Mise-en-scène (2)
Ridley Scott, Blade Runner
Steven Shaviro
September 28, 2011
Mise-en-scène (2)
Ridley Scott, Blade Runner (1982)
- History of the film
- Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
- Initial failure in theaters; later cult success on video
- Original release; 1992 director's cut; 2007 "Final Cut"
- Subsequent influence: the look of the future
- A question of genre
- Science fiction + film noir
- Postmodernism & hybridity
Blade Runner: The Cityscape
- 3D grunge & clutter; crowds
- Use of mockups and mattes
- Mixed styles from different periods (1940s clothes?)
- Multiple languages (English, Japanese, Spanish)
- Ubiquitous advertising signs and sounds
Blade Runner: Lighting
- Always night
- Always raining
- Artificial neon light
- Chiaroscuro (clair-obscure)
- Refraction of city lighting through rain
- Muted colors and shadows
- Emulation of film noir -- in color
- Poetics of nostalgia
Themes: Replicants and Commodities
- Deckard kills Zhora
- Glass, showroom windows
- Dolls, commodities, replicants, human beings
- Artificiality (no more nature)
Themes: Reality and Unreality
- Fractals (same across scale)
- Faces on giant billboards
- Sebastian's toys
- Deckard's computer scan
- Reality is entirely penetrated by technology
- Reality has been replaced by its images
- Humans vs. Replicants: how do they really differ?
- Is Deckard a replicant? (the unicorn)
Themes: Eyes, Vision, Memory
- The eye factory
- "If only you could see the things I've seen with your eyes"
- Batty blinds Tyrell in the process of killing him
- Rachel's false memories
- Memories enable emotions
- "All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain"
Varieties of mise-en-scène (1)
Naturalistic (Classical Hollywood)
Howard Hawks, His Girl Friday (1940)
- Attention focused on actors & script
- Naturalistic set & costumes (studio set)
- Three-point, high-key lighting
- Charismatic lead actors (Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell)
- Witty, fast-paced repartee (screwball comedy)
- Uniform space & time, serving give-&-take of dialogue
Varieties of mise-en-scène (2)
Naturalistic (anti-Hollywood)
Vittorio de Sica, Bicycle Thieves (Italy, 1948)
- Italian Neo-Realism
- Rome after World War II
- Poverty, joblessness, ruins
- Crowds of strangers
- Bright, even lighting
- Non-professional actors
- Characters powerless, overwhelmed by environment
Varieties of mise-en-scène (3)
Naturalistic (modern)
John Cassavetes, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976)
- Naturalistic set & costumes...
- ...but they are still obtrusive
- Real locations, natural lighting
- Everyday moments, rather than extraordinary ones
- Emphasis on moment-to-moment behavior
- Unshaped, highly naturalistic dialogue
- Variability of space and time
Varieties of mise-en-scène (4)
Theatrical (expressive)
Robert Wiene, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
- German expressionism (1920s)
- Artificial sets & stylized, anti-naturalistic acting
- Diagonals emphasized over horizontal and vertical
- Heavy use of shadows
- Tinted frames
- Sense of derangement & paranoia
Varieties of mise-en-scène (5)
Theatrical (artificial)
Busby Berkeley, 42nd Street (1933)
- "Young and Healthy"
- An entirely artificial world
- Extravagant fantasies, escapism
- Repeated body types & costumes
- Dancers form elaborate patterns
- A point of view impossible in the theater
- Mini-narratives
- Visual eroticism