June 09, 20131. Please state which genre you feel is most defined in Blade Runner and why? e.g. could be science fiction, cyberpunk, future noir, thriller or film noir.
film noir, (cyber punk is a misused term that should apply to films like the Matrix and future noir is now used to correctly describe Blade runner, but it didn't exist when the film was made
2. What do you feel are the codes and conventions used with Blade Runner?
everything futuristic must be tied to our past. the lines of good and evil are blurred. even with all the hustle and bustle, the city must evoke a sense of loneliness similar to Taxi Driver. everything in the story must remain a small story, so small that it hardly gets noticed by those around you. this is life and philosophy under a microscope, mixing claustrophobia with wide open empty agoraphobic buildings. decay must be so entrenched that it conforms to Philip K Dicks 'Kipple' Idea of everything around you building up and rotting down to form a new layer of dirt.
3. What type of iconography do you associate with Blade Runner?
Sam spade, Lauren Bacall, The long Tomorrow, Maltese Falcon
Milton, Nazi eugenics
4. Can you list any visual motifs present in Blade Runner which are linked directly to science fiction genre or film noir?
the millenium falcon, the car from Christine, and not to mention the Burbank sets were originally used in Humphrey Bogart movies like 'The Roaring Twenties'
5. What are the universal concerns from Blade Runner?
global warming, over population, loss of soul, loneliness, slavery
6. Are there aspects of the Blade runner narrative that might reflect into other genres?
fallen angels, loss of innocence, religion, decay of society metaphoric and literal
7. How do you feel the use of lighting, cinematography and mise en scene in BLADERUNNER is distinctive to a film genre?
very definitely. film noir or as it can now be called future noir. but in art terms Chiaroscuro
8. Can you identify any moments in the opening sequences of Blade Runner in which the film uses noir lightings and cinematography?
When Leon meets Holden
9. How much does Deckard conform to the central male film noir character who is usually a disillusioned loner, a tough guy at odds with himself?
he fits Sam Spade from the Maltese Falcon but I'm glad Hampton Fancher dropped the Sam Spade monologue and the tough guy wise cracks
10. Look at the sequence where Deckard first meets Rachel at the Tyrell
Corporation. How do her clothes, hair and make up mimic the 1940’s film noir ‘femme fatale’?
art Deco, definitely, she also has the structure, lips and cheekbones that actresses were picked for in their day. the type of face that doesn't need make up to look good and overlooked in casting today for faces that wouldn't match Rita Hayworth, or Greta Garbo
11. Watch the sequence from the point where Batty rescues Deckard up to his own death. Look particularly at the sequence in terms of the mise en scène. Does this succeed in evoking a sense of empathy for Batty?
absolutely. He is visually upset for Pris, He doesn't want to kill Deckard but wants to play with him. and then when he stands on the edge with rays of light about him and a dove in his hand, he is evoking religious symbols and a hint of angel about to die. he shows more humanity up to this point than Deckard.
