Blade Runner: Art analysis

First things first before you read this I strongly suggest you go and watch Blade Runner because this post is just an art analysis of that film. If you don't want to listen to my advice because your some sort of rebel maybe you will watch this fantastic piece of cinema after you read this.

Blade Runner is a science fiction film set in a cyberpunk vision of Los Angeles in the year 2019. This is a world where industry and commercialization has grown and throughout the city advertisements are everywhere. It's also technologically advanced and the plot revolves around a Blade Runner name Decker who has to hunt 4 genetically engineered robots called replicants that are violent and look just like humans. The amazingly well crafted world that it takes place in are what really brings it together and every environment in the film reinforces what's happening in the story. The awesome cinematography, music and concepts make the world seem as real as can be.

LA 2019

Blade Runner borrows many parts of both its themes and style from Metropolis which is essentially the first big sci-fi film and has defined many aspects of science fiction. Made in 1927 it shows a far off future with massive and crowded cities where towering skyscrapers are entwined with many overpasses and networks of roads. Hundreds of connected buildings tightly packed where manufacturing plants are toiled over by the masses. The architecture and look of the film uses Art Deco which was a new movement at the time and the film pushed it onto the big screen.

Metropolis and it art deco style also helped influence Bioshock.

The plot of Blade Runner is very much a detective story and there is a strong sense of film noir coming into it. Scenes with lots of important dialogue use lighting conditions and the colour pallets to give deep impact to scene and help set the visual tone which reinforces the characters exchanges.

The aesthetics of the film use retro-futurism to ground the sci-fi elements of the film in reality by using styles that exist. In the case of Blade Runner the costumes of the characters are all inspired by the fashion of the 1940's and the 1920's. The bar scene has lots of designs that scream of the old vaudeville acts of the 20's and the main characters attire is that commonplace in 40's america. The architecture has an art deco feel to it and these towering structures have lots of decal and signs in light which was popular in the 40's. The ending takes place in the Bradbury building which is this old building that perfectly demonstrates this retro futurist vibe with old style lifts and awnings that have this old feel. In the films its run down with garbage and rubbish on the floors but your reminded that there's this futuristic world out side by these powerful beams of light cutting through the cracks and the blinds where flying cars and ships drift around outside.

The Bradbury building was also in 500 Days of Summer

The film really has two different colour themes running throughout the film and one of them will always dominate a scene depending on what's happening and where its happening. One is comprised of rich yellows and bronzed oranges which harken back to Art Deco in some ways. This scheme is often used in the high rises and the rich offices the Tyrell corporation. It's also used in the extravagant bar scenes where vaudeville acts occur.

Syd Mead's awesome concept art

The second colour scheme uses the colder colours with mainly blues and some green hues to show the gritty city and have this dark moody feel throughout the film. This colour theme is used more on the city streets and in interrogation scenes where a dark cold atmosphere is used to keep this noir feel.

Here I have two of my favourite stills from the film here. The first one shows this excellent shot of one of the characters running out of the door. The strong lines of the light and shadow on the floor lead into the figure in this very active pose with lots of movement. The dark surroundings are illuminated by the neon lights which are place diagonally so they are again leading the eye to the character.

The second still is towards the end of the film and shows the main character looking around a room of mannequins searching for a replicant who is hiding in the scene. All the heads of the figures in this shot are in line breaking up the image and leading your eye along the line so you see that they are similar so the replicant is hidden. The mannequins are shrouded in this orange colour and so the main character is pushed forward by the subtle blues that surround him. The white light creates a gradient on the still from the top left to the bottom right and heavily illuminates the mannequin that is actually the replicant in disguise.

Blade Runners living world that is filled with mood and tension has now become a land mark in sci-fi and has gone on to inspire many of the things we see and play today. Fifth Element, Deus Ex, Cyberpunk 2077 and ghost in the shell to name but a few.

Cyberpunk 2077

References:

  http://d2vo5twcnd9mdi.cloudfront.net/uploads_ca52e37f-d3e5-4cb0-9b0d-8e10f2adb724-blade-runner-2-movie.jpeg
Blade Runner Poster

http://frankensteinnow.wikispaces.com/file/view/Blade_Runner.jpg/92840908/Blade_Runner.jpg
Image of a still from the film Blade Runner 1982

http://www.leninimports.com/metropolis.jpg
Metropolis poster. photoshopped image of original Fritz Lang poster.

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o165/cinquevolte/Blade%20Runner/2-13.jpg
Image of a still from the film Blade Runner 1982

https://derricklferguson.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/blade_runner___rachel_by_maxhitman-d39c7r5.jpg
Image of a still from the film Blade Runner 1982

http://www.sauceforthoughts.dreamhosters.com/wp/home/.mashenka/edwardlcohen/sauceforthoughts.dreamhosters.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Blade_Runner_Concept_1.png
Concept art for Blade Runner

http://wharferj.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/bladerunner_bradbury_1.jpg
Images of two stills from the film Blade Runner 1982

http://www.pinterest.com/caseorganic/bladerunner-concept-art/
Concept art pieces by Syd Mead

http://payload42.cargocollective.com/1/0/128/3149179/40-deckard-arrives1_905.jpg
Image of a still from the film Blade Runner 1982

http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/8200000/Blade-Runner-Promotional-Still-blade-runner-8230044-2560-1070.jpg
Image of a still from the film Blade Runner 1982

http://www.overclockers.ru/images/soft/2014/01/23/cyberpunk_1_big.jpg
Image from the trailer for Cyberpunk 2077