Sweeney Todd Summary

Not only did it help to aid in giving the viewer an idea of the setting of the play, but also aided in the over feel and mood of the production.

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” was originally a melodramatic gothic horror story written by the British playwright Christopher Bond. The play was inspired by the penny dreadful “The String of Pearls: A Romance” by George Dibdin-Pitt who introduced the character Sweeney Todd. In 1973, Stephen Sondheim had the opportunity to watch Christopher Bond’s “Sweeney Todd”. Sondheim found the production “charming and creepy” however it was not scary. He was inspired by the plot line and was dedicated to making the story more thrilling, he was inspired to frighten the audience. After watching Bond’s production, he was granted permission from Bond himself to produce the play as a musical.

Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods are musicals with lyrics and scores written by Stephen Sondheim. In Sweeney Todd, a barber is sent to Australia for trumped up charges while the Judge steals his wife and daughter. Barker comes back with a vengeance, renames himself Sweeney Todd and vows to make the Judge pay for what he has done. In Into the Woods, a witch has put a curse on a family for generations because the patriarch stole some vegetables from her garden. Springing from this robbery, she set a curse disallowing the family to ever bear children again. The Baker, the son of the thief, now begs the Witch to remove the curse, she sends him on a scavenger hunt and thus creates turmoil and distress for many other people. In both cases, revenge is used as a driving force for the plot. Sondheim represents the theme of revenge in both musicals as detrimental to those you love as well as a trap that can lead you into dark places.

Hope in The Shawshank Redemption helps to keep Andy alive and allows Andy to anticipate the next sunrise with happiness rather than sorrow. Hope is created by Andy and his knowledge of his awful situation. Hope allows Andy to think of a time where everything will be better, even if it seems that Andy is stuck in a never-ending hell. The opening of The Shawshank Redemption introduces the audience to the main character, Andy Dufresne. He has just been accused and convicted of the death of his ex-wife, and her lover. This opening seeks to arouse curiosity by bringing the audience into a series of actions that have already started thus creating slight confusion for the audience (Bordwell and Thompson 85).

Everyone, at some point in their life, has gone through a point where they feel as if all hope is lost. In those times, the choices we make are crucial as to what makes us who we are, whether you choose the bright or dark side, or the good or evil put in front of you. Though written over 30 years apart, the movie Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and the novel The Scarlet Letter both have the mindset of revenge which is emphasized through dark color schemes, proving that revenge is something that everyone deals with, and will not always make the person feel better no matter how much they may think it is the right choice.

In the novel A Room with a View there are two main settings that not only contrast in location but also in atmosphere. The author, E.M. Forster uses Florence, Italy and Summer Street, England to exaggerate the differences in the main character’s state of mind influenced by the people and places around her. The restricting culture of early 1900 Europe in which the story takes place also plays a role in the varying settings as the author strives to convey his purpose.

While many movies have depicted various areas of the criminal justice system, the Shawshank Redemption is like no other. I first watched the film many years ago on television and since have seen it numerous times on platforms such as DVD and Netflix. The key stars in the production, are actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. Other standouts that who are featured in supporting roles included actors Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown. The film was directed by Frank Darabont who is known for criminal justice films such as the Green Mile. The Shawshank Redemption was first released in theaters September of 1994.

This I thought was a very different, but clever way of expressing large scenes. Occasionally a follow spot was used to highlight some parts of the of the play for comical effect. At the beginning Richard is asked to look out the window by Annabella and when he does two actors run on stage with a lamp post and as soon as they are on the spot light is on and when they leave it's off again, they did this to give a sense of perspective from the window to the street and also to take the mick out of classic thrillers.

Set in Victorian England, Hugh Wheeler’s, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, explores the vicious cycle of poverty through characters who are forced into economic submission by the upper class. A prime example of the perpetuation of this cycle is through the character of Tobias Raggs, a young child labourer. Examined through the lens of the Marxist supersystem, Tobias Raggs is the desperate image of poverty, born into a set class and robbed of a childhood as well as any opportunity for him to advance in society, ultimately forcing him to continue the cycle of capitalism. The Marxist theory of a supersystem suggests that a system of regulations and authority forces is instilled and enforced by the upper class in order to ensure that the lower class remains immobile and inferior socially, economically, and politically.

The scholarly article “Sympathy For The Devil” by Lin Haire Sargeant was a very informative and persuasive article. This article focused on the evaluation of the movies of Wuthering Heights, and the differences between the characters, more specifically Heathcliff. It talked about how most of the movies made the viewer have “sympathy for the devil,” or sympathy for Heathcliff. In the first movie that was spoken about, the 1939 adaption, they portray Heathcliff not as the one who is sinning, but the one who has been sinned upon. She states that this movie almost makes it seem that Heathcliff is really a good guy, but he has just had a streak of bad luck. Her evaluation of Heathcliff in this matter is very persuasive, and since I have not seen any of the movies,

The Shawshank Redemption is about Andy Dufresne, A banker from Maine who is sentenced to two life terms in a harsh prison, Shawshank Prison. Andy claims he's innocent, but many doubt him. During the first night, Red an inmate that was in for murder,and his friends bet on which new inmate would break down first and he bets on Andy. Red lost the Bet, and loses two cigarettes. Andy approaches Red, who smuggles contraband into the prison and asks him for a rock hammer. Andy claims it's for his hobby of rock collecting, but Red suspects he would use it to escape. Red quickly loses interest, when he sees how small the tool really is. Red and Andy, get jobs detailing roofs on the prisons buildings. Andy overhears Chief Guard Hardley, complaining about paying taxes for the money he is about

The scene starts with an over the shoulder establishing shot of the town that Kiki will be staying in, this is done to give the audience an idea about the size of the place and also allows us to see the town from Kiki’s perspective - imposing but exciting.

Analyse aspects of visual and/or oral text(s) through close viewing and/or listening, supported by evidence.

Shawshank Redemption; a movie comprised of many concepts from our current correctional system. The main character, Andy Dufresne was sentenced to prison for the murder of his wife and her lover. He was to serve a consecutive sentence of two life terms. Dufresne is an educated man and was employed as a banker. His fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd Redding, nicknamed as Red, was serving three life sentences for murder. The ole wise man helped Dufresne endure his days behind bars and a friendship developed. Red was known as the go to man for items within the prison. Andy fascinated by rocks asked Red for a rock hammer. Later to find out, Andy had used the very same hammer to dig a hole in the wall and escape. Andy Dufresne was forced to be at Shawshank State Penitentiary for 19 years as an innocent man. Dufresne endured assault, harassment and blackmail in the period of his stay. The advantages to his stay were the friendships he built and helping fellow inmates get their General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Red was finally paroled after serving 40 years of his sentence. Red had a hard time adapting to society after being institutionalized, as he called it, for such a long time. In the end, both Dufresne and Red were reunited in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. Shawshank Redemption explored many areas of the correctional system such as, punishment, prison rape, corruption, institutionalization, rehabilitation, reintegration and parole.

Shawshank Redemption is directed by Frank Darabot, published in 1995 Australia. The film focusses on the theme of forgiveness and escape. It follows an unusual friendship between Andy and Red set in a 1930’s American prison. The main focal scenes explored include: Brooks suicide and Tommy’s death. The film is to be narrated by Morgen Freeman (Red), it shows the 20 year period of Andy’s imprisonment. As a part of the analysis emphases on the scenes as it introduces the audience to the Shawshank prison and Andy’s first moments when attends to the prison to the very moment when he escapes to Mexico.