Blade Runner

Blade Runner opening sequence

Our introduction to the world Blade Runner is set in immediately shows us it is a violent future, filled with death and destruction. We are shown this by the first thing we see happening there to be explosions and fire.  As we look at this world we can see that it is far more advanced than out own but it doesn’t not look like a positive future, instead the landscape looks closer to resembling hell. We can take away from this that some sort of disaster has occurred. The music that plays at this part of the film sounds very un-natural and technology based almost like the sounds of machines, this introduces the genre of the film as well as conveying that the audience should feel on edge during the film, even early on.

The camera is constantly moving during this opening sequence, it is drawn slowly towards pyramid like buildings that seem to dominate the entire environment, towering over everything else. The focus on these buildings and their appearance tells us they are going to be important later in the film and that some main event will likely take place there.  The camera acts as the audiences point of view ad as it moves closer to these buildings it draws us into the unfamiliar world in which Blade Runner is set, introducing us slowly to what this world is like. 

As the Camera continues to move closer, we are shown a cut in of an eye, the eye is shown in an extreme close up not allowing us to see any other features of the face. In the eye we can see the reflection of the world we had just been shown which could imply that the people there are being watched. The fact that the rest of the face is not shown shows a lack of identity, this tells us something that the film is about.