“More Human than Human….”

The Design and Noir Elements in Blade Runner

This movie contains many instances of Noir design throughout the movie. The setting for the movie is very dark. The lights are usually dim unless they on a ship. One huge example of this was when the main character, Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford, is in his apartment. I could barely even see what was in his apartment. I believe that was by design because the only things I could see in the scene were important to the plot. For example, I could only see Rick, a picture of a child, and a television screen.

Another design implementation I noticed was everything was clustered together in the city. I almost felt claustrophobic by just watching the scenes. Maybe the director, Ridley Scott, wanted the audience to feel uncomfortable or on edge while Rick Deckard was doing his investigation. One last element was the mood. Most the character were serious or somber. I don’t recall not too many individuals smiling or having a good time (except the bar scene). It seems everyone looks miserable. Maybe Scott, was telling the audience, despite the fact there are a lot of new technological innovations in the future, the human condition is still more important.