Blade Runner Analysis

The first shot of Blade Runner is a wide shot that introduces you to the world the film is set in. The first thing you see in this shot are explosions and fire, showing that it is a very hostile world and is likely to be at war. We then see a flying car, showing that the film is set in the future and that the technology is very advanced.  The camera then shows us the reminder of the city, the city lacks any sort of colour other than dark ones. This shows that the city is a very unnatural place and that there must have been an environmental catastrophe due to there been no trees or grassy areas. Our first introduction to the world is that it is very violent due to the constant explosions, this tells us that the film is not going to be peaceful. The fire and explosions also tells that there will be a lot of death in the film due to how frequent and large the explosions are.

The camera is the audience’s point of view in the shot. It is being constantly drawn towards a very large building, in the shape of a pyramid. This shows that the pyramid is a very significant location in the film and that a lot of the film will take place there. The pyramid dominates the environment, showing that it is  a place of power and that who ever owns it is a very powerful and significant character in the film. The building is owned by a very powerful company who introduced the problem to the city, this shows that industry dominates the world and that it is the most powerful thing in each city, meaning that they will have a large influence over the city, which may be a bad thing when the world is already a violent place.

One shot is an extreme close up of an eye, we do not know who the eye belongs to, this shows that the film is full of mystery and is based around identity. The eye is also the ‘window to the soul’, showing that the film is about identity. This could mean that the film is about finding identity in a very unfamiliar, dangerous world.

The music being used in the opening shot is very dramatic and emphasises some of the explosions by becoming louder as an explosion happens, this reinforces the fact that the world is not a place of peace. The music is also very eerie and unsettling, showing that the world the audience is being introduced to is very unsettled and dangerous. You are also being introduced to an unfamiliar world, the eerie music does not make the world seem like a very welcoming place. The music being played is electronic music, showing that the film is a sci-fi and is set in the future.