat his features became a little distorted which suggests he is under a lot of pressure. As the camera sweeps quite close to the cage and the inmates behind it it is almost like were are looking through Andy's eyes and hearing the rattle of the cage as the prisoners screams get louder, perhaps meaning Andy's is beginning to get more nervous. At this point in the film we understand Andy is a banker and during the trial we see him dressed smartly and neatly but now he is dressed messily and his hair untidy again highlighting the fact that he is scarred and this makes the audience really believe and feel sorry for what's going on for him. Through showing Andy in that bad state and seeing the change he goes through the film it really shows the audience latter on how far he has come from entering the shawshank. The men that come out of that bus are dressed poorly, others rich, old and young, it almost shows the audience that whatever you were like outside the prisoned walls and the cages your all the same inside. The audience's first view of the shawshank are the guards dressed in black standing in between the bus, and the in mates and this perhaps is a metaphor for what stands in between Andy's struggle are the guards. The lighting in this scene is very dim even though it is the middle of the day. the walls are grey and the area seems gloomy, grey is usually associated by the audience's with; Lifeless, no imagination, oppressed, there is no life in the color so the lighting effect works well to show the audience exactly the kind of place the shawshank is. And also because this film is set in the past the lighting is an important part of reminding the audiences that as people usually associate the old ear through the black and white films they watched and so the dim lighting works well. During the scene when Red and his friends are making bets we notice they are wearing their clothes in the exact same way as each-other and their caps are identical, this shows the audience that they have a friendship or a bond of some sorts. another interesting thing is I think the audience would take a liking to them for that exact reason. among all that chaos and shouting that group are standing quietly and this separates them from the others. Later on in the film the use of Red (who is an African American) and Andy's (who is white) inter racial friendship during such a racist time period makes the friendship even more special for the audience and again showing them that they are all the same in the shawshank.          

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