Blade Runner and Noir

For the movie watching assignment, I watched Blade Runner which I found to be a pretty interesting concept and it kept me entertaining the whole time. I was surprised how many elements of noir I saw throughout the film! There was a lot of side of the face/object lighting, long extensive introduction with dramatic music. The movie took place in Los Angeles in 2019, so the building design was very futuristic (which is weird since we’re in 2015 and look NOTHING like this, but that’s besides the point). However, besides the futuristic-ness of the building it was also made to look gritty and disheveled. The camera angles of the movie always captured this by being up close and personal to the grittiness, almost too close, thus giving a most distinct idea of the grittiness or a far away, up above angle showing the whole picture of the city.

The grittiness in many ways, especially in urban settings. The lighting however is something that is timeless and helps portray the dramatic effect of noir. Also, unique camera angles is something that is not specific to any time or place and can be used in a multitude of ways.