The Shawshank Redemption: my presentation.

One of our homework tasks last week was to prepare a presentation on a scene from our favourite film. I chose to research into The Shawshank Redemption, focusing on the escape scene at the end. I used a clip taken from Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCtgM1hWcUY).
I first looked into the mise-en-scene; the surroundings are dimly lit except for the one small window in the cell. This tiny window has light flooding through it, representing his slim chance of freedom Andy has. Through looking at the characters' clothing, it is possible to see the different positions of authority - the inmates are wearing worn workclothes and the highly ranked characters are dressed in smart suits. As a member of the audience, we empathise with the inmates as the majority of them regret the mistakes they have made, in the case of Andy (the protagonist) not only do we empathise with him, but we hope that he will escape as he is actually innocent and was wrongly convicted.
The camerawork was the next aspect of the scene I chose to study. My favourite use of the camera from the scene is when the camera zooms out from a medium close-up shot of the characters after they find the hole in the wall; I think that this zoom adds a sense of awe and shows the respect felt towards Andy for finally managing to escape the jail.
Throughout the film, the character of Red narrates what is happening to the audience, this is an example of a non-diegetic sound and is used in this scene to emphasise the amount of time Andy had spent in jail.
A dissolve is used from a still picture going backwards in time to show the day Andy first started trying to escape, the audience at this point are taken back to a shot seen previously in the film which creates a sense of familiarity.
At the point at which Andy actually escapes, lighting is used to add drama to the scene, it creates excitement and a sense of panic and urgency. The lightning also adds to the sense of triumph as Andy takes up the position of a cross, adding a religious aspect as if he is thanking God for finally escaping Shawshank.