CAMERA TRACKS the naked newcomers shivering on hard wooden chairs, clothes on their laps, Bibles open.

CHAPLAIN (O.S.)

…maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul…

INT -- CELLBLOCK FIVE -- NIGHT (1947)

Three tiers to a side, concrete and steel, gray and imposing. Andy and the others are marched in, still naked, carrying their clothes and Bibles. The CONS in their cells greet them with TAUNTS, JEERS, and LAUGHTER. One by one, the new men are shown to their cells and locked in with a CLANG OF STEEL.

RED (V.O.)

The first night's the toughest, no doubt about it. They march you in naked as the day you're born, fresh from a Bible reading, skin burning and half-blind from that delousing shit they throw on you…

Red watches from his cell, arms slung over the crossbars, cigarette dangling from his fingers.

RED (V.O.)

…and when they put you in that cell, when those bars slam home, that's when you know it's for real. Old life blown away in the blink of an eye…a long cold season in hell stretching out ahead…nothing left but all the time in the world to think about it.

Red listens to the CLANGING below. He watches Andy and a few others being brought up to the 2nd tier.

RED (V.O.)

Most new fish come close to madness the first night. Somebody always breaks down crying. Happens every time. The only question is, who's it gonna be?

Andy is led past and given a cell at the end of the tier.

RED (V.O.)

It's as good a thing to bet on as any, I guess. I had my money on Andy Dufresne…

INT -- ANDY'S CELL -- NIGHT (1947)

The bars slam home. Andy is alone in his cell, clutching his clothes. He gazes around at his new surroundings, taking it in. He slowly begins to dress himself…

EXT -- SHAWSHANK PRISON -- NIGHT (1947)

A malignant stone growth on the Maine landscape. The moon hangs low and baleful in a dead sky. The headlight of a PASSING TRAIN cuts through the night.

INT -- RED'S CELL -- NIGHT (1947)

Red lies on his bunk below us, tossing his baseball toward the ceiling and catching it again. He pauses, listening. FOOTSTEPS approach below, unhurried, echoing hollowly on stone.

INT -- CELLBLOCK FIVE -- NIGHT (1947)

LOW ANGLE. A CELLBLOCK GUARD strolls into frame.

GUARD

That's lights out! Good night, ladies.

The lights bump off in sequence. The guard exits, footsteps echoing away. Darkness now. Silence. CAMERA CRANES UP the tiers toward Red's cell.

RED (V.O.)

I remember my first night. Seems a long time ago now.

Red looms from the darkness, leans on the bars. Listens. Waits. From somewhere below comes faint, ghastly tittering. VOICES drift through the cellblock, taunting:

VARIOUS VOICES (O.S.)

Fishee fishee fisheeee…You're gonna like it here, new fish. A whooole lot…Make you wish your daddies never dicked your mommies…You takin' this down, new fish? Gonna be a quiz later.