oh good, a breakdown buffet with to-go boxes.

FYI, Scott, with the exception of first two (Great Scene and Spotlight), the other links go to Page Not Found.

Nice post, Scott, thanks. I would also say that yet another thing this scene accomplishes is *misdirection*, in that Red is worried that Andy is going to choose dying over living. This is more evident in the film by Morgan Freeman's performance, and other scenes around this beat, but because he thinks Andy may finally kill himself, then WE do, thus Andy's prison escape is even MORE shocking. One of the most interesting choices Darabont makes in the film is to show the details of the prison break *after* we learn Andy has escaped -- a series of brilliant payoffs connect back to earlier bits that we now realize were setups -- if you really study the structure of the film, you realize that this was the best choice, to maintain our surprise so that WE, like the Warden and Andy's crew, discover Andy's prison break at the same time. One might even say that this reversal hits like a (rock) hammer blow to the head. Ahem. My buddy and I have done some exhaustive analysis of The Shawshank Redemption, too -- a podcast, a full 13 page Story Map and a teleconference discussion with Laurie Lamson and the ISA -- you can find it here, if you are so inspired: http://actfourscreenplays.com/podcast/shawshank-redemption-podcast/ Keep up the good work!

Despina, thanks for the heads-up. All fixed. FYI there are recurring issues I have to deal with from the transition from Blogger to WordPress, so some of my older posts need a little extra care and attention.

Thanks for that observation and the link. Anything to contribute to our understanding of how Story works. Concur that the editorial choice of showing Andy's escape after the fact was inspired. So much of what we do as screenwriters is to embrace the sense of the present, how things are unfolding in the moment. So showing the escape in flashback would seem counterintuitive. But the choice is about showing the Warden's reaction in real time... and us to experience like he does, our own shock at what happened. Again thanks for your comments. Spot on and I'm sure folks will check out your podcast and story map. You keep up the good work as well!

Great movie. Gonna read the script tonight for the first time. Scott, I would love to see an analysis of the script 'Bullit'. Have you discussed it before? If so, do you have a link to the previous post. If not, is it on your list to discuss?

Scott, I'd seen the movie years before reading the short, but one of the ways the message of "hope" is driven in (in the story) is that Red is never shown meeting Andy at the end. As a story telling device it's great in novel form, but does it not translate in the film medium? I guess, by having Red meet Andy at the end it not only pays off as a good ending, but also reinforces that Red is a stable narrator.