THE+BLADERUNNER+DEATHMATCH

On this page you will discuss, argue, forge alliances and make ruthless enemies over what use of lighting in the film // Blade Runner // is the // coolest. // In other words, which lighting set up creates the best mood, digs into the film's deep meanings, and otherwise is used most effectively. Defend your ideas, and understanding the themes behind the film will certainly help. You may use any references both from the film (screen shots, descriptions) or from outside the film (reviews, analysis's) that you need. Make sure that you preface your comments with your name and a colon. You can pick out different colors to represent you if you'd like. Like this:


 * Mr Gran: ** Good luck, may the odds be ever in your favor, welcome to Thunderdome, there can be only one!


 * Titus: ** THE BEST ONE IS AFTER ROY KILLS TYRELL, HE LEAVES IN THE ELEVATOR AND THERE IS LIGHT ON HIS FACE AND THEN IT KEEPS GOING OVER HIM LIKE DUNDUNDUNDUNDUN. The scene itself is great too, as Roy has just gouged out Tyrell's eyes, leaving the viewer shuddering with disgust and intimidated by Roy's ruthless capabilities. Adding to this, J. F. Sebastian was just in the room with Roy, but Roy rides the elevator without him, suggesting that J. F. was killed as well. The lights rush over Roy's face like in a tunnel as he dreamily looks up, creating a definite sense of gloom and evil, but also thoughtfulness and intelligence. This is definitely the best lighting set up in the entire movie, FOR SURE.

Alain: In the scene where Sebastian is leading Pris to his apartment, he tells her that he works on genetics, and she stops with a strong backlight from the elevator before answering. Her answer is spoken in a clear, carefully constructed way that is seemingly deadly, which is one way of predicting what will happen soon. The light from the elevator also casts a complete shadow over her form and makes her look extremely menacing and terrorizing because you cannot see what her facial features are. It also creates suspense that she is evil and something bad is going to happen. Pris' initial features are also somewhat scary, with her black eyeliner and undercast eyes. The suspense is continually built during this scene, as almost every shot of Pris is backlit and doesn't show her facial features. In the next scene, where Pris is entering Sebastian's apartment, he is half lit by light from the kitchen while she is backlit from light from the door, which creates suspense and distance between the two characters. This foreshadows upcoming danger and tension between them.

Helen: Bladerunner is famously known for their lighting. As for me, I think that the lighting in the scene where Deckard tests Rachael to see if she’s a replicant is the coolest. The whole scene starts off with a wide shot, with a little streak of light in a dark room. None of the light reaches Rachael because we don’t know whether or not she’s a replicant or not. We can only see her figure and none of her features to remain mysterious. However the little streak of light shines on Deckard, indicating that he’s human. From that scene, there was also a over the shoulder/close up shot from Deckard over to Rachael’s face. Using hard light to show her identity, we can see what the director wants us to know aout her. Her expressions were blank throughout the test. This shows that she has no emotions. From that point we can see a little bit of light streak on her face, which reveals that she’s actually human in a way. However, her eyes reflecting off the light also shows that she’s not human, but rather a replicant. While most of her face is still covered in dark, it illustrates that even though she’s humane, she still has a dark side because she's after all a replicant, and that somewhere inside of her theres actually no real emotions.

Mickey: In my opinion the best use of lighting in the movie Blade Runner is nearing the end of the movie when Deckard is running away Roy and starts to climb the side of the building. In this scene large lights are flickering on and off to represent sparks of lightning. The effect that this use of lighting has on this scene is it builds more tension, making the viewer think that something bad is going to happen soon.

Diego: I think that one of the best lighted scenes was after he killed the lady who he had chased after, after leaving the club with the snakes. At the point where he kills her it's through this long hallway, where after each shot she smashes through the glass. Then he slowly walks towards her body through the hallway. As he walks through this hallway there's an array of lights, mostly side-lighting, and it really gives him this two-person personality. It makes the viewer uncomfortable with him, as if maybe he's evil instead of the good protagonist. On one side of his face, it's sort of darkly lit, and every once in a while he'll pass by a red light. That right dark part of his face, then becomes lit with a red hue, and just gives off this evil vibe about him. While the left side of his face is still lit with a sort of medium light, but enough to see his expression. This sort of leaves a good character feeling of him for the viewer.

Andy: I think the best scene of lighting was probably when Pris walks into J.F. Sebastian’s house for the first time, and we get to see all of Sebastian’s creations. There was hardly any light in Sebastian’s house, it created a very dark and scary mood. The creations of Sebastian were also contributing factors to the mood of darkness. I also really like how the background was very dark but there was always a hard light on the creation’s faces, it’s really makes it scary. Overall there was many great scenes that had awesome lighting in it, but i felt Sebastian’s apartment scene was probably one of the best.

Steven : Andy, While I agree that the lighting in J.F. Sebastian's house was cool, I think that it is sort of average. Sure there is interesting lighting, but there is nothing really unique about it; it doesn't really affect the mood that much, nor does it delve into the films meanings/themes.

Sophie : I feel like the lighting when Deckard met Rachel for the first time expresses the most. When they first met, they stood facing each other. Deckard was backlit, and so his face was dark. Rachel, at the opposite end, had light directly on her and so her face was completely white. This lighting suggests a contrast between the two characters. Since Deckard is a human being, he is definitely more complex and hard to read than Rachel, who is a replicant (although she does not know that yet). With no shadows on her face, I think the lighting indicates that even though Rachel holds implanted memories, her life is still like a blank white sheet of paper, and her personality is just as innocent and naive. However, Rachel then walked next to Deckard, leaving half of her face exposed under the light and half hidden in the shadow. This shows that although Rachel is a replicant, she is still a complex character, and that she does possess human qualities and share similarities with Deckard.

Marcello: In my opinion, I would have to say that the scene with not only the most effective lighting, but most powerful as well would be when Deckard kills Pris. During this scene, when he first shoots her, she beings to squirm and move around screaming. If you pay attention you can notice that as she squirms there is a flashing light that seems almost in sync with her movements, forcing the attention of the viewer as it beams directly on her. It builds suspense to the scene and creates this feeling of almost distress, representing Pris's pain from getting shot. Throughout the film, however, there were so many good uses of lighting, this being my favorite.

Alain: Does the synchronization of the movements of Pris and the lights really enhance and express her emotions? I believe that there are many instances where an uneven balance between the lighting and the movements causes much more suspense, this one being one of those moments.

Celine: I really liked how the film's first scenes were pretty dark, which could be interpreted as a symbol for the movie's //dark// theme. I noticed that there were a lot of contrasting shots, where a futuristic Los Angeles with its dark, dangerous-seeming, streets was juxtaposed with flashing and neon lights. Something else that was really cool was how the landscape in the opening shot (I read this online) was filmed using "forced perspective." The miniature replica of the city was 13 ft deep and 18 ft wide. Over 2000 lights were used to illuminate it.

Alain: Hi Celine, now that you mention it, that is actually really interesting! Now I know where all that lights came from, but 2000+? That's amazing..

Steven: I believe that the best and coolest use of lighting in the movie Blade Runner would be right after Rachel is insulted and leaves, and Deckard walks out of the kitchen and realizes she's gone. The whole frame is very dark except for half of his face, and similar to the shot in Indiana Jones, this makes us realize that there is more to the character than we initially thought. At first we thought he was a "good guy" because we realized that he used to be a police officer, but when he pushes Rachel to tears, we realize there is another side of him that we didn't know before, and honestly that other side is cruel. I think that this use of lighting shows us what kind of a character Deckard is very close to the beginning, and that is why it is the beset use of lighting.

Todd: I think the best lit scene is the medium worms eye shot while Harrison Ford is hanging off the roof of another building and Rutger Hauer is standing on the roof of the building with the lights shifting around his back. I think this shot using the lights expresses who Roy Batty is as a character in the movie. The light hits him from one side, which shows the splitting of his two sides, the bright side, a person who just wants to stay alive and keep his friends alive, the dark side, as a cold brutal murderer. Another part of the lighting is the large amount of back lighting that creates a glow around the edge of him. This shows his superiority and creates a more supernatural feel which is shown later on as he describes that he has seen things beyond what humans would believe. The lights being colored at a lower Kelvin makes it blue and causes a colder darker feel, which brings out how dark and cold of a person he is. The shifting and movie of the lights creates an unnatural feel because we as humans normally see lights still and makes it awkward and unnatural, which shows that he is mentally unstable.

Sherman

I believe the lighting used in the scene above (when Deckard interrogates Rachael) is probably one of the best uses of lighting in the entire Blade Runner movie. We can analyze from this shot that the way the light reflects on Rachael's face shows how Rachael has sort of a secret part of her that she does not want Deckard to know (secretive and mysterious mood). We later find out that she is in fact, a replicant. The use of dark and white here shows Rachael's double identity (she herself does not know that she is a replicant). The use of lighting in this shot also establishes a very dark and mysterious mood because the mixed lighting makes us doubt Rachael's answers towards Deckard's interrogation as it makes her look very secretive and mysterious. If Rachael's face were to be completely lit up, we would think she is a very simple woman with nothing more to her than what we see however through the skillful implantation of lighting from Ridley Scott, he makes us subconsciously doubt Rachel's answers and identity.

Spencer: In my opinion the best lit scene is the one where Harrison Ford is entering the shady nightclub. It looks like an average nightclub but the way it is lit, with next to no outside light makes it seem futuristic. The entire scene is shown with haze from all the smoke effecting the light on the characters faces. When Harrison Ford reaches the bar his face is split between light and dark. This shows that Deckard isn't your average protagonist. He probably has gone and still goes to these shady nightclubs. Normally a "cop" like figure would not be seen at this kind of event but Deckard for some reason seems to fit in. The entire scene is close-up shots of Harrison Ford and only the first shot of the nightclub/bar reveals the set. This adds on to the mysterious feel of the place.