Scene 152. I'll use this as a quick example of what we call "shoe leather," which
is an editing room term for superfluous shots of people walking somewhere (often
entering or leaving a scene). You always need a lot less of it than you think. Trust
me on this; there's nothing quite as boring as watching people walk somewhere for
no reason. That's why Red doesn't enter this scene as written -- it's a bit of shoe
leather that hit the cutting room floor.

Scene 161. My producer, Niki, spent months insisting we didn't have time to shoot
this scene. She was right, considering I'd planned something like ten camera setups
for it during preproduction (I figured I'd need various shots of the warden, the jour-
nalists, the convicts, etc.). Besides the time factor, we couldn't afford to pay for one
more big day in terms of the background actors needed. Still, this was not an
expendable scene. The narrative was vital to the audience's comprehension. We
needed it.
As the end of our shooting schedule loomed ever nearer, I started playing a men-
tal game with myself. It's sort of like Name That Tune, only the object isn't how few
bars you need to identify the song, it's how few shots you need to shoot the scene.
Taking a cue from the Roger Deakins School of Visual Economy (the lesson I
learned while shooting Scene 150), I decided to boil the sucker down to two
setups: a) an overhead tracking shot of the reporters that tilts up into a single of
Warden Norton speechifying, and; b) a simple, quick cutaway shot of three pho-
tographers taking pictures from the crowd. I had Niki schedule it at the end of the
same day we were shooting Captain Hadley being arrested (Scene 259), thus mak-
ing use of background actors already on payroll.
I love the way the scene turned out. It's got far more energy and interest than if
I'd shot a bunch of angles and strung them together. Plus, I have to admit, you get
a wacky charge out of kicking the schedule's ass for a change (hell, I can name that
tune in two shots!).

Scenes 162 & 16'3. Expendable scenes we didn't have time to shoot. It's another one
of those sequences that the writer in me regrets not having on screen, but the direc-
tor in me is a bit more philosophical about (see explanation of 122 through 126.)

Scene 164. Here's another one we had to get in the can before lunch. That meant
simplifying all the peripheral action, eliminating the injured man, and focusing the
scene on Norton and Grimes. (Besides, good luck finding anything resembling a
swamp in Ohio during the summer...)

Scene 166. An expendable scene that was never shot.

Scene 169. In this shot, you can catch a glimpse of Warden Dennis Baker, the actual
real-life warden of the new Ohio State Reformatory (which was built just up the road
from the old one). Warden Baker decided to be a good sport and join us on the set as
an extra one day. He had one request, though -- he wanted to play a convict. He's the
black gentleman sitting on the bus right behind actor Gil Bellows, who plays Tommy.

Scenes 170 through 173. We never shot these scenes, thank goodness. They would
have been large scenes to mount, with the only result being more "shoe leather" to
eliminate in the cutting room. Red's voice-over was shifted from 173 to 169.

Scenes 175 & 176. To ease the shooting schedule, I combined these two sepa-
rate scenes into one.

Scene 177. Here's another scene I'm sorry we didn't have time to shoot. I'm sorry

because the young actress we hired for the role, Tracy Needham, would have been
wonderful! Boy, did she kick ass in her audition! (Sorry, Tracy, but the schedule got
us again. I hope to make it up to you one day.) Red's voice-over was shifted to
Scene 178.

Scenes 179, 180, 183. Expendable scenes that were never shot.

Scene 184. Dropped during editing for reasons of length.

Scene 186. Somewhere along the way, I got it in my head that this scene would
be more evocative without the star of the movie in it. Something about the minute
examination of Andy's empty cell felt right to me, a way of revealing small glimpses
of the man's character based on the personal possessions he's accumulated through
the years and the photos he's chosen to hang on the walls (I guess this would be
the voyeuristic equivalent of going through somebody's underwear drawer when
they're not home). Thankfully, Tim Robbins was not at all offended that I chose
to exclude him here.

Scene 188. Tommy's final reaction as scripted in this scene (dropping the Coke and
whispering "Oh my God") proved far too melodramatic, so we didn't shoot it.

Scene 193. What do you do when you have eight guys in a scene, a lot of dia-
logue, and only a few hours to shoot? Slap the camera on a Steadicam and get the
whole thing in one shot. This is another example of a scene working out better with
less-is-more thinking. (God bless the inventors of the Steadicam. I don't know how
movies were made without them.)

Scene 194. An expendable scene that was never shot.