Blade+Runner+Lighting+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!

In the story Tyrell is already almost like a god, I mean he lives in a pyramid and has the ability to create replicants (which are pretty much humans). That to me sounds like the power of a god. And this lighting reinforces that idea because t he sun only illuminates the table where Tyrell and Deckard will sit. Tyrell reduces the sun from its historically god-like role in culture to a mere light source.
 * Karson Mo: ** I think that the scene where Deckard questioned Rachael to test if she was a Replicant had the coolest lighting. Here, side lighting is used on Rachael's face to make half of it covered in light and the over half covered in a shadow, revealing to the audience that although she appears normal and human, she is in fact a Replicant.
 * William (purple because purple is punk) ** : No way karson, this shot is cooler. From what I can recall, the kind of light setup for your shot is much more common than that of mine. The way my shot is lit gives a huge difference between parts of the screen that is dark and parts that is well lit. This for me atheistically gives incredible depth, and also implies a god-like presence in here.
 * on a side note Wikipedia also says this lighting shows the film-noir elements of the story with the harsh shadows and light, so that's another reason why this lighting is best lighting.



Ryan Chong: If you think of a movie like an essay, you can see that the theme is stated at the beginning of the film. It is a very dense civilization, no room for any botanical life. Society is repressed. It pushes down on the people, like the giant rotating fan above the first guy testing that runaway replica. The Man in the chair represents the high authority/tyranny of the Tyrell corporation while the Nexus 6 is the slave that is going to rebel. As you can see, he is shadowed, showing that he is a dark character, or affiliated with the evil in the story. The room is almost symetrical, but it is weighed down on one side with darkness.


 * Vipula: ** I agree with Ryan's idea of the theme. To add on to his point I used this shot where the replicants go and interrogate the old asian guy in his laboratory. In this shot here, the back lighting makes the replicant a silhouette, which I think is pretty powerful. The dark colors and the replicant's silhouette kind of reflects the personality and character of the replicant, just like the way in Ryan's shot where Nexus 6 is being shadowed and portrayed as an evil character. This shot uses cold color and lighting to create tension. Having said that, after this the rest of the scene is pretty intense, so it this shot here creates mood and foreshadows what is coming next.



**Jocelyn**: Okay guys! We all know that people use lights in film to 1) increase visibility, 2) Create a certain type of mood, 3) Place an action and 4) Establish a setting. I think this scene is lit the best! In this scene, only the center of the frame is lit, thus directing the audience's attention towards the middle, where the action takes place. This helps the audiences to focus their attention towards the center and tells the audience that the middle of the frame is important. As the elevator moved up, the light coming out from it also moves, which implies the audiences that an action is taking place, without directly showing it. The cold colored lighting is also used to create this very creepy mood. Especially with the smoke in the background diffusing the light a little to create a misty and very "dark toned" background. The silhouette of that men head or replicant doll head thing at the bottom of the frame establishes the setting in a very interesting way. The light from the background creates this silhouette, and the audiences are informed that this house that Deckard had gone into is not a homey and happy one. So guys, I think that this scene wins (: since the lighting is very effective.

Naomi: I'm going to have to agree with Karson and William on this one. In my opinion, the best lighting happens during the scene where Deckard goes to Tyrell's corporation and tests Rachael to see if she's a replicant. I even made a collage of screenshots just to prove my points. Instead of reiterating Karson and William's points, I'll just point out some other cool aspects of the lighting. Throughout most of //Blade Runner//, we see that the movie has a blue-ish tinge, which gives us a rather mysterious feel. However, this scene is one of the few scenes that doesn't have a blue tinge. It trades its usual blue tinge for a more yellow and warm one, which creates a whole other kind of mysterious, almost spiritual mood for this scene. This helps to support what William mentioned about Tyrell being portrayed as some sort of a god. I also see the owl as a symbol of godly power due to the way the lighting is used on it. The way that the light is angled up at the owl almost makes it seem as though the owl is above all and has some kind of treasure/secret that only it knows. In the beginning of the scene, Deckard is the only character that is lit from behind, which results in a halo effect occurring around him, and shows that he's the protagonist of the movie. For the rest of the scene, it is noticeable how the characters are strongly lit from the side and have shadows cast on about half of their faces. This indicates that they are all complex characters, despite some being humans and some being replicants. Their faces are never completely lit, so their characters are never exposed. At that point of the movie, it made me wonder what kind of secrets they were concealing. Although this isn't really a lighting thing, I found it pretty ironic how Deckard said, "it's too bright in here," when basically the only source of light was the sun. After he says that and pulls down the shade, the blue tinge reappears and is mostly seen on Rachael for the rest of the scene. The questioning is set up so that Deckard is sitting in the light, Rachael is sitting in the dark, and Tyrell is somewhat in the middle. I feel like the director is trying to distinguish them from each other, with Deckard being the most human, Rachael being a replicant, and Tyrell being a human that is too involved with the replicants. The way that the lighting is used on Deckard and Rachael during the questioning is not the kind of light that we usually see on people... The angles used are different and unexpected, with different parts of their face being lit up. Therefore, I felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing them in a way that we don't usually see our peers. The lighting used on Rachael during the questioning is amazing and simply adds to the complexity of the idea that she is an experiment, that even she doesn't know whether she's a human or replicant. She is mainly lit from behind, giving her almost a silhouette-feel. Sometimes she is lit from the side, and she is almost blended into the darkness, with only parts of her being in the light, e.g. her hand. When she smokes, the effect that the light and smoke create together conceals Rachael as Deckard tries to interrogate her and learn more about her. The blue tinge leaves after Rachael is asked to leave... which makes me feel that the blue tinge is used as somewhat of a "replicant indicator." I also noticed that after Rachael is asked to leave and Tyrell begins explaining about the replicants and Rachael, the light behind Tyrell constantly flickers/flshes/dances, almost giving a warning about some sort of hysteria/something isn't right in the otherwise tranquil environment. Oh wow I didn't even notice how long this got! Obviously I didn't notice because of how complex the lighting is in this scene. Let's just end this right now and declare this scene the winner... :D




 * Kristine: ** I'm also going to agree with what Karson and Naomi said, because the facts are all here indicating that the lighting in this scene is the most effective. I think it is one of the first scenes that reveals a number of things about the characters, but also the plot on it's own. One of the first things I think that is important to notice about this scene relates specifically to where Deckard begins to question Rachael. As we can see in the screenshot above, the light is hitting both Deckard and Tyrell, whilst Rachael is sitting in the dark revealing only a silhouette of her. This already gives us an indication that she is different from them both. Additionally, it makes them each stand out as they are all lit in different ways. Both Deckard and Tyrell are half lit, perhaps indicating to us certain aspects about them as characters. As the film progresses, you will notice that Deckard's face is almost always half lit. The difference in this scene is that he is half lit differently to how we normally see him. Rather than him being half lit from one side of his nose to his ear, the area from the top of his head to beneath his nose is shadowed instead. Though this may not be noticed until you have watched the entire movie, I think this difference in how he is lit can be an indication that there is already something different about this scene that we should pay attention too. Additionally, like Naomi mentioned with the light, Rachael is the only one being lit by the blue light whilst Deckard and Tyrell are lit with the orange light. Once again, I think this is done to create a distinction between Rachael to Deckard and Tyrell, specifically that she is a replicant and they are human. Perhaps the blue light is chosen to specifically be lighting her because it is more cold, unlike the warm light used on humans. The coldness could indicate a replicants lack of emotions or ability to feel like/similarly to how a human does. Additionally, I think the significance of the scene being mainly warmly lit is to show that the action of questioning is nothing abnormal therefore the blue light is only used to light Rachael as she is what makes this scene stand out to be different or strange as a result. One final thing I would like to note about the lighting in this scene is how Rachael is lit when we see her close up. She is lit from behind, almost creating a rim light/outline, which her makes her stand out a whole lot-especially in comparison to how Deckard is lit when we see him close up. I can't help but always notice how her eyes stand out so much despite majority of her face being so darkened by shadows. The shadow on her face also reveals aspects to her character, and perhaps tries to show us that she is so "in the dark" that not even she notices certain aspects about herself.

Kyle: I am going to have to agree to with William, Karson, Naomi, and Kristine, I think that this scene has one of the deepest meaning in the film. As Naomi and Kristine both pointed out, the director probably used the warm light on Deckard and the cool light on Rachael to show that Rachael is different from Deckard. This enables the audience to identify with Humans or the Replicants when we see a certain color in the lighting of the shot. The color of lighting does not only give a certain mood but in this case we identify the cool lighting to the characteristics of the Replicants. As we know, the movie is mainly about Humans vs. artificial life, thus, it is very effective way to use a certain color of light to link or identify with the Humans or Replicants. Another thing that I found interesting was that only after the light was dimmed in the questioning scene, it was only then where you could see the cool light behind Rachael (Shown in the screenshots). In my opinion, this shows the physical similarity between the two kinds, by appearance, the Replicants look exactly like humans. This reflects the difficulty of identifying Replicants from humans, and it shows that Deckard has a tough job to do. Also, the cool light that comes out behind Rachael differs from the light shown on Deckard, the cool light is a harder light. This shows that the Replicants are not welcome on earth and are outcasts. In conclusion, I find this scene the best lit as it has both colors of light, warm and cold, moreover, it digs into the films’ deepest meanings.
 * Lucy **: I highly agree with Ryan’s point. The beginning of every movie gives you a first impression of the movie, which can also show themes, as Ryan said. The Blade Runner from Tyrell is mostly in the shadows, while Leon is mostly shown in the light. There is also great cinematography in this scene - this scene is very effective because you can see that the camera gradually focuses on expressions more, showing how close the interrogator is to finding out that Leon is a Replicant, also creating suspense. This scene also shows an announcement outside, saying, “A new life awaits you.. a chance to begin again...” This shows foreshadowing about the aims of the Replicants on Earth.[[image:djhfgfjdg.jpg width="800" height="624"]]

Cecilia:

I agree with what Naomi and Kristine said. I really like the contrast between the blue light and the red light in that scene. I also really like the lighting in this scene. The blue light creates a dark tone and reinforces an atmosphere of grime. The technique of low-key lighting tells us this is a dramatic and serious situation. In addition, the use of diffused light through a screen of smoke/fog creates a murky view and gives us a gloomy mood. In this screenshot, it also has a contrast between the blue light and the red light, this is done to create the intensity of the shot.



**Renée**: I agree with what with what William and Naomi said about the scene having great contrast and showing depth, also implying Tyrell as a god-like figure. I also like the idea of Ryan's choice which the scene is symmetrical, it gives off an intimidating and dark atmosphere. I like this scene's lighting usage, because there is a lot of mirror like windows that reflects the neon lights in this scene. There were a lot of lighting involved in this chasing scene which most of the lights are colorful. It gives off a sense of confusion, abstract, and intensity. I like the lighting usage of this scene the most because when i was watching it i felt like my senses were confused with all the lighting, and it increased intensity while the chasing, i felt very intense even with the slow motion involved in this scene, the lighting did lots of help with intensifying the already intense plot. It also it created a sad feeling with the lights all flashing around and the slow motion involved. It gives off a message, from what i've observes, the world is chaotic and messed up, we no longer gain control of our senses, and the people living there feel miserable and sad. Therefore i think this is the best scene for lighting! Naomi: Renée, I really like how you chose this scene to discuss. It really shows how the choice of lighting can affect the way the story is being told. The cinematographer uses this sort of hazy and hectic lighting in order to create a whole different atmosphere and mood for the scene. It's always interesting to see scenes break away from the blue-tinged and slightly dark lighting that they tend to have in //Blade Runner//. Those scenes always stand out to me a lot, because the cinematographer and director are obviously trying to communicate a different message through those scenes. Julie: Renee, I also felt the same way as you did when you said your senses really got mixed up and blurred due to the different colours of lighting, and I think this scene shows how the choice of colour and lighting can manipulate the audience's feelings and senses.


 * Karson Mo: ** Renée, I agree with you that this is a pretty cool scene with the colorful lighting and all. I love how this lighting + the reflection of the glass makes everything look so messed up and chaotic. The lighting in this scene is quite different from the rest of the movie, but it is pretty cool!

Julie: I would like to agree with Ryan that this laboratory scene in the beginning is one of the most powerful scenes in the movie. I thought it was very interesting how Ryan mentioned that the room is close to being symmetrical but weighted down more on the dark side. I'd like build more on how this scene creates tension by the use of lighting. In this scene, a light comes from above, which is a use of top lighting. This choice of lighting works with the smoke to create a misty, unknown and blurry feeling which adds onto the tension to the whole atmosphere. The use of color also has an impact on mood because this use of cold colours can conveys darkness, which applies to this scene well. Color and lighting are great components of a scene, with these two aspects working together so well in this scene, I think this scene should win (:




 * Luke: ** Well, it looks like we have an obvious winner already. The scene at Tyrell Corporations features the best lighting in "Blade Runner", as many have mentioned (William, Naomi, Karson..etc.). Stop fighting, resistance is futile, this is the scene with the best lighting. And here's why. "Blade Runner" takes place in the future in a gritty, grime-filled utopian LA. In most scenes, you could never tell what time of day it is, since all of the scenes are lit by harsh artificial light (like neon signs and city lights). You never really get to see the fabled "Californian sun". That is, until we see the Tyrell Headquarters.



As Deckard and Gaff approach the "Tyrell pyramids" in their spinners, a warm orange glow rises and envelops the scene with a warm and powerful aura. This symbolizes the power and presence of Tyrell, as he is the only person privileged enough to receive doses of the precious Californian sun. So in a way, the warm glow does represent some kind of God-like presence. And then we move on to the interior. The first time we see Rachael, she is bright and well lit by the warm light, without too much contrast on her face (somewhat high key). This represents her confidence and belief; she believes that she is a human being, and is confident about being a human. The light, in this sense, symbols her confidence and belief. Rachael continues to stay in the sun and confident, but then Deckard cranks up his Voight-Kampff machine, and mentions "Its too bright in here". T he bright glow of sunlight abandons Rachael and casts her into the shadows. In this sense her confidence and belief in herself as a human being is slowly starting to fade, along with the light, as she is being questioned. Her belief in herself as a human is shattered, and the lighting shows that.

↑ Rosa Park : I agree with Luke that the warm lighting of the pyramid implies Tyrell's power and influence.



dinah lee: I really liked the shot on the top (william's shot), but i wanted to contribute another shot. This is a shot of rachel and it the lighting is interesting, because we can the stark contrast on her face and there is a dark shadow that looks likes bags under her eyes. This adds to the tension and distress of rachel in this scene. I loved how it made her look scary, but also at the same time weary. We get this feeling that she is scary, because she is a replicant and she is at Deckard's home with Deckard totally unguarded. Deckard is suppose to kill this replicant, because he is a bladerunner. So, the replicant need to kill him in order to survive. This is why there is so much tension in this scene and the nice lighting really brings that forward.


 * Karson Mo: ** I would just like to point out that that the shot on top was my shot, not William's shot.

Helen Shim:

I also think that Dinah's shot very interesting as it shows clear contrast of bright light lit from the left back and dark shadow on her face, thus creating tensioned mood. I want to discuss this shot above because I think it also has very effective lighting effect. It is a shot when Sebastian communicates with toys that he made as he lives in an empty building alone. I found that light is only focused on Sebastian in the middle, while dark shadows are drawn on the toys around him. The light type used in this shot seems to be key light, which has one side of light and another side of dark, so that the form and dimension of the subject are highlighted and may result in a silhouette effect. I thought by lighting different amount of light on different objects, contrast between living Sebastian and non-living robotic toys is created, and human's isolated image in the future society is well conveyed.

Eric Li: I think this image effectively portrays much of the story of Blade Runner, as Deckard is the only one lit completely. The light hits half of his face, but the other half is dark, indicating two sides to his personality. However, Tyrell is only lit from the side, which creates a low key effect on his face, effectively showing he has two sides, a good side, and a dark side. Rachael however, is completely dark, not lit from any angle, foreshadowing her replican nature. However, I'm not saying this is the best lighting shot. I agree with Ryan, that the lighting in this scene is the most effective, because again, as Ryan said, it best encompasses the theme of the movie, and shows Tyrell's darkness. I'll end with this shot: which I think is effective because at the end of the story, all Roy wanted was to be a "better" being, which meant living longer, and is illustrated by the flood of light and the simple yet effective wside lighting which illuminates most of his face, with one side engulfed in his evil.

Rosa Park:

I think this scene has the coolest lighting. The very first shot ,which portrays the bedroom of Tyrell, has very peaceful and warm lighting. As what William said, Tyrell is like a god in the movie. He is the creator of the Replicants Thus, the warm lighting is used to show that he is the domineering power, who has nothing to worry about. In contrast, the cold, dark lighting is used for the replicant in the second shot. That kind of lighting is purposely used to show that the replicant is very nervous and unstable because he is trying to rebel against his 'father' even though the replicant is not supposed to overcome its creator. Moreover, replicants have been repressed by blade runners or policemen, and the dark lighting portrays their dark lives, who have limited lives or longevity. In the last shot, the replicants is entering but he is darkened so that we hardly see the face of him. The director used this lighting because he wanted to show that the threatening replicant is going to rebel against the power. This foreshadow that the domineering power would be changed or the replicant would kill his father. Therefore, i think this scene has the best lighting!

At this point it would be easy for me to hop onto the bandwagon and agree with almost everyone that, yes, that scene where Rachael’s humanity is tested in Tyrell corporations demonstrates Blade Runner’s highly effective use of lighting the best. BUT I REFUSE! One could argue that choosing the coolest use of lighting in a film like Blade Runner is an exercise in futility, because lighting is used so damn well throughout the film. It’s like choosing your favorite M&M in a bathtub full of M&Ms. That wasn’t a very good analogy but it is early in the morning so there you go.
 * Elizabeth Low: **

In my opinion the coolest use of lighting of blade runner would have to be the scene where Deckard chases Zhora down Chinatown or whatever that street is supposed to be. The action culminates in Deckard essentially cornering Zhora in what appears to be a store selling weird BDSM (kinda) lingerie a la Gimp from Pulp Fiction. For some reason, the store seems to have at least four panels of glass parallel to each other, which might not make for good architecture, but for all intents and purposes, serves this scene well in order to make it awesome. The mannequins in the store are effective in conveying the film’s themes of humanity and what defines humanity, as man-made replicas of humanity are seen throughout the film as a recurring motif to provoke thought about the nature of the replicants (e.g. JF Sebastian’s “toys”). It is also fitting that Zhora is wearing black futuristic underwear with only a plastic raincoat over her. Her plastic raincoat also reminds the audience of her "plastic" nature, that she is a replicant. Her underwear is similar to those worn by the kinky mannequins, once again juxtaposing Zhora with the mannequins. The shot where Zhora crashes through panels of glass illuminated by colorful neon signs is one of the most beautiful shots in Blade Runner that don’t involve close ups of Harrison Ford’s face. One could argue that the shot of Deckard walking through the store to find Zhora’s dead body, with bright, tacky neon signs in the background makes for a good example of visual irony, as the film’s visual imagery and bright colors in the background are in contrast with the slightly tragic events taking place onscreen. However, the inclusion of kinky mannequins in the same shot also remind the audience that Zhora, being a worker at a strip club, was viewed as a sex object for most of her short life as a replicant.

In these two shots (below), both characters are backlit. I thought that the way Zhora’s face was backlit by the reflections on shards of glass on the floor was a highly creative and original way for an actor to be backlit. I also loved the reflections of the neon signs on the shards of glass. The light reflected on the glass gave Zhora a saint-like glow on her face, and her facial expression matches this. Even in death, Zhora still managed to look saint-like and beautiful, and the use of backlighting in this shot accentuates this.

Deckard, on the other hand, while backlit as well in the same shot, gives a very different vibe because of the color of the backlighting, an eerie red, and his haunted expression. Here, the use of backlighting manages to make Deckard look almost demonic, causing the audience to question the morality of a character who appears to be so morally ambiguous throughout the film. The use of fog is also highly prominent throughout the film, and it is seen here again. Because of the way fog makes everything less visible and also acts as a diffuser for light, I believe that fog is used repeatedly in the film to illustrate its themes of moral ambiguity and causes the audience to question the motives and morals behind each of the onscreen character’s actions, even the protagonist’s.