Shawshank Redemption: The Shooting Script

Didn't realize this book was actually a movie script. Disappointed

This is a great read. This book doesn't just contain the screenplay to one of the best movies of the 1990s. It also has a delightful introduction by Stephen King which explains his relationship with Frank Darabont and describes his "dollar baby" policy concerning his short stories and novellas. There is also a sort of short foreward by Darabont briefly describing how the movie came into being. This book contains the complete shooting script (deleted lines and all) and a bunch of notes by Darabont illuminating why certain scenes were cut, lines where changed, etc. Anyone interesting in filmmaking would really benifit from reading this. For those who aren't even in the least bit interested in how a movie is made, this is still a delightful read. It is a good thing, perhaps one of the best of things.

The shooting script contains forewards (by Stephen King by Frank Darabont), the screenplay, changes from the screenplay to the movie, some final thoughts by Darabont, and the credits.It's fascinating reading the screenplay after seeing the movie, then reading the changes made in to the screenplay and why. For example, in scene 36, Andy approaches Red to buy a rock hammer and they agree on ten dollars. In the movie, it just happens and we overlook the question on how Andy would have gotten the money in the first place. In the screen play, we find out in scenes 40 and 41 where he got the money (brought in with him ... internally). However, later, the book explains how the scene read well, but didn't work well on the screen. In retrospect, we don't really *care* that he had money anyway, so the scene is easily dropped without sacrificing clarity.The book adds some interesting "inside" information. For example, when we first see Red meeting with the parole board, the file has a picture of him when he was younger. This photo is actually a cameo by Morgan Freeman's son, Alfonso, who also provided some of the background voices during the "Fresh Fish" taunting in the early part of the movie.Overall, the book adds depth to an already excellent cinematic experience.

Wow. This is the first word that came to my mind after finishing reading this screenplay. Now, everyone knows how good the movie is, but reading this takes it to a whole different level. Included in this screenplay is extra scenes not seen in the final cut of the movie, a scene-by-scene analysis of the film, storyboards of important sequences, character photos, and last but not least, 2 forewords - one by Stephen King and the other by Frank Darabont, both giving insightful comments on the making of the movie and the novella 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption'. All in all, this is one of the most worthy purchases i've made as far as screenplays are concerned, and I recommend it to one and all - especially those interested in film analysis and movie making.

I really liked the book and the movie itself. Stephen King, for sure, didn't intend when he wrote Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption to emphasize a lot on the character of Andy. I think the basic character is the Morgan Freeman one. Frank Darabont, emphasized on both characters, Andy and Red. I have to ask myself, it's the redemption of who and of what? Is it the redemption of Andy, of Red, of Warren...? I think it's the redemption of all the characters in the book. At the end each one of them took what he deserved. Warren Suicide, Andy Freedom, and Red Hope. The brilliant thing about Shawshank Redemption script and movie is that the reader can't know what will happen and can estimate nothing untill the end of the story, there's no meaning of hope yet. What's hope in that movie? Is it something that we usually loose when we grow older under certain TERRIBLE conditions? Red lost all hope of getting outside Shawshank, at a certain time he wasn't willing to go out, he can never face the outside. Shawshank made him a machine man with machine heart and machine mind. Andy remind him back of his humanity, and hope is what deferenciates humans from other living species. I realized at the end that Hope is Freedom and it's not the opposite. When you have hope you can be free and when you don't you can never be free. The difference between Red and Andy is that Andy always believed in hope and that thing made him free, Red got out of Shawshank after 40 years and he was not free. Red started to feel freedom ("I think it's the excitement only a freemam can feel, a freeman at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain") when he regain hope and broke all rules and went to see his friend Andy. Hope is like dreams, when you lose it you lose your existence and therefore your humanity.

If you ever wonder what goes through a writer/director's mind during the creative process of bringing a story from novel to screen this is the book to get. The only other experience that comes close to this well put together book is watching one of those Special Edition DVDs or Laser Discs that contain running audio commentary and behind the scenes documentary on them. The book includes; a forward by Steven King, introduction by Frank Darabount, the full shooting script, which by the way is type set in film industry standard, a detailed listing and explanation of scenes that were cut from the film and storyboards. The only other book that comes close to this is Steven Soderbergh's book of Sex, Lies and Videotape. Now if only other so called published screenplays of films could live up to these two books the world just might be a better place.