The opening scene of ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ instantly creates mystery for the audience. The story is introduced with a black screen with plain white credits running through. Incidental music is also being played during these credits which instantly give the audience an idea of what time period the film is set in. The music being playing sounds like war music from the 1940’s, showing that the films setting must be based around that era. Also, the simple credits presented on the screen flicker which gives the feeling of an old cinema screening, again showing to the audience that the film is set in the past.
An establishing shot is then presented of a house at night time lit up. The camera then 
slowly moves over towards a car sat in the drive way with a man in it. This then creates a mystery to the audience as to why this man is sat staring at the house in the middle of the night. The camera then moves closer into the car, as if it is sat next to the man on the chair next to him. As this happens, the incidental music then turns into ambient sound, as the song changes from being the main sound we hear, to the sound of the radio playing in the man’s car. The pace of the scene is very slow and dreary which makes the scene effective because it is almost like we are waiting for something big to happen, to change the proxemics of the scene.
We then start to see the man’s full attire which gives the audience more of a judgement of the character. The man is dressed in a full pin striped suit which shows that he must have a good sum of money and a good job as it seems quite formal, although this suit is not to the best standard as his tie is not done up properly and his shirt is unbuttoned which could suggest that the character has had a tough day and could be stressed or tired. His facial expressions also support this idea, as he appears to have been crying and he seems very distraught, therefore meaning that something must have happened to him to make him seem such a way.
The scenes mood then changes from moderately tranquil to sour, as an extreme close 
up is shown of the man’s hand reaching into his glove compartment and taking out a piece of cloth. He then unveiled a gun underneath this cloth with bullets alongside it. I found that it was effective how the character picked up the gun with the cloth over it and then removed the cloth because it created suspense and mystery for the audience, as I did not know what was going to be behind the cloth. This therefore made me want to carry on watching as I wanted to discover what was underneath.
As the man reached into the glove compartment, the radio music slowly fades out and incidental music begins to play as the gun is presented. This music is the sound of a piano playing in a high pitched staccato way, which instantly brings an ominous feeling to the scene. The camera then focuses on a bottle of vodka in the man’s hand which shows to the audience that he is heavily drinking whilst feeling sad. It also creates fear for the audience as the man clearly is intoxicated and alongside that is holding a gun which immediately creates the idea that something bad could happen, as he is not functioning properly due to being drunk and also has the power to hurt someone with his gun.
The scene then jump cuts to a new day with a new setting. This setting is now a court which shows that he must have done something bad to be there and also shows that something could have happened with the gun from the previous scene. We are not told what has happened though which again creates a great amount of mystery for the audience and makes the audience want to find out what actually happened that night.
The Shawshank Redemption film opening:
CHLOÉ COVERDALE
involved. This also foreshadows later events because as the scene goes along bad events occur which goes well with the dark, miserable tone. The shot tilts from top to bottom an image of a group of skulls and then stops on a close-up of one of the skulls facing straight forward. The shot of skulls gives the audience the idea that something bad is going to happen such as a death as a skull is linked to death. A snake slides through the skull facing forwards mouth slowly and smoothly. The camera then goes on to follow the snakes movements for a few seconds which suggests that the snake is a character that needs to be followed and is important to the scene as the camera does not show just a shot of the snake.
By this one light being on, it stands out in contrast to the setting as the sky is very dark and the area seems remote. This is effective because it shows that something must be going on in the house, which is supposed to be empty and it creates a snese of curiosity for the audience. The keeper of the area notices this light and an exteme close-up of a pair of keys is shown which shows to the audience that the man must be the keeper of the house and clearly people should not be in it as he has the keys and he says ‘bloody kids’ as if to say that kids are messing around and being disobedient by entering the house.
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