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Sci fi film codes and conventions
Analysis of the first 5 min of blade runner
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The Representation of Genre and Narrative in the Opening Sequence of the Film Blade Runner
For this essay question I am going to be viewing and exploring the
themes of genre and narrative in the first 10minutes of the film Blade
Runner. Blade Runner was first released in 1982, directed by Ridley
Scott ('The Duellists' 1977 and 'Alien' 1979), Blade Runner was a film
adaptation of Phillip K Dick's novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric
Sheep?'. Originally a box office flop the film soon built itself a
cult following. Its status as a significant science fiction film was
further enhanced by the re-release of Blade Runner - The Director's
cut in 1992 which omitted the voice-over and, more significantly,
featured a substantial change to the original 'happy' ending. I will
be analysing a section of approximately 10 minutes in length from the
point where we first encounter Deckard (Harrison Ford) in the downtown
area of Los Angeles to the end of the scene in the police station.
Blade Runner falls into the category of Science Fiction as in terms of
genre, genre is the French word which translates literally as 'type'.
Films of a specific genre follow and utilise similar elements such as
character types, settings, etc. These are known as conventions of the
genre. Science fiction has been popular since the early days of cinema
when George Méliès astonished his audience with special effects
combining theatrical tricks and photographic techniques to portray a
landing on the face of the moon 'A Trip to the Moon', (1902). In the
1930s and 1940s audiences enjoyed the fantasy adventures of comic book
heroes such as Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy and Captain Marv...
... middle of paper ...
...f world colonies', as this shows and represents the
notion that man has mastered the technology to explore and travel
beond our earth. As a convention about science fiction genre is space
travel and mans relationship with technology, this Is fairly
represented here. The film then presents us with an 'obscuring
mise-en-scene' as we descend into the street level scene, this is to
show us how these people in the future are living their lives, there
is a great squash of people in this scene with people walking by.
There is a general confusion around this part as there is so much
going on, sounds, music talking, as the camera decends to the people
in this scene the cacophony fades in as we drop with the camera and
the confusion is created here. We then travel through the crowds and
fall upon our main character Rick Deckard.
Movie makers have agendas. They get their ideas across by using cinematic techniques and styles which make us view a certain subject in the light that they put it in. I will discuss the differing techniques used by the makers of "Stepping Razor" and describe what the overall impression of the movie has on the viewer, and what the agenda of the director is.
As a result of the successful mission that landed the first men on the moon, called the Apollo 11 mission, many people were inspired to provide commentary on this landing. Although these texts describe unique individual purposes about this landing, they all effectively support their purposes through the use of several rhetorical devices.
The following four texts apart of the Culminating Activity were all related to the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, which had first put a man on the moon. The first article was from the Times of London, and served to describe the events of the moon landing from the astronaut's point of view. The article used anecdotal evidence to describe Aldrin and Armstrong's experience in order to inform the audience of what had occurred, as well as the reactions in several different countries.. The speaker is a from a reputable news source, The Times, and is informing the European audience - as this event was apart of America’s space program, NASA - of the landing as a great success. Although
I'd be working in a place like this if I could afford a real snake?"
In Bladerunner the most prominent element of cinematography is mise en scéne. It generates a context for the film and therefore makes the plot and themes acceptable. To set an appropriate scene different variables need to be controlled. These variables include location, props, lighting and colour. In general the location of the plot is in the vast urban canyons of 2019 LA. The imposing dark buildings, the dirty fog, perpetual rain and the crowded dark streets devoid of vegetation make up the backdrop of most scenes. All this is filmed in dark lighting, which complements the effect produced by the fog in obscuring the living details. From this the responder acknowledges the deterioration of society, the harsh conditions that the humans are subjected to and the way the human spirit itself is progressively destroyed under such conditions.
As a whole, science fiction utilises mise-en-scene to establish many SF codes and conventions (as mentioned above). As seen in Blade Runner, the most significant elements of mise-en-scene that help construct SF codes and conventions include the use of cinematography, lighting, editing, music, props and costumes. Blade Runner is incredibly unique for it is the first SF film to contain film noir and be categorised as cyberpunk; a subgenre of SF that showcases advanced technology in an urban, dystopian future (Callaghan 2017). As such, Blade Runner has established numerous codes and conventions for later cyberpunk films (E.g. 1984’s The Terminator). In one scene in Blade Runner, inside of a meeting room in a Tyrell Corporate building, the protagonist,
Context leading to being critically acclaimed now. Blade Runner was a box-office failure compared to Ridley Scott’s other films. Their messages transcended context-breaking boundaries of their time. Yet issues explored are still relevant and permanent today.
“All these memories will be lost, in time, like tears in the rain” the end of one of “the most moving death soliloquies in cinematic history” the replicant Roy Batty explains to his would be killer that everything in his life(Mark Rowlands Philosopher at the end of the Universe 234-235). This is one of the most telling speeches of the replicant Roy Batty in his search for himself. Throughout this semester, in the study for the self, one question has endured, whether each person has a built-in, authentic self, each person strives to identify, or whether each person is “free” to develop their self through their own personal experiences. Both sides to the question have evidence to support their beliefs about the self in every human, and whether it is one consistent self, or it
The plot of the movie “Blade Runner” becomes unrevealed till the end of the movie. Many assumptions about the plot and the final of the movie appear in the spectator’s mind, but not one of these assumptions lasts long. Numerous deceptions in the plot grip the interest of the audience and contribute for the continuing interest to the movie eighteen years after its creation. The main character in the movie is Deckard- the Blade Runner. He is called for a special mission after his retirement, to “air up” four replicants who have shown flaws and have killed people. There are many arguments and deceptions in the plot that reveal the possibility Deckard to be a replicant. Roy is the other leading character of the movie. He appears to be the leader of the replicants- the strongest and the smartest. Roy kills his creator Tyrell. The effect of his actions fulfils the expectation of the spectator for a ruthless machine.
One of the most important existentialist to ever live was a man named Søren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard believed that “truth is subjective and subjectivity is truth,” meaning that a variety of people can look at the same exact situation, and still comprehend it differently. Another well known existentialist is a man named Martin Heidegger. Heidegger believed that there are two types of people in this world, those who are a “Beings In The World” and those who are “Beings Towards Death” Their ideas are seen throughout the movie "Blade Runner" numerous times. Blade Runner is set in the year 2019, during a time where Los Angeles has become engulfed in urban decay, depression and darkness. In the beginning of the film we are introduced to Rick Deckard,
Will Brooker. “Reel Toads and Imaginary Cites: Philip K. Dick, Blade Runner and the Contemporary Science Fiction Movie. (London: Wallflower Press. 2005)
Milstead, John "Bedford Vindicated: A Response to Carlo Pagetti on "the First Men in the Moon" Science Fiction Studies , Vol. 9, no. 1 (Mar., 1982), Pp. 103-105. Published by: SF-TH IncArticle
An Analysis of How Narrative and Genre Features Create Meaning and Generate Response in the Opening of Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas
In the film Blade Runner the world is and environmental disaster in Los Angeles 2019. Scott’s image adds a futuristic lifestyle such as flying cars, billboard fixed projections screens, and exotic food vendors. He sets the first scene of the film with world war Teminous, after the war is over the city of Los Angeles in 2019, which is filled with futuristic flying cars, skyscrapers, and bombs going off through the city. The city is polluted and overly crowded with societies upper class and lower class. The cities over crowdedness gives an imagery of dreariness and environmental decay to the setting. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep the books first setting starts in the main characters, Derckards, house. Deckard and his wife start a casual conversation in his living room and there arguing makes the setting of the house seem a little off and dark. The film does not stick to the books plot and has nothing in common in the first scene.
However the film’s subtle changes in genre results in a necessity to few it as a unique project. The ability of adaptations to be innovative is crucial in comprehending the ways in which these two mediums interact and inform on one another. “Works in any medium are both created and received by people,” and it is this understanding which allows adaptation theory to move beyond the confines of intellectual hierarchies or fidelity (Hutcheon 2012, p.34). A change in medium does not immediately result in a change of genre, however in this instance we are given a unique piece of work in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. As opposed to a simple retelling or reworking of Phillip K. Dick’s novel.