Blade Runner – Opening Scene Context Analysis

Blade Runner – Opening Scene Context Analysis

Blade Runner – Opening Scene context Analysis

Directly impacted by the events happening around the world at the time, Scott’s fears for the future are revealed through the use of mise-en-scene, camera angles and sound.
The film opens with an extreme long shot overlooking the futuristic cityscape of Los Angeles 2019. The city is defined by massive technological towers and near perpetual twilight, interrupted only by violent lightning strikes and violent jets of fire. The camera is slow-moving, gradually leading up to the most impressive tower of all, the Tyrell Corporation’s headquarters.
This slow moving journey is made more disconcerting by Scott’s use of sound. Ominous, non-diegetic music accompanies the camera as it looks over the vast, drab landscape below, echoing the audience’s apprehension and discomfort.
Throughout this opening shot, there are several cuts to an extreme close up of an eye, a recurring motif throughout the film. It is not made clear who’s eye we are observing, however because the eye is never associated with a character, it easily becomes the eye of the audience, in which the only natural light (the fires lighting the industrial complex’s seen in the distance) is reflected.
Through the eye, we are made aware of Scott’s visions of a futuristic world, in which we are alienated by the extreme lack of anything familiar. The Tyrell Co. Is king, replacing humans with replicants, robots who are supposedly devoid of humanity.
A concern for the environment is also evident, reflected in the use of mise-en-scene and tight framing, depicting a polluted, overcrowded world. Constant acid rain falls from the sky, suggesting past nuclear fallout, and thick smog infiltrates the city. The overcrowded streets are dominated by artificial lights, neon signs and giant electronic advertisements. There is no hint of nature, animals or plants and people of Asian appearance crowd the streets, speaking a dialect of many fused languages which,...