Blade Runner Flashcards
Why was Ridley Scott fired?
Ridely Scott’s contract stated that if he went over budget he would loose right to the final cut, and since he went over budget he was fired
What did Scott want to alter the ending of Alien to?
He wanted to kill off Ripley, however he was told that if he shot that ending he would have been fired.
This Contrasts the amount of power Hitchcock had, as he could make a change no one agreed with and still be allowed to do it.
What is Ridley Scott’s Auteur style?
Scott is more of a visual auteur since he started in advertising which is mainly visual. Because of this it can be argued that Blade Runner is style over substance because of Scott’s obsession with making sure the visuals were perfect.
What do eyes symbolise?
The eyes symbolise the connection to the soul and are a measure for humanity within the narrative.
The opening has flashes of an eye reflecting the city-scape.
The eye is a prominent feature of the void kampft test, it is a measurement of humanity
Replicate eyes reflect an orange light
When Roy Batty kills Tyrell, he goes for the eyes and severs that connection to the human soul and destroys his humanity
What Religious imagery and themes are present?
Roy has the most religious symbols surrounding him. The most obvious being the fact that he puts a nail into his hand, similar to how Jesus was crucified.
When Roy meets Tyrell, Tyrell calls Roy “the prodigal son” another religious reference. Tightening the connection between Roy and Jesus, as this can be the case it would mean Tyrell is God himself, being the creator of the replicants.
Zhora can also have religious imagery linked to her, when she appears on stage (off screen) her performance involves a snake and the “pleasures it provides”. This can be seen as a reference to Eve and the Snake
Furthermore her death gives her two large holes on her back as if there were two angel wings that were ripped from her back. The Death of innocence
What is the Aesthetic of Blade Runner?
Retro Future
Mixture of old architecture and sci-fi styles. The Tyrell building is modelled after a pyriamid, Dekard’s apartment takes inspiration from Mayan architecture. The city of LA also has a large amount of Japanese stylised neon signs present.
This mixture of cultures is also seen in the people present with there barely being any white people and the majority being Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and of other Ethnic origins.
The Theme of What it means to be human
Zhora’s death sees her surrounded by mannequins, arguably both Replicants and Mannequins are simular in the fact that they’re both inanimate objects that look like humans, however it is blatant that Zhora is more than just an object.
Roy’s death sees him say possibly the most human thing and has him state that when he dies all of his memories will die along with him and be lost to time, like tears in the rain. Arguable Roy is the most monstrous of the replicants but because he understands this it makes him more human than even Deckard (although he may not be huamn).
Blade Runner Key Collaborators
- Harrison Ford – Questioned Deckard’s humanity and identity. It influenced the key meaning of the film. Direct contrast to Scott’s. Ford was known by this point for Indiana Jones and Star Wars where he was type cast as a cocky square jaw action hero.
- Rutger Houer – Improvised his line at the end, the tears in the rain scene which ended up being one of the most powerful scenes within the entire film
- Sean Young – The rape scene, went beyond just acting, since the scene was created and filmed solely because Ford and Young fell out and couldn’t perform a sensual scene authentically.
Blade Runner Budget
- Made by a production company, studio’s are larger and resource rich, production companies are not, they insisted that Scott stayed within budget, as they didn’t have a ridiculous amount of money.
- Back lot that the film was shot in a back lot mainly used for noir and gangster films. To cover it up it was filmed in darkness, smoke and rain.
- Scott did many takes to try and make the films look the main focus. The film’s budget didn’t restrict Scott’s vision for the film’s look, he transcended the limitations.
- Scott was an advertising director before hand, meaning he was used to working with a smaller budget to create a visual medium
