The Dark Knight

Actors: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Morgan Freeman

Christian Bale: Christian Bale has been able to fill a big variety of roles. Although he is not an American actor he works on having an American accent for some of his movie roles. He has also been known to change his body type when required by either adding weight or losing weight for his roles.

Heath Ledger: Heath Ledger portrayed different roles and kept himself out of being casted in to one type of character.
Morgan Freeman: Morgan Freeman usually has the same calm and cool demeanor when playing his characters. While he does pull off his roles really well his character is normally more to him than he is to a certain character.

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Shawshank Redemption week 3

Title: The Shawshank Redemption
Writer’s: Stephen King, Frank Darabont
Director: Frank Darabont
Year: 1994
Cast: Tim Robbins ( Andy Dufresne ), Morgan Freeman ( Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding ), Bob Gunton ( Warden Norton ), William Sadler ( Heywood ), Clancy Brown ( Captain Hadley ), James Whitmore ( Brooks Hatlen)

Dialogue: Characters talking to one another in either a group setting or just one on one conversations.

Sound effects: Films include sound effects to enhance the visuals presented on screen. These have to be mastered so they do not outdo character performance or overtake the scene by being too present.

Music: The background music is usually used to dramatize the good or bad moments in movies. Sometimes the characters will listen or sing songs to help the audience connect with the character.

Explain how the different categories of sound are being used in your chosen film.
One of the biggest things in the film is the voice over narration. Without the film being narrated there would be a lot of silent or less dramatic impact scenes that if they were cut the story of the film may not make sense. This film has the narration telling the story which helps the viewer’s follow every part of what is going on.
Assess the impact of sound in establishing the theme.
The sounds in the film mainly point to the mood of the character Andy Defresne as he has stayed positive in tough times throughout his years in prison. At one point he plays a song over the loud speakers because the music made him happy. In turn he caught the attention of the entire prison as everyone stood still and listened until it was turned off.

How does the use of sound inform the mood of the scene, or the film overall?
The sound goes along with the scenes that go on. If the setting is dark or there are things negative going on than the music reflects that. In scenes where the mood around Andy are lighter than the music will follow in that direction as well. When Andy finally escapes the prison the music is telling the story of triumph over a long struggle.
Can you identify specific sounds in your film that allow you to infer a particular genre?

The specific sounds that would make me think of a crime drama are basically the sounds of the court javelin. The sounds of the cell bars closing and even the sounds of the guards shouting commands to all of the prisoners.

Since each category of sound may produce a range of effects, how might you characterize the effects in your film? For example, realistic and expected sound effects may have a different effect on a viewer than exaggerated or unexpected ones.
Throughout the entire film I think the use of realistic and expected sounds are the most present. There are not any times I can think of where the sound came out as surprising or unexpected or sound effects seemed out of place.
Assess how the scene or sequence would play differently if you changed or removed a key category of sound.
The key element of sound for the Shawshank Redemption would still be the voice over narration. If that part was removed I do not think it would have the same effect as the story unfolds. This is one of the most important parts and it was placed perfectly to separate scenes.
Resources:
IMDb (1990-2014). The Shawshank Redemption. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/?ref_=nv_home
SparkNotes Editors. (2007). SparkNote on Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/rita-hayworth-and-the-shawshank-redemption/

Title: The Shawshank Redemption

Writer’s: Stephen King, Frank Darabont

Director: Frank Darabont

Year: 1994

Cast: Tim Robbins ( Andy Dufresne ), Morgan Freeman ( Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding ), Bob Gunton ( Warden Norton ), William Sadler ( Heywood ), Clancy Brown ( Captain Hadley ), James Whitmore ( Brooks Hatlen )

Story: Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.

Plot: The movie is set in the 1940’s where a young banker by the name of Andy Dufresne is convicted and sentenced to two life sentences for killing his wife and her lover the golf pro. Through out the years he gains respect from his fellow inmates, and befriends ” the man that is able to get things”. After a couple of year working on the laundry crew Dufresne volunteers to tar the roof of a building where he over hears Captain Hadley discussing a inheritance he would be receiving after his estranged brother died. Andy explained a way that Captain Hadley could receive the 35,000 dollar inheritance without any tax deduction and offered to file the paperwork for him for a very small fee ” 3 beers for his coworkers”. Word got around to the Warden of Dufresne gift with money, the Warden then reassigned Dufresne to the library and was in charge of filing prison guard taxes then moved on to laundering money for a number of prison wardens. Dufresne was determined to upgrade the library and wrote letters to the Senate for funds, after 6 years of writing the letters he received 200$ and donations from libraries in the state of Maine. Andy is not satisfied with the 200 dollars and continues to write to the senate.

After Dufresne served 19 years of his sentence a new inmate named Tommy Williams arrives and is befriended by Dufresne and “Red”. After hearing why Dufresne was in Shawshank, He begins to tell them the story of his previous incarcerations at different prisons. Tommy tells them the story of a cellmate he had named Elwood Blatch. Blatch admitted to Tommy that he had killed a golf pro and his lover one night and that the women’s husband who was a banker ended up being convicted of the murders. Dufresne took this information to the Warden in hopes that he is able to get him another trial and help him clear his name and be a free man. The Warden however did not have the reaction Dufresne had hoped and instead had him put into solitary for a month. While he was in solitary the Warden Questioned Tommy asking if he was willing to testify on behalf of Dufresne, after admitting he would the Warden had Tommy killed. The Warden then covered up Tommy’s murder by saying he was killed in an attempt to escape. When Andy Dufresne was finally released from solitary he was no longer the man he used to be.

In 1966 Andy Dufresne escaped from the prison from a tunnel he had dug into the prison wall behind the poster he had of Rita Hayworth, He then crawled 500 yards threw a sewage pipe to freedom. While doing all of his work for the Warden Andy had managed to acquire a new outfit of the Wardens nicely pressed shirt and slacks. He then used the new identity he created while laundering money for the Warden and withdrew a large sum of money, and ratted out the prison guards and the warden at Shawshank. He later sent a post card to “Red” with just a post address of Fort Hancock, Texas and takes that as a sign that Andy made it to Mexico. Red comes up for parole in 1967 and is finally released after serving 40 years.

Chronology: The film was was told in chronological order. Going through all the events leading up to them being free men.

Resources:

IMDb (1990-2014). The Shawshank Redemption. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/?ref_=nv_home

SparkNotes Editors. (2007). SparkNote on Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/rita-hayworth-and-the-shawshank-redemption/

The Shawshank Redemption

Title: The Shawshank Redemption
Writer’s: Stephen King, Frank Darabont
Director: Frank Darabont
Year: 1994
Cast: Tim Robbins ( Andy Dufresne ), Morgan Freeman ( Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding ), Bob Gunton ( Warden Norton ), William Sadler ( Heywood ), Clancy Brown ( Captain Hadley ), James Whitmore ( Brooks Hatlen)

Lighting used: The Shawshank Redemption uses high-key lighting during periods of positive times within the prison. Some examples would be when Andy has turned on the record player and played the record of the opera women singing over the loud speakers. When the scene cuts out you can see all of the prisoners standing outside standing still listening to the music and almost sensing the feeling of freedom for the few moments they get to listen to the music.
Low-key lighting is shown when the darker parts of the movie are about to happen. Each time Andy gets attacked by the “Sisters” the lighting is darker to show that there is a negative action taking place. When Andy gets put in to solitary confinement it almost has no light at all to show how his actions have displeased the Warden.
The lighting technique fits will as it is used to show when the viewer of the movie show feel happier about a situation or feel bad about the circumstance that is taking place.

The Shawshank Redemption

 

Title: The Shawshank Redemption

Writer’s: Stephen King, Frank Darabont

Director: Frank Darabont

Year: 1994

Cast: Tim Robbins ( Andy Dufresne ), Morgan Freeman ( Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding ), Bob Gunton ( Warden Norton ), William Sadler ( Heywood ), Clancy Brown ( Captain Hadley ), James Whitmore ( Brooks Hatlen )

Story: Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.

Plot: The movie is set in the 1940’s where a young banker by the name of Andy Dufresne is convicted and sentenced to two life sentences for killing his wife and her lover the golf pro. Through out the years he gains respect from his fellow inmates, and befriends ” the man that is able to get things”. After a couple of year working on the laundry crew Dufresne volunteers to tar the roof of a building where he over hears Captain Hadley discussing a inheritance he would be receiving after his estranged brother died.  Andy explained a way that Captain Hadley could receive the 35,000 dollar inheritance without any tax deduction and offered to file the paperwork for him for a very small fee ” 3 beers for his coworkers”. Word got around to the Warden of Dufresne gift with money, the Warden then reassigned Dufresne to the library and was in charge of filing prison guard taxes then moved on to laundering money for a number of prison wardens. Dufresne was determined to upgrade the library and wrote letters to the Senate for funds, after 6 years of writing the letters he received 200$ and donations from libraries in the state of Maine. Andy is not satisfied with the 200 dollars and continues to write to the senate.

After Dufresne served 19 years of his sentence a new inmate named Tommy Williams arrives and is befriended by Dufresne and “Red”. After hearing why Dufresne was in Shawshank, He begins to tell them the story of his previous incarcerations at different prisons. Tommy tells them the story of a cellmate he had named Elwood Blatch. Blatch admitted to Tommy that he had  killed a golf pro and his lover one night and that the women’s husband who was a banker ended up being convicted of the murders. Dufresne took this information to the Warden in hopes that he is able to get him another trial and help him clear his name and be a free man.  The Warden however did not have the reaction Dufresne had hoped and instead had him put into solitary for a month. While he was in  solitary the Warden Questioned Tommy asking if he was willing to testify on behalf of Dufresne, after admitting he would the Warden had Tommy killed. The Warden then covered up Tommy’s murder by saying he was killed in an attempt to escape. When Andy Dufresne was finally released from solitary he was no longer the man he used to be.

In 1966 Andy Dufresne escaped from the prison from a tunnel he had dug into the prison wall behind the poster he had of Rita Hayworth, He then crawled 500 yards threw a sewage pipe to freedom. While doing all of his work for the Warden Andy had managed to acquire a new outfit of the Wardens nicely pressed shirt and slacks. He then used the new identity he created while laundering money for the Warden and withdrew a large sum of money, and ratted out the prison guards and the warden at Shawshank. He later sent a post card to “Red”  with just a post address of Fort Hancock, Texas and takes that as a sign that Andy made it to Mexico.  Red comes up for parole in 1967 and is finally released after serving 40 years.

Chronology: The film was was told in chronological order. Going through all the events leading up to them being free men.

Resources:

IMDb (1990-2014). The Shawshank Redemption. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/?ref_=nv_home

SparkNotes Editors. (2007). SparkNote on Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. Retrieved October 20, 2014, from http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/rita-hayworth-and-the-shawshank-redemption/