Blade Runner

1.) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

            In class it was explained that Blade Runner pulls a great deal of aesthetic, thematic, and musical elements from film noir movies. The style of Blade Runner is referred to as future noir by Paul M. Sammon in his book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner. This style is clearly apparent in the film: scenes are darkly lit, the story concerns a detective/police organization, and the score is reminiscent of film noir style. Most noticeable about the film's soundtrack is its combined use of traditional instruments with digital and synthesized ones. This creates a hybrid sound which furthers the film's futuristic setting. Since it would otherwise have been impossible to predict norms of the future, the design team behind the film created a futuristic world combining elements of the past with motifs that were trending at the time.

2.) Find a related article and summarize the content.

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/replicant4.htm

            An article on howstuffworks.com discusses the possibility and repercussions of Rick Deckard being a replicant. The article explains that in the original cut of the film and the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? upon which the film is based, there is no doubt that Deckard is a human but in the director's cut and final cut, there is doubt concerning Deckard's humanity. The article explains that the added scenes to the amended cuts of the film give clues that lead to Deckard's status as a replicant, and that director Ridley Scott, while deliberately leaving Deckard's fate ambiguous, believed he was a replicant. The article goes on to say that if Deckard is a replicant, then it raises a number of important questions including: how long have the police known he's a replicant, why do they permit him to go after other replicants and then escape, and how long will he live?

3.) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

            Parties involved in the production of Blade Runner seem to have varying opinions on Deckard's humanity. For example, director Ridley Scott believed Deckard to be a replicant while actor Harrison Ford does not. Since the details of the film are left ambiguous, Deckard's fate is left to guesswork. However, some scenes of the film have interesting implications depending on Deckard's nature. After administering the Voight-Kampff test to Rachel, Deckard asks "How can it not know what it is?" If Deckard is himself a replicant, then it is ironic that he should ask such a question. Additionally, in a deleted scene at the end of the movie, Rachel says to Deckard she believes the two were "made for each other," possibly implying that she is aware that Deckard is also a replicant.

4.) Write a critical analysis of the film.

            Following the success of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, Harrison Ford was eager to take on a more introverted role. While the themes of Blade Runner run deeper than those of his previous projects, Rick Deckard does not stray from the typical Harrison Ford screen persona. Ford is still playing the rugged-yet-relatable hero archetype for which he is famous. Blade Runner is in the middle of five movies beginning with The Empire Strikes Back and ending with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in which the actor is beaten, battered, and bruised by his opposition but still manages to win in the end. It is this sequence of films that cemented Ford's star status and established him as one of the major action/adventure stars of the 1980s.

            Blade Runner's relevancy to the science fiction genre comes in its settings and aesthetics. Never before had a future world seemed so plausible. Films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Black Hole may have featured a futuristic landscape, but until Blade Runner each future fantasy was too far removed from a contemporary setting. In previous sci-fi films the future was envisioned as being completely different from the modern world, with fashion style totally changed and technology unrecognizable. Blade Runner takes a different approach to the future. Instead of visualizing new technology the film enhances contemporary devices, predicting technological advancements that were not far from reality at the time of the film's release.

CHECKLIST FOR PLAGIARISM 
1) (X) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class. 

2) (X) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper. 

3) (X) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text. 

4) (X) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper. 

5) (X) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read. 

6) (X) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography. 

7) (X) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality. 

8) (X) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper. 

Name: ______Alex Wisniewski______________  Date: _______2/15/14_________________