How the film "The Shawshank Redemption" was filmed: footage from filming and 19 interesting facts about the film (18 photos)

“The Shawshank Redemption” occupies the first position in many ratings and, it seems, everything has already been written about it. However, interesting and unknown facts about this film are still being discovered and perhaps in this article you will find something you haven’t read about yet.





1. Director Frank Darabont has been friends with Stephen King for a long time, and even filmed his story “The Lady in the Room.” And when Darabont became interested in the book "The Shawshank Redemption", Stephen King, without the slightest hesitation, sold him the film rights for just $5,000.

But the most interesting thing is that Stephen King never cashed this check. Moreover, a few years later he framed it and sent it to Frank Darabont with a note: “In case you ever need money.”



Frank Darabont and Stephen King

Well, as you probably know, the friendship between Darabont and King did not end there, because in 1998 the director filmed another book by the king of horror, namely “The Green Mile.”

And by the way, when Frank Darabont invited Rob Reiner (the owner of Castle Rock studio) to make a film based on his script, Rob offered Darabont $2.5 million to make the film himself with his own vision and actors. But Darabont refused.





2. According to Stephen King, the novel was based on his childhood memories of all the prison films he watched as a child.

But director Frank Darabont claimed that he was inspired by the film "Goodfellas", and in particular its editing techniques and voice-over narration.

3. A real, but no longer functioning institution in the state of Ohio was used as the prison itself. They were about to demolish it, but for the sake of filming this process was slowed down.



After filming was completed, most of it was demolished, but the administrative building and the prison block were preserved, which are now almost the main attraction of the state and a place that tourists love to visit. By the way, Andrei Konchalovsky’s film “Tango and Cash” was filmed in the same prison.



4. The original book by Stephen King is called Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. But Frank Darabont decided to remove the first part of the title. And all because many thought that we were talking about a biopic about the famous Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth. But as you know, the actress herself was depicted only on the poster, although this poster also played a very important role. Therefore, to avoid confusion, they decided to abandon the actress’s name in the title.



It was also funny that Darabont received a call from the agent of one of the actresses who liked the script so much that she wanted to play Rita Hayworth. Then it became clear to Frank that the actress had definitely not read the script. Otherwise, she would have known that there was no Rita there, apart from her image on the poster.

5. Remember the photo of young Red in his file? In fact, this photo shows Morgan Freeman's own son named Alfonso. Also, Alfonso played one of the prisoners in one episode.



6. The role of extras (prisoners) was intended for the local population, who really wanted to participate in the filming. But due to the fact that they were constantly working, they could not be present on the set on a regular basis, which did not suit the directors.



Therefore, extras were recruited from a local rehabilitation center. Moreover, many of them actually sat in places not so remote.

7. The scene in the prison yard when Andy talks to Red took 9 hours to film. All this time, Morgan Freeman had to throw a baseball. Naturally, this left its mark. The next day, the hand hurt so much that the actor showed up on the set with his hand rewound.



8. Paul Newman, Harrison Ford and even Clint Eastwood were considered for the role of Red. But the director already had a very unusual candidate for this role. As a result, the rolewas given to Morgan Freeman, which was very strange considering that in the story Red was a red-haired white Irishman. Hence, by the way, his nickname “Red”, that is, “red, red”.



And as Morgan Freeman later admits, “The Shawshank Redemption” is his favorite film with his participation.

9. Tom Hanks was considered for the role of Andy Dufresne, but he had to turn it down because he was filming Forrest Gump at the time.

However, 4 years later, Tom Hanks still played the main role in another film by Frank Darabont based on the novel by Stephen King. Yes, yes, the role is, of course, about the film “The Green Mile”.



Also, Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, Johnny Depp and other famous actors were considered for the role of Andy. Moreover, Kevin Costner liked the script, but just like Tom Hanks, he could not take part in the filming, as he was busy filming the film “Waterworld”. Later, Kevin would regret turning down The Shawshank Redemption in favor of Waterworld.

Well, Tom Cruise simply didn’t want to act with an inexperienced director.

10. Actor Tim Robbins decided to spend several days in solitary confinement to better understand how prisoners felt to better immerse himself in the role.



11. Let's add a little absurdity. When the Humane Society learned that the raven chick would be fed the larva that Brooks found in his food, they insisted that it should already be dead and die a natural death. Only after the dead larva was found was the scene filmed. No, isn't this absurd?

12. When Andy carves his name on the wall, we actually see the hands of director Frank Darabont. According to him, only he could ideally perform the necessary hand gestures in close-up.



13. It was quite difficult to film the scene where the naked Andy, who had just escaped from prison, stands in the rain with his hands in the air. The cameraman couldn't get a clear shot. All footage was blurry. Only after some time was it possible to capture the frame.



14. Almost all the posters that hang in Andy Dufresne's cell were personally selected by Tim Robbins, who played this character.



15. The very contents of the sewers consisted, of course, not of sewage, but of chocolate syrup mixed with sawdust and water.

16. The film can be called purely male, because for the entire time only two women appear in it, and even then their roles are simply microscopic.



17. Frank Darabont wanted to leave the ending open. According to his idea, the film should have ended at the moment when Red was riding the bus towards his friend. But the studio insisted that the ending be complete, so Red and Andy ended up meeting.



18. Despite the fact that the film “The Shawshank Redemption” is a cult film that is in first place in all kinds of tops, the film failed at the box office. With a budget of $25 million, the film earned only $28 million at the worldwide box office.



Nevertheless, the film made huge money thanks to home video rentals. In the first year alone, the film earned $80 million at home video rentals.

19. Despite the fact that the film was presented in 7 Oscar nominations, it failed to win a single statuette.