The film Blade Runner is characterized by its very extravagant and futuristic mise-en-scene. While the film belongs to the science fiction genre which is largely defined by its use of otherworldly settings and characters (E. James) it goes beyond other sci-fi films in its use of mise-en-scene. The setting, costumes and lighting of Blade Runner are deeply intertwined with its plot and themes.
A sci-fi film such as Star Wars could be set in a familiar realistic location and still retain all themes and plot elements. Blade Runner however, is crafted around its visual look. Blade Runner revolves around the themes of dehumanization of people resulting from a society based around high technology and the notion of what it means to exist as a human being. The mise-en-scene of Blade Runner is not only appropriate to its overriding themes but it is vital in the establishment and expansion of these themes within the text.
Blade Runner is classified as a tech-noir film (D. Newmann). While the film differs greatly from classical noir films its plot as well as visual appearance is directly influenced by noir conventions. The film is set in a dark urban environment. Throughout the course of the film the sun is never visible. It is as if this futuristic rendering of Los Angeles exists in a perpetual state of darkness, a common trope of classic noir films (Telotte).
The lighting of the film is very dark and hard shadows are frequently thrown across the face of the characters during moments of important dialogue. Harrison Ford’s character is repeatedly shown in dark shadow impressing upon the viewer his sinister and mysterious nature. Blade Runner adopts this obvious noir look in order to create a genre association in the mind of the viewer.
The film is clearly of the science fiction genre but in order for the viewer to make the connection to the noir genre there must be exaggerated visual cues as discussed earlier. As a result of these visual tropes from the noir genre the viewer associates the film with the genre and thus accepts various plot elements that are vital in the establishment of the film’s tone. These plot elements include the use of the classic noir femme fatale character, Rachel, and the hero, Rick Deckard, of weak moral integrity. These genre specific tropes would not be recognizable to the viewer if the film did not follow elements of the noir genre in addition to science fiction which would result in an entirely different tone for the film.
When examining the function of the mise-en-scene of Blade Runner it is important not to over look its function in the establishment of the film text as belonging to the science fiction genre. From the opening titles of the film, which gives a brief overview of the plot, it is clear that the film is to be classified as sci-fi. By nature science fiction films attempt to transport the viewer to a world that is alien from their own.
This is typically done through the use of special effects and elaborate otherworldly sets. Blade Runner does not stray from this convention. The plot of Blade Runner mandates the use of a futuristic setting. The idea of the creation of artificial beings would simply not work were the film to be set in a normal non-futuristic environment. Just as with the noir genre the use of visual cues linked to the science fiction genre prompts the viewer to read the film text under the category of science fiction. Thus the idea of such elements of the text as hovering cars and artificial beings becomes acceptable in the eyes of the viewer.
Beyond it’s most basic function of stimulating genre recognition in the viewer the elaborate visual appearance of Blade Runner must be examined in relation to it’s importance in building the dominant themes of the film text. Blade Runner can be looked at as having two overarching themes. The film depicts a society in which the proliferation and excess of high technology serves as a dehumanizing force. Within this environment in which human life no longer seems to be of utmost importance the question of what exactly it means to be human is entrenched within the film text.
Throughout the film human characters are overshadowed by technology. It is very rare that a human character is shown in an environment in which there is no presence of high technology. Even when Deckard is in his apartment drinking he is augmented by a television like device which he controls through the use of voice commands. Another example of the visual elements of the film text creating the theme of technology as a dehumanizing source is the use of hovering vehicles. At one point Deckard is addressed by a police officer in one such vehicle as he is working from his own vehicle in a restricted section of town. The actual human police officer is never seen.
His voice is transmitted into Deckard’s own vehicle through some type of intercom. The police officer is never given human form. His vehicle represents his person. Another such instance occurs after Deckard has killed the first of the replicants. As a crowd gathers around the dead body they are told to disperse by a robotic voice originating from a police vehicle. Again the officer never takes human form and is viewed as a part of his vehicle.
The human drivers have a cyborgian relationship to these machines. It is as if they are a part of their owners rather than a tool for their use. Even in scenes where human characters are not directly interacting with some form of technology there is some aspect of the mise-en-scene that takes the viewer’s attention away from the human subject.
The dark urban landscape of futuristic Los Angeles is covered in blinking and neon lights. These blinking lights denote the existence of unknown machines or forms of technology that exist in the depths of the city. The city its self is depicted as being almost alive. It is impossible for the human figure to take command in this complex and busy urban landscape. The human characters are literally fighting to stay ahead of this seemingly out of control technology. This visual setup of a world overrun by technology creates the premise for the entire plot of the film.
Rick Deckard and his fellow police officers are essentially struggling to keep renegade technology, the replicants, from dominating the human population. Deckard struggles to keep from literally becoming dehumanized or killed by the replicants. It is through the use of sets and lighting that this idea that humans are struggling against the takeover of technology is re-enforced.
With the importance of the human being in this futuristic landscape being brought into question the film text further expands this concept by dealing with the question of what it actually means to be human. The nature of human existence in the futuristic Los Angeles environment is defined by the film’s visual style. The mood of the main human characters in the film, Deckard and J.F. Sebastian, is one of melancholy and loneliness. Their mood is re-enforced through the visual appearance of the environments in which they live.
Both characters live alone in very dark apartments. Deckard’s apartment is littered with empty liquor bottles and he is surrounded by the technology that he feels so oppressed by. Sebastian lives in a wet, dilapidated, abandoned building. His door is covered in large locks which is a further indicator of his fear and paranoia of the technology he lives amongst and helps to create. The most telling visual element of Sebastian’s environment is his group of “friends” that he has genetically engineered.
He has designed them to keep him company. Unlike the replicants who are physically indistinguishable from humans these “friends” of Sebastian take on an entirely non-human look. They are all very short with exaggerated features. Their visual appearance sets them in an inferior position when regarded next to a human. Thus Sebastian is able to take comfort in their presence rather that feeling threatened by their superiority as he does by the replicants.
During his conversations with two of the renegade replicants Sebastian repeatedly tells the androids how perfect they are and at one point mentions his own glandular problem which keeps him from being able to move to the off-world colonies. This theme of questioning what it means to be a human being within the film text is partially answered through this depiction of Deckard and Sebastian in their respective environments. Again the mise-en-scene becomes a vital tool in establishing the mood of the characters and the film text as a whole.
The visual world outside of Deckard and Sebastian’s apartments also serves as an indication of what it means to be a human being. As previously discussed the city is depicted using a noir like visual style which utilizes deep shadow filled lighting and lack of sunlight. However, the city differs from classic noir depictions of urban spaces in that it is very busy and full of colorful lights and movement.
The city is full of strange looking costumed characters. It is unclear weather these characters are human or not. There is a strange mix of these brightly colored, costumed characters with obviously non-human characters and other human looking characters. This confusing visual mix is compounded by the sound of various languages being spoken. This array of different visual styles and sounds creates a very busy and confusing environment through which Deckard moves with a kind of nervous indifference.
In examining the visual look of Blade Runner in terms of one of the film’s main theme, the questioning of what it means to be a human being, it is important to specifically examine the use of costumes and dress style of the film’s characters. As previously discussed there is an abundance of humanoid looking characters populating the futuristic Los Angeles environment.
May of these characters look entirely human aside form their dress. It is the use of costume that makes the viewer question weather a certain character is human or not. In one scene several characters pass across the screen dressed in cat looking costumes and speaking in a strange English dialect intermixed with cat sounds. Due to the outlandish nature of their dress the viewer is lead to believe that they are an entirely different type of being than Deckard or the other human characters. This is also true for the replicants.
While they look entirely humanoid their dress differs from the conservative dress of Deckard. One replicant dresses herself in an elaborate highly sexualized costume and airbrushes a mask across her eyes. Her male partner is also distinguished by his dress and bright blond hair. The use of contrasting styles of dress by the characters of the film helps the viewer to delineate between different types of life forms but also address the theme of what it means to be a human.
The highly varying visual depictions of the characters in the film seem to imply that to be a human is to be lost in ambiguity. The human form is no longer simple or clearly defined but convoluted and highly variable. The mise-en-scene of Blade Runner creates the notion that to be a human is to live a life in which your identity and place is constantly in question.
Blade Runner relies on the classic science fiction convention of transporting the viewer into a strange world. Within this world ideas and themes are presented that would be considered foreign and strange in comparison to those of the world inhabited by the viewers of the film. In order for the viewer to accept these concepts they must have a context with which to place them.
This context is created through the film’s complex and futuristic looking mise-en-scene. Without such a visually complex look the film would not be successful. The viewer would have no way to comprehend the themes and concerns of the film. It can be said that the mise-en-scene of Blade Runner has two main functions which are vital to the coherent structure of the film.
Not only does the mise-en-scene of the film contextualize the plot for the viewer but it builds and supports the main themes of the text. The complex and confusing futuristic mise-en-scene can be looked at as a vital theme in itself. The excessive and complex visual style of Blade Runner, from costume to cityscape, is not only entirely appropriate to the film’s themes but it is a crucial element in their construction.
Reference:
- Works Cited Newmann, Dietrich, Ed. Film Architecture: Set Designs from Metropolis to Blade Runner, By Donald Albrecht. New York: Prestel, 1996. Sammon, Paul. Future Noir: Making of Blade Runner. New York: Harper Prism, 1996. Hare, Williams. LA Noir: Nine Dark Visions of the City Of Los Angeles. Jefferson North Carolina: McFarland, 2004. Telotte, J.P. Voice in the Dark: The Narrative Patterns of Film Noir. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989 James, Edward. Science Fiction in the 20th Century. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1994
