The Tyrell building is a very odd shape, but it looks like the pyramids from the Egyptian times. These pyramids used to represent a lot of power and splendour. The point that the Tyrell building is also in this magnificent shape symbolises the importance and power this building has over the city. The effect of cutting from the eye to the building is that we get a better perspective of how big the Tyrell building actually is. By cutting to the eye we can try to answer in our mind, whom the eye belongs to and this creates tension as we have more questions we want to find the answers to. Every time we cut back to the building we are closer to the building to show we have moved and also so that the audience doesn’t just see the camera getting closer and closer because that is boring. So by cutting to the eye makes it more interesting for the viewer and is creating more tension by keeping us in suspense. The camera closes in on a big building and it slowly zooms in on a very small section of the building. Before we get inside the building, we cut to medium shot of a blue room with high key lighting and the silhouette of a man smoking. The lighting gives very clear and distinct shadows. We are reminded of old detective films. Does this mean we are in a police station? Why are we there? The film noir is not stereotypical of the science fiction genre, so we know it will be different and a new insight into how and why. Just like with the eye, we want to know who is the man? What will happen to him? Was the eye that we cut to his? What was he looking at? Is the man waiting for the spaceship or plane or whatever it was the camera was in?
The end of the first scene introduces the audience to the new world of Los Angeles in 2019. We know that technology advanced even before the setting appeared by the different sets of diegetic sounds. When the setting does appear one of the first things we see is a flying car, which is a new invention to their generation. But the audience is also introduced into the problems of this new and advanced world is that the only light is artificial. The whole city is in darkness and it’s very dirty. The fire is the only natural light but still that is burning waste causing even more pollution that has caused this terrible darkness. When the camera gets closer to the building, we see its full size and the camera shots in this scene help us to do that by getting closer and closer and looking further and further up the Tyrell building.
The second scene I have chosen starts where Deckard is going up the stairs into the toy maker’s apartment and ends just before he opens the door. Deckard is there because he is still in search of two more replicants and so this in itself creates tension because we want to know if and how he will find them and if he succeeds at all. I chose this scene because it has quite a slow pace to it but the tension is immense because it really gets the audience anticipating the next move. As he goes up the stairs he tries to remain hidden and extremely quiet. He holds his gun tightly so it is at the ready for any unwanted surprises. He is very secretive and is always cautious of every step he takes. By being so secretive creates the atmosphere of tension. When a scene is very silent, yet the character is to, we anticipate that something will jump out or there will be a huge noise to break the silence. So we watch anxiously, preparing ourselves to be frightened or shocked. The setting is very mysterious, secret and tense to start with. There is nobody else around, but we get the feeling that anybody could be watching because of all the dark corners and alleys that are created by the lighting. Deckard is trapped in this building because as the camera moves towards the sky, we see a wire mesh imprisoning him. This wire is representing almost the bars on a prison cell, it’s symbolising to us that he is not going to be able to escape. Above the wire and into the outside world is a moving billboard that shows a Japanese woman singing. As we have just seen that Deckard is trapped, this Japanese woman is representing freedom and where Deckard should be. As he is walking up the stairs, the search lights from outside shine through all the cracks and holes of the building. We saw in the first scene an extreme close up of the eye and now we see searchlights looking for the replicants. The idea of always being watched is running through this film and so nobody in this world is safe. In the film they are always being watched and it is just like Big Brother watching over you so you are never alone. The stairs are not circular but they go up in squares. This could be showing development and changes that could happen in the future.
The camera angles and shots in this scene create tension because a lot of the time we do not know whose point of view we are looking from. It is as if sometimes the audience is another person or maybe replicant looking down on Deckard but keeping out of sight from him. By doing this, it automatically provokes the question of who could this other person be? The idea of another hidden person goes back to the intense close up of the eye at the start of the film. Could the eye belong to the person who could be hiding? We become more anxious to find out because it frustrates us. As he walks up the square stairs, the scene cuts back and forth to Pris in the apartment. This is too again, stop the journey up the stairs from being quite boring and to show that Pris realises someone is in the building and she is going to have to do something to hide from it.
Whilst Deckard walks up the stairs we see only two colours. The main one is red the entire scene is shot with red lighting as if it is pouring in. Red is associated with a very dangerous and evil atmosphere. By using it here when he is alone helps to create a great sense of tension. We want to know what is going to happen to Deckard in this flat, we become worried and scared for his safety. The other light used is the bright white from the searchlights. This cuts across the dangerous and ark colour of the red to give a blaze of a new colour. White symbolises light and freedom and so is a very interesting contrast with the red. These two colours represent almost heaven and hell, so it is interesting that they have been put together, they give the audience two very different ideas of what may happen- something very good or very bad. So the lighting in this gives an excellent sense of tension by giving us no real answers to what may happen.
In this scene all the sound are quite distant and computerised. His footsteps as he approaches and walks up the stairs are exaggerated and made to sound very echo like, to give the feeling of him being alone and solitude. There is a spooky and horror film sense running through this scene with the music. When we look up and see the Chinese lady she is singing very slow and long notes that too echo through the building. We then get the stereotypical, heavy rain and we hear it clatter against the building and some dripping through onto the walls. When he is walking up the stairs the computer made sounds are diagetic. They are tinkling sounds that are very gentle and calming. This too is making us think that something good may happen by the pleasant sounds.
The last scene I have chosen is when we see the last replicant chasing Deckard onto the roof of the toy makers building. It starts when Roy smashes his head through the wall above the sink. The fast pace of this scene is very different to the last scene that in comparison was very slow. It is very quick and the camera is always on the move and that in itself makes the scene a lot more tense but in a different way to the previous. This scene is very different to the first two; it’s fast and has plenty of action, whereas the first two were slow but built up the tension. In this scene the tension is already there and it’s a very fast pace scene. The setting is a brilliant source of action and keeping the tension as tight as possible. The inside of the building looks very old and rundown. The searchlights flood each room with light, as there are so many broken windows and the actual structure looks as if it could collapse at any moment. The outside of the building looks worn but gives the effect of being quite luxurious, which is the opposite of what it is actually like. There are huge amounts of detail on the building that again gives the idea of it being expensive and superior. As we see Deckard climbing up, there is a huge blue circle protruding out of the side of the building. This looks as if it is carrying on the idea of always being watched. The eye we cut to at the beginning, the searchlights and now even as Deckard is escaping the building he is still being watched. This could be implying that wherever you are, you are never alone in this city. So this theme is running throughout the film.
On the roof are fans, like the ones on the ceiling in the first scene. The fans there were cleansing the room and here, even outside on a very tall building the air still needs to be cleaned and moved around because of the terrible smog problem that has occurred in Los Angeles. LA in our world is a very modernised and glamorous place to be but in this world it seems to have almost been destroyed. It is very dark and there is constant rain so there is no sparkle of glamour left in this city. Could Scott be saying this will happen to LA? Is he giving us a forewarning?
Again earlier on in the film, Roy goes to see his maker, Tyrell. He tells Roy that he is the Prodigal Son and that he is amazing and made as well as possible. In the film, Tyrell is the creator of the replicants and Tyrell in this life represents God and so Roy represents Jesus and as the film progresses we see more and more evidence to support this. When the two men are on the roof, Roy is holding a dove. This is ironic because a dove symbolises peace and it is the only real living animal that has been seen throughout the film. Is this saying to the audience that Roy is changing or maybe things to come will be? He releases the dove just like Noah did on his ark to go and find a better place. Is this what Roy is doing? Is he hoping the dove will find a better place to live then the miserable environment he lives in now? Earlier on in the scene Roy pushes a nail through his hand, this is what happened to Jesus on the cross. He was pinned to the cross by nails through his hands and feet. So by Roy doing this symbolises the sacrifice Jesus made by dying on the cross, this means that Roy too could be making a sacrifice for something. The fact that Roy symbolises Jesus adds tension to the scene because everybody knows what happened to Jesus; he died so we want to know if Roy will go the same way but even more so, how will he die? By the end of the film we do see this complete change in Roy’s character that shows he is sorry and is paying for his sins, Jesus was a cleansed man and so now we can see no difference in the two men.
As we saw in the second scene, with the two different colours of lights representing good and evil in this scene we see a change in Roy that too, represents this. In the building and on the roof he is covered in blood from fighting and from the last replicant. So far in this scene, Roy’s tone of voice has been quite sarcastic and mocking. He knows he has a lot of power over Deckard and up to this point has relished this fact. The relationship between the two is like cat and mouse- you think you know who is going to win and the cat takes amusement out of teasing the mouse, exactly how Roy likes to do this to Deckard. He then talks to Deckard in a very poetic manner about the things he has seen when he was a slave. This is another twist in the tale; Roy is showing another side to his character. He is showing humility, he is letting down his barriers and by showing this kinder side he is almost being washed of his evil towards Deckard and others. He is asking for forgiveness and wants to be rid of all his sins. This new side to Roy creates tension because we had a plan of how the film would evolve in our heads and this was not expected so we wonder what will happen to Roy now that he has shown human emotions. The replicants were all given somebody else’s memories, yet Roy can remember things from when he was a slave, which was not part of their program, so this is also indicating changes in him.
The water dripping off Roy’s head is symbolising to the audience the idea of cleansing. When you are baptised, water is put on your forehead or you can be submerged in water. This is so that all your sins can be forgotten and you are clean for a new start. This is what the rain is symbolising as it drips off his hair and down his head and when he looks up we see that all the blood has been washed off and he looks very white and clean. Just before he dies, he is crying and this too was not part of the program put in him, he should not have emotions. When Pris dies, Roy grieves for her. From this we can start to see a change in Roy about his emotions and feelings, he is becoming more sensitive and this is the start of a dramatic change. The change from the evil looking man with blood on his face to a very pale and innocent looking person is like the difference between heaven and hell and angel and devil. It is showing that maybe God has forgiven him and that he is sorry for what he has done. Once he dies this is the point where the tension breaks. We have been wanting to know how he will die and we find out and so we need to come back down from the tension at its highest. This is even more powerful because in this scene Roy has just saved Deckard’s life by lifting him of the building with one hand. This shows tremendous strength and power over Deckard. That was a very powerful scene and we then expect maybe Deckard to die or something quite drastic to finish of the film. The irony of that though is that it is not the end and there is still more to come. This twist in the tale again creates tension very effectively because we are surprised and intrigued as to why the film did not end when we thought it should.
This scene doesn’t contain too much music. The main sounds heard through out, is the heavy pelting of the rain. The rain is continuous through the film and most fights and chases in films are done in the rain to give a more violent effect, with the rain splashing everywhere, it is a lot more dramatic. It is also carrying on the idea of the everlasting bad weather and pollution that has embedded this city in the future. As seen in the second scene, the Japanese woman’s voice is still heard as Deckard is trying to escape the building. This is showing he is getting closer to freedom and the outside world. The actual tone is again very long and eccentric, adding to the already very tense atmosphere. When both men are on the roof, there is a distant sound of tubular or church type bells. This could mean that now Deckard is on the roof he has sanctuary, just like in a church: it is a place where no one can touch you and you are safe. These bells could be representing this or even rejoice. We say God knows all, so he must know the fate of Roy and because we hear church bells, could this be they are rejoicing change and something being reformed? Once Roy has saved Deckard the music stops: in most horror or sci-fi films if the music is stop then we automatically assume that something horrible will happen to either the hero or the villain. But Ridley Scott doesn’t do this he plays with our expectations and he has Roy coming down to Deckard’s level and starts to speak in poetry. As we see the change in Roy, the very gentle sounds come into the background. They are quite bright and happy sounds that help to resemble this change in Roy and to also show that these changes are for the better. As I have said it is like the transition from devil to angel and these sounds emphasise this change in him.
Ridley Scott through the use of sound, lighting, camera angles and setting creates the enormous amount of tension that is needed for these three scenes. These different techniques can be used in a variety of ways. Sound can be used to trick the audience into a false pretence; of believing something will happen when in the end it does not. This takes the audiences tension to a peak because they are filled with frustration of wanting to know what will happen that Scott doesn’t let it happen. By doing this he brings the audience back down to a calmer level and so shocks them by the twist in the tale. He uses lighting very well in all three scenes to give an effect of isolation and being trapped and watched. When Deckard is in the apartment the searchlights from outside filter in through the walls in thin lines making the viewer think of prison and no escape. This represented Deckard’s current situation of that he could find no way out. The camera angles were used to try and give the best perspective of something, either the Tyrell building or the square stairs or how far Deckard could have fallen. They bring depth and tension by showing power. The Tyrell building contains powerful things and people. When Deckard was about to fall, Roy had the power to save him from the bottomless ground. The audience fear for the character involved, which too gets their hearts racing. Within every scene he gets us asking questions about every little detail, which in turn he answers in the next part of the scene. The three scenes picked, contained huge amounts of tension that Ridley Scott directed excellently by uses of different media techniques.
