Shawshank Redemption Hayfield Ambience: Red’s Search, Birds, and Movie Outdoors for Relaxation or Sleep

Uncommon Ambience: At the Movies this week, finds us (ostensibly) in Maine — I'm pretty sure most of the film was shot in the Rust Belt. But for the sake of continuity we will be in a Maine hayfield with a rock and a bird that do not belong. And look! Here comes Red. Ellis Redding, "Red," searches among a hayfield for a mystery. In a place that looks "right out of a Robert Frost poem" (shot in Ohio). He searches for obsidian.There is a bird that also has no earthly business in this very same Maine hayfield. The Cactus Wren, the bird that startles Red a few times as he rummages through rocks. And as the bird's name suggests, it should be far south and west. There is a Mexico in Maine, so perhaps the Cactus Wren took the wrong bus? There may be a few other birds that wouldn't belong in a Maine hayfield… but who cares — this is movie based ambience from the 1990s, a time when James Cameron could get away with throwing the wrong stars into the sky for his Titanic movie. If the stars in movies are wrong how could anyone expect our feathered friends to fare better? They don't. So please, no ornithologist opinions (there are no Killdeers in this episode). It's the great, fictional outdoors! Also, RIP redemption tree.