shot-for-shot part 1: analysis

VIEW SHOT FORMS

NAME: Brenna Empey

DATE: 10/4/2016

DP: Jase Van Meeteren

FILM 3: SHOT-FOR-SHOT DUPLICATION
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT OF INTENT

1.    What film or TV show is this from?

Blade Runner (1982, Ridley Scott)

a.    In 3-5 sentences, what has happened in the story before this scene?

Deckard is an ex-police officer tasked with tracking and killing four replicants, which are bioengineered humans that are illegal on Earth. His investigation leads him to the Tyrell Corporation, a company that manufactures the type of replicant he’s tracking down. It is there that he administers a “Voight-Kampff” test on Tyrell’s assistant Rachael – the test is meant to test if a being is human or replicant, and he discovers that she is a replicant who believes she is human. After a bit more investigation and some run-ins with rogue replicants, Rachael comes to Deckard’s apartment to try and prove that she really is human.

2.    What is the theme of this film?

I would say the theme of Blade Runner is how consciousness, morality and empathy constitute humanness. A lot of the events in this movie are there to prove that replicants can both be good and evil, just like humans. Replicants can have empathy, and some have such strong consciousness that they believe they are human, like Rachael and Deckard.

3.    What is the story—the beginning, middle, and end—of your scene in three or four sentences? In other words, what happens as the scene starts, as it progresses, and as it ends?

Rachael questions whether or not Deckard believes she’s a replicant, and then tries to prove to him that she isn’t by showing him an old family photo. To her disappointment and shock, he begins reiterating detailed memories from her past, saying that they’re implanted and belong to someone else – specifically, Tyrell’s niece. She becomes distressed and emotional as she realizes he may be right, and she discards the photo before briskly leaving his apartment.

4.    What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively in order to engage in this scene? How does the director communicate each piece of information?

I think the most important thing to understand about these characters and this scene is that Deckard isn’t heartless – his task in the narrative is to hunt and kill replicants, but he isn’t a monster. He knows he’s hurting Rachael by saying her memories are fabricated and that she’s a replicant, and once she shows signs of emotional distress, he tries to backtrack and get her a drink to make up for it. Deckard isn’t antagonistic even though he may appear that way in this scene. I think it’s also important to understand that the director chose to give Rachael very human emotions, making even the audience doubt that she’s a replicant.

5.    What is the narrative, emotional and thematic purpose of this scene in the larger story?

This scene is a huge plot point for Deckard and Rachael’s relationship. Rachael isn’t scared of Deckard at the end of this, even though she knows he knows that she’s a replicant. He isn’t going to hunt and kill her even though her presence on Earth is technically illegal. It’s less about that and more about the fact that they share an emotional connection – Deckard doesn’t want to hurt her, but feels she has the right to know that her memories are implanted. Even though Rachael is upset at the end of this scene, overall this difficult interaction proves to strengthen their relationship and their trust in each other, especially when Deckard realizes he’s a replicant.

6.    What emotion do you think the director wanted the audience to experience in this scene? Why? How did the director achieve this? How do you intend to do this?  

I think the director wants the audience to feel empathy toward Rachael – having an identity crisis is a human thing, albeit hers is a little different than the typical identity crisis. Point is, the emotions she’s going through as Deckard reiterates her memories are visible on her face and in her acting, and it’s hard to watch. She’s losing any sense of anything she thought was true, and that’s a hopeless place to be. It’s a place no one ever wants to find themselves. The cinematography aids this, because as Rachael is becoming more and more distressed, the camera closes in and the shots get tighter. Then, when Deckard is finished with the conversation, the shots widen out – both Rachael and Deckard look very alone in the frame. I’ll replicate the cinematography to create these emotions, and I hope I can get the same sort of subtle but powerful emotions that Sean Young portrays as Rachael.

7.    What is the first image of the scene? What is the final image of the scene? Why do you think the director chose these specific images?

The first image is Rachael, surrounded by darkness, only her face illuminated. She questions whether or not Deckard really believes she’s a replicant. The last image is Deckard surrounded by the same sort of darkness, only half of his face illuminated. He’s just watched Rachael leave in distress and now feels very alone. Filming these two characters in the same way at the opening and closing of this scene feels very intentional – they’re both in dark places during this scene, and experience difficult emotions of identity loss, confusion, guilt and empathy. I think it’s also important to note that the opening shot of Rachael puts her on the right third, while in Deckard’s closing frame, he’s on the left third. Even though they aren’t in the same room anymore, it’s like they’re still talking.

8.    Why is this scene personal to you? What previous personal experience(s) does it remind you of? Ask yourself, “Why do I need to make this scene?”

I think we all go through a sort of identity crisis phase at some point in our lives, and I definitely experienced that as a teenager when I was trying to figure a lot of things out about myself. Obviously the gravity of Rachael’s identity crisis is more intense than mine – she’s finding out she isn’t even human – but I find her distress and emotion relatable here.

9.    Which specific visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) do you notice the director is using to purposefully communicate the emotion of the scene? What other elements is the director using to evoke emotion? (Be specific! Don’t just say “art direction,” although that’s a start, say, “scattered clothing on the bed, open closet doors…” etc.)

One thing this scene does really well is associate certain shapes and lines with certain characters. Rachael’s clothing is inherently round and has soft edges, like her billowing collar, and so does the style of her hair. All around, she looks much “softer” than Deckard. This entire scene takes place in Deckard’s apartment, which is full of harsh lines and shapes. The walls are covered in a square design, and most of the furniture, shelves, and lighting have sharp edges and 90-degree corners. For this reason, Rachael really stands out from her surroundings. The gravity of the scene is also communicated in the lighting, which is deliberately sourcey and high contrast. The characters’ eyes really stand out from the background more than anything else, which is ironic because their eyes make them the most human – and later in the film we discover that Deckard is a replicant just as well as Rachael.

10.  What focal lengths does the director appear to be using? Why?

He actually appears to be using wider lenses for most of the shots, and I think this works well to orient the audience in Deckard’s apartment. As the emotions heighten, especially with Rachael, the lenses get longer and the shots get tighter – the audience feels just as trapped as she does. When she’s finally defeated and realizes she’s probably a replicant, the lenses get very wide, even to 14mm, communicating her loneliness and hopelessness.

11.  In a bulleted list, describe two or three potential obstacles the filmmakers faced in creating a successful scene. How do you think they overcame these?

·         One thing that always gets me about Blade Runner is the costuming. It’s just really incredible. This scene in particular used Rachael’s costume to communicate something about her character – as I’ve mentioned before, she really stands out against the harsh lines and shapes of Deckard’s apartment because her clothing and hair have so many round edges. The filmmakers had to be very conscious about exactly how she looked in this scene, and exactly how Deckard looked as well, because they needed to contrast each other.

·         I didn’t expect this, but I think there were some obstacles with the writing of this scene – particularly the dialogue. As I was searching for the Blade Runner shooting script, I kept running across versions of the script where this scene was missing or very different. It took me a while to find the right script. This makes me think that this was a difficult interaction to approach, because it covers so many emotions and it’s a huge moment of character development for both Rachael and Deckard. It just goes to show that to get something right, sometimes you have to try a lot of different things and different approaches, which is what I think happened with this scene.

12.  In a bulleted list, describe two or three potential obstacles you may face in creating a successful scene. How can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific! 

·         The hardest thing for me, I think, will be finding a location. It’s one thing to find a location with a big window – a pretty hard thing to come across when most of your resources are college apartments – but it’s another thing to find a location with such a uniquely-shaped kitchen. There is a lot of texture going on in the location as well, which will be almost impossible to find and difficult to replicate.

·         I’m not much of a director so I think it’ll be difficult to pull such natural emotions out of the actress I choose for Rachael. It’s one thing to show the actress the scene from the actual movie before we shoot it – it’s another thing to recreate those emotions and make them look natural. I think one way to overcome this is to make sure I’m friends with the actress I cast, and I already have a few ideas in mind.