Opening Sequence Analysis

• This opening sequence begins with non-digetic narration which we assume is coming from one of the two men walking towards the camera in the VLS. We know that this is set in a prison as the mise-en-scene is very dull and mainly grey/navy colours. Also the outfits are plain and uniform but immediately the narrator says "There must be a con like me in every prison in America" so that also tells us we are watching a Crime/Drama film set in a jail.
• From listening to the accent of the narrator, we know that its taking place in America and he later says "When Andy Dufresne came to me in 1949 and asked me to smuggle..." we know its set around the mid 1900's.
• We are introduced to the two protagonists in the beginning of the sequence. Firstly, the old african-american man who's voice is being used as the narration. We assumes its his voice because the first close up is on his face and the voice matches his appearance. We know that he is a main character in the film as from the narration we can hear he does a lot in the prison for his fellow prisoners, from this we can infer that hes very respected and known. Also, the camera focuses on him a lot, for example, when they are going to see who the new prisoner is around 1:30, the camera tracks particularly him running to find a spot to watch as oppose to all the people that come after, telling us that he is of some importance. We only briefly see the second protagonist in the prisoner car. The audience know he is the one being narrated as the camera slowly zooms into his face from a mid-shot into a medium close-up. The audience can also tell because the narrator describes him as the "vice president of a large portland bank" and he is the only one smartly dressed in the bus and therefore looks like he'd be the one previously from an affluent background.
• This first sequence of the film is needed to introduce the two protagonists and tell us they have a relationship before we see them meet. With the aerial shot of the prison we can gauge the vast amount of people there are there. The composed body language of the new prisoners, especially Andy Dufresense, in contrast to the prisoners inside who are banging on the gates almost like animals could show there will be friction between the two groups as they are so different.
• The dramatic music that accompanies the aerial shot is quite typical of its genre. The instruments used also make it sound more dramatic and mournful - this could be an indication that people entering the prison are loosing their lives and their freedom, it almost makes the audience sympathies with them.