Blade Runner Film Analysis

Derek Liu
Cine 285N
Professor Chantal Rodais
14 May 2016
Final Paper
1. Cinema is a set of landscapes accompanied by a story. However, landscapes tell a story of their own. They tell more than just the story, but the underlying thoughts behind the film. This can be seen in Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, THX 1138 by George Lucas, and Children of Men by Alfonso Cuaron, as the landscapes help develop the complexity of the story. The directors of these films use setting and landscape to express and contribute to the development of the main argument of each film. In Blade Runner, Ridley Scott immediately constructs a dark, gloomy, and worn out Los Angeles to convey the main argument that if society is not maintained it will end up in destitution
and disrepair. Right away, this can be seen as the opening shots that pan through the dark skyline and reveals a poorly lit city filled with buildings in constant decay. Cinematography is used to contrast the bursts of violent industry light with the darkness and smog, that has blotted out the sky. This contrast is done in order to establish the idea that society is in a period of over-industrialized decay. Scott then uses mise-en-scene to compose and construct the worn out building landscape that introduces Deckard. The aesthetic of decay becomes the central point of the scene as it shows a world of decay and a world full of waste. Furthermore, the landscape is over crowded with people constantly passing by, which is paired with a blimp that constantly announces to the citizens that they should leave for the new world. Scott uses the idea of leaving for a new world to reference back to an overcrowded and over industrialized English society. People left for the new world of America because they were unhappy with the living conditions, instead of developing a solution to solve the problem. Scott then depicts the result of the migration with shots of the inside of buildings, such as Deckard’s home, which essentially look like ruins. The ruins emphasize the consequences of people leaving which allowed the problems, such as acidic rain to remain unresolved causing them to wear away at the beautiful structures, and making them shells of their former selves. Scott uses the worn out and decaying landscapes to express his main argument, that it is the responsibility of the people of society to help maintain it so that it will not fall into destitution and ruin. Another example of a film that uses landscape to convey and develop a point, is the film THX 1138 by George Lucas, whose main argument is that society is dehumanizing us.
One example is when Lucas uses mise-en-scene to construct the prison landscape, that THX is put into after he is caught. The setting emphasizes the space of confinement, of punishment, and one without boundaries or any horizon. The lack of walls due to everything being circular introduces the idea that there is no escape. The lack of escape in the landscape creates the desire to escape, which makes people wish that there was a door. Furthermore, the prison landscape allows society to instill obedience in the prisoners, as they are unaware of when they are watched, which suggests that humans have been reduced to nothing more than tamed animals. Afterwards, Lucas uses the shot of THX and SEN as they try to escape show how dehumanizing the space is. Due to the colors of the background being so similar to the white costumes that THX and SEN are wearing, they almost blend into the surrounding. This similarity in color shows that society has almost relegated them to part of the background. In addition, the initial landscape they see as soon as they escape is a wide angle shot that is clustered with people all heading in the same direction. Lucas uses the shot to provoke the idea that humans are like cattle being herded around, and that the obedient cattle are kept together, while the ones who are not, are then
separated and eventually killed and harvested for their parts. Throughout the film, George Lucas uses cinematography and mise-en-scene in his landscapes of THX 1138 convey his main argument that society has dehumanized us. In Children of Men, Alfonso Cuaron uses landscape to develop and convey his main argument that this is modern society.
Cuaron’s use of cinematography throughout the film is a good example of how similar the film is to present day society. He uses a lot of tracking shots and long shots to give the viewer a good look of the landscapes of Britain. These landscapes are extremely familiar and recognizable, there’s nothing extraordinary, there are no flying cars, it is just the setting of today’s Britain. It introduces the idea that the future is today. Cuaron uses the familiar setting and landscape to reflect the current anxieties and chaos in present society. Mise-en-scene is used to construct the shot of Theo getting off the train onto the platform, the setting is populated with police and immigrants in cages, as well as a sign that asks for an ID card and transit papers. The scene is a reference to the xenophobic platforms of the train stations during the refugee crisis of 2015. Later, in the landscape of Bexhill, the refugee camp, Cuaron uses mise-en-scene to construct a scene of enormous cluster, with little lighting, and worn out costumes, to convey the destitution that refugees from 2015 have had to face in their trip. The tracking shot that is used, draws the viewer in to the scene and make them understand how horrible it is. Cuaron uses landscapes to commentate and convey his opinions on the fear and anxieties of modern society, as well as show how the future is
actually today. All three films use mise-en-scene and cinematography to help create and explain different meanings. Each director had different visions, and beliefs, and utilized their respective landscapes to help express some of their underlying thoughts about the world at hand. This allowed them to not only make an interesting film, but also allow them some creative influence and interpretation.

2. Technology has always been a source of controversy, and science fiction films aim to bring out the controversy and make the viewer more aware of it. In the films Terminator 2: Judgement Day by James Cameron, THX 1138 by George Lucas, and The Matrix by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, technophobic themes help create different visions and statements of technology. In the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, James Cameron uses a multitude of technology throughout the film to establish his vision of a society that has let machines evolve out of hand. Cameron uses the paradoxical narrative of time travel to express this, the shot of T-800 coming back in time to save John Connor is an impossibility, if someone saves him in the present no one will send the next T-800 back in time. It plays on our innate desire to travel back in time, yet helps us come to the realization that we need to start being more careful with how we let machines evolve in the present to protect our future. Furthermore, Cameron utilizes mise-en-scene to construct settings that contain small pieces of technology, that we take for granted today, which increases in complexity as the film progresses. For example, toasters and old motorcycles in the step-parent’s home, keypads and computers in the Skynet facility to the destructive bomb that blows up the facility. The bomb is a symbol of technologies evolution into a destructive force that could destroy everything. Cameron’s strategy plays on this bomb by using visuals of other technologies to convey that technology that destroys the world, does not just appear, it slowly evolves with us, till machine performance supersedes us and destroys us. An example of machine performance superseding humans is shown, in the scene, when John calls his step-parents, T-800 mimics his voice, and the synchronization is uncanny, it is so exact it is scary. Cameron uses T-800’s mimicry to demonstrates how machines of the future have evolved from our present day technology, and that they will use it to find and destroy us. James Cameron uses a multitude of film techniques to convey his message that we, humans, have to be more careful of how we let technology evolve, so that we can have a brighter future. In the film THX 1138, George Lucas expresses his vision of a world where technology has reduced people to nothing more than images. The shots seen right at the beginning show the world of images and constant surveillance, as even when people are checking their medicine cabinets they are watched. Cross-cut editing is constantly used to show this surveillance, such as when THX is working, the viewer sees not only his perspective but one of the people monitoring him through the tiny screens in the surveillance room. Lucas uses cross-cutting to emphasize how people have been quantified into nothing but images by society. He is referencing how social network sites, such as Facebook, have turned all of us into nothing more than images for each other to view. We have stopped realizing what is reality and what is not, as the scene when THX is inflicted with pain demonstrates. While two testers are toying with the settings, a cross-cut shows THX react in agony, yet the testers do not express any emotions because all they see is an image. It is a reference to how we see so many pictures of atrocities and horrors constantly, but Social Network interaction has dehumanized us and made us lose the value of the actual pain and suffering that is shown. Furthermore, Lucas uses mise-en-scene to construct the prison landscape, that THX is put into after he is caught. The setting of a circular prison without walls and the non-diegetic music emphasize the space of confinement, of punishment, and one without boundaries or any horizon. It represents the difficulty of breaking out of the image which is contradicted when THX and SEN meets Hologram who points at the camera as a way out, and says it is easy to get out. It suggests that it is easy for us to get out, and that there is no need to try, that for us to break out of our images it is just having the will to focus on reality. George
Lucas uses a compilation of sight and sound to convey his message that society has trapped us in images and that we need to break out and face reality for what it is. In The Matrix, Lana and Lily Wachowski express their vision as a society that has been taken over by the machines, which have created a false world for us to live in. The introduction of the film with the matrix code paired with the non-diegetic electronic sound signifies our entrance into a world of where information technology has gone wrong and blurred our realities. The Wachowski’s strategy to introduce the idea that we are in nothing more than an image of the real world is done by using the search to find Morpheus and the close-up shot of Morpheus holding two pills, offering Neo a choice. The close-up shot emphasizes not only the escape from the matrix but the divide between reality and the image of reality that blur people’s minds today. It allows us to decide if we want to see the real world or remain in the image of the real world we are in today. However, the Wachowski’s use of mise-en-scene in constructing Morpheus’s ship, shows that there is nothing in the real world that is attractive or desirable to us as it lacks any of the modern technology that would draw us to it. The lack of technology is a reference to how people are being blinded through television, the internet, and other technologies, which created a false image of reality; people expect modern society to be an astonishing world full of new technology, while in this one it is not. The dialogue by Cypher when he says “ignorance is bliss” is a perfect example of the world of the matrix as our false misperceptions have turned this false image real. The Wachowskis use the matrix and its complexities to convey the message that we need to stop letting technology blur the line between what is true and false before it is too late for us to distinguish the difference.

3. The film that I found had the most significant effect on me was Inception. The first time I watched Inception during its theater release, I was completely drawn in by the plot and the idea of exploring a person’s mind and their dreams. Anytime I saw it afterwards I always enjoyed the concept of the dream, especially because Nolan did it in a way that kept my interest. The film that I had seen more than once because of its plot, became different after our discussion in class. I was able to appreciate more than just the plot of the story but the inner complexities. I never would have thought about how the dream is like the process of creating a movie, and how the characters were the staff. This was fascinating to me, the idea that Christopher Nolan had based the whole show on the creation of a film. Having the character’s act as the members of the staff such as cobb being the director, Arthur being the producer, and Ariadne being the set designer, was a new way of looking at the movie. In fact, understanding the idea that the sets are the dreams, and that they are established in a way to allow smooth transitions was fascinating. I had never really noticed the different colors of the dreams, how the scenes changed from brown to blue to white, and finally a neutral in limbo. I just watched the film and did not think about why I always knew where in the film I was at and how I ended up where I was at, just like how Cobb explained the dream to Ariadne in the film. It really provoked some critical thinking as it opened up a whole new perspective for me about film. I was intrigued by the new complexity on a movie that I had already loved, and it really made a significant impact upon me with its accurate depiction of dreams through direction and the use of the sub conscious. Have a great summer professor, and sorry for my poor writing!