Blade Runner Discussion

Themes
Corruption - the 'corruption' of the Replicants away from their designed prupose results in their attemot at humantiy - they turn into us when the are corrupted - brings into question the IDENTITY of HUMANITY and what defines it
Corporation - the individuals are lost to the neon glow of billboards and products, swimming in a sea of light it's hard to find yourself, let alone anyone else. Also draws comaprisons to America at the time (production context), who were promoting corporations heavily, and shows that it may already be happening. Brings in ISOLATION
Implicit - humanity can be achieved by other means - what does it take to be human? Is what we knw what is ture (Vertigo).

Aesthetic
High contrast colour, low key lighting. Typical in sci fi, expecailly the gritty dystopian ones of Scott. Without the harsh neon there is blackness - the tech and corpoations are rising to the top and the darkenss is the result. Confusing, alien but still reminiscent of our world
Shoot through smoke - everywhere. Cigarettes in the bar show the seedy nature, but also obscure the view of the other patrons and makes it feel unsafe, unfamiliar. Constantly smoke or steam iun the background achievieng a familiar effect, and shows that the inudstrial wasteland is ever present in the lives of the inhabitants. The smoke as he's fighting Leon hides the fight and leaves us confused and on edge. The background is always hazy and unclear, drawing our attneiton to the foreground but also showing danger and uncertainty
Long landscape establishing shots + cinematography that docuses in world building - the world is more inteseresting than the characters - the world defines and shapes the characters, and the story is told thourhg them but it's of the world. We learn relativily little of the character's backgrounds or personality, but how they act and react tot he world is what defines them to us
Eye close ups - ie the beginning and the Voight Kompff test showing them. Eyes are the gateway to the soul, and is how we see others - eye contact is noticeable and it's our key to our perception of the world. Lights shine off replicant eyes to show who they are - they betray who we are, our identity, and our purpose. Eyes are used for symbolism constantly in the real world for divinity. They visited an eye shop to find Tyrell, very important part of creation and them

Deckard - an enigma, even at the end we learn very little about him, compared to Scotty who we learn everything about in the second scene

To what extent has film form in Hollywood Cinema changed since the Classical Era?

To what extent has film form in Hollywood Cinema changed since the Classical Era?

Speed
Take length
More long shots
Pacing slower
In classical era speech progressed plot, in modern action progresses plot
Editing
Prevalence of continuity editing
Less editing, instead relying on camera movement
Performance is more theatrical, make use of space
The costumes aren't specific or character defining - i.e Vertigo and Blade Runner


Film form has evolved greatly

Ridley Scott and Blade Runner vs Vertigo

Ridley Scott Thematic Traits
Dystopian Futures
Identity
Humanity
Isolation
Corporation Corruption


Aesthetic Traits:
High contrast colour low key lighting
Shooting through smoke
Long landscape establishing shots
Cinematography used for world building rather than narrative (possibly because the world is more interesting than the characters, at least the protagonist
Eye close ups


Deckard introduced (expositional) without being told anything about him, contrasted with Scotty who presents all the relevant information straight away
Difference in gender representation - especially
Rachel a passively strong character, Priss and Zhora combatants
Even in 1982 still has ideas of toxic masculinity - women like forceful men


Vertigo has no ethnic minorities+
Angles shooting Roy goes from level to low, especially in Deckard hanging over ledge - through smoke, almost god-like
More camera movement than Vertigo
Costume saying a lot more about characters

Auteur
Spectatorship




Production Context
Film Form - micro features, narrative etc
Can appear in any


To what extent has film form in Hollywood cinema changed since the classical era (1930s - mid 1960s)
Run by studios, no independent films - look up for homework, how did it get broken down
Contracted by a studio for a certain period of time. Provided lessons to make them create a lot of films later

Ideology in Blade Runner

Explicit
Pro-humanity
Future gets worse - dystopian
Fear of Asian/Japanese culture
Freedom
Man vs Machine
Isolation
Dystopian future, negative ideology, plays on fear of time about nuclear holocaust

Implicit
Humanity can be achieved by things other than human beings

Blade Runner Research

Ridley Scott
Studied at Royal College of Art, where he helped establish the film department. Made his first film, Boy and Bicycle, there. Early work also included working on the TV programme Tonight, Z-Cars and Out of the Unknown. First directing job was in 1965, directing an episode of Adam Adamant Lives!
First film called The Duelist (1977), was nominated for the main prize in the Cannes Film Festival, and won Best Debut Film.
Did advertising in the '70s, e.g. the Flake advert, 1978
Inspired by the success of Star Wars, Scott decided to make Alien (1979) which made him internationally famous. Created themes that he'd follow after - strong female protagonist, dystopian future etc.
Blade Runner (1982) followed this and gained him even more success, although at the time it was commercially unsuccessful.
Other work that solidified his title as a successful director early in his career is the Apple advert 1984 and Legend.
Later on he directed Black Rain, which was the first of six collaborations with Hans Zimmer, Thelma and Louise (1991) which got him his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director.
Gladiator (2000) was his next big success. It won 5 Academy Awards, and Scott was nominated again for Best Director, which happened again for Black Hawk Down (2001). The successful Hannibal (2001) was also made in this year.
The next large success Scott had was The Martian (2014), which was commercially Scott's most successful film and was positively received.
Always has female leads/strong females
Highly concentrated visual style
Very atmospheric films
Often focus on issues such as identity, isolation, invasion/colonization, humanity etc.
Need to know about him an as auteur (French word for author, when someone makes such an impact on their work that its instantly recognizable as theirs, i.e. how they use film form micro-features, aesthetics, repeated use of performers, use of music, could be a common thread of themes and ideas within their films)

Harrison Ford
Interest in acting started at University, where he took a drama class to get over shyness. His experience with student radio and newfound interest in acting took him to LA to become a radio voice-over artist, but he was unsuccessful in finding work.
Joined the New Talent program with Columbia Pictures to find bit-work in films, his first was in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). First speaking job was in Luv (1967).
As he needed to support his family and he wasn't happy with the acting jobs he was getting, he became a carpenter. He worked for many celebrities, which would eventually gain him contacts.
Fred Roos, a Casting Director, got him a role in American Graffiti (1973) by George Lucas. From this and doing carpentry for the director he got small roles in The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979).
Worked with Lucas casting for Star Wars (1977) and from this was cast as Han Solo, the role that would make him internationally famous. Starring as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) also did this, and he was now one of the most famous stars of the time.
His next major success was starring as Deckard in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982), which although not majorly successful at the time became a cult classic.
Films from then on were hit-or-miss, with varying levels of success overall. Examples include Patriot Games (1992), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Firewall (2006) etc.
His latest big commercial successes were in reprising his titular roles in Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull (2008) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which was also well received by fans and critics.



Blade Runner
Released in 1982
Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer
Based on the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
Budget $28 million, box office $33.8 million, although since then it has become far more prolific
Themes - humanity (what makes us human, religion, paranoia)
Film noir
Casting for Deckard was difficult, many actors were considered before settling on Ford (Gene Hackman, Dusting Hoffman, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery etc. were all considered), as Ford was prolific at the time they wanted him to attract attention
Philip K. Dick wasn't consulted for production, and as a result Scott had his own take on the world. However, Dick approved of the version and said that they enhanced each other.
Need to know about critical reception

Blade Runner Themes

Humanity
What makes you human - ie are the Replicants human. People have friends/family contact are Replicants
Basically Frankenstein - man plays God, creation destroys him
Roy enters eye shop in shadow, slight low angle, at end bathed in unnatural blue light

Identity
When the Replicants find out their memories are fake, it brings into question what makes you you
After Rachel finds out she's a replicant she's lit from the back in harsh white light

Dystopia
Japanese imagery - foreign threat
High contrast light, smoke effects - industry. Iconography - pyramid

Ridley Scott Thematic Traits:
Dystopian Futures
Identity
Humanity
Isolation
Corporation Corruption


Aesthetic Traits:
High contrast colour low key lighting
Shooting through smoke
Long landscape establishing shots
Cinematography used for world building rather than narrative (possibly because the world is more interesting than the characters, at least the protagonist
Eye close ups

Even in 1982 still has ideas of toxic masculinity - women like forceful men

American Cinema

Come out of America/US produced
Ie Bladre Runner, although directed by Ridley Scott who is British, is made with US money, US studio, US backing

Compare and contrast Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock) to Blade Runner (Ridley Scott)

Blade Runner

Stars Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer
Music composed by Van Grelis

End dialogue of Rutger Hauer was improvised
Harrison Ford said nothing in end sequence
Roy to Deckard at end almost like talking to a pet, RH superior being OR Deckard doesn't think there's any point reasoning because Deckard's a superior being
Lighting - Tyrell's candle-lit room, natural light contrast with fake/synthetic world to show wealth
Owl watched Tyrell die, similar to cat watching Parker die - typical of Ridley Scott
Never seen Sebastian killed - not showing something can make it much more powerful. Similar to horror in that we use imagination to make it scarier. Also possible to show Roy in a better light, if we see him kill the innocent Sebastian before the redeeming end scene our opinion of him is negative
Deckard is morally ambiguous character - almost antihero, similar to Roy, connoting end scene
Dominant Asian culture encourages dystopian viewpoint - alien and scary for western world
Deckard's apartment seems claustrophobic, no wide shots, just bits
Only strong colours are neon - human-less
Dystopian future - something bad has happened