Blade Runner
Plot
There is a basic standard used in most of the classical narratives. Usually, there is a stable condition known as equilibrium in the start that is then disrupted by an evil force known as the disruption. After the effect is fought, order returns, and a new balance is established. The plot of the film Blade Runner follows such a three-step development. The opening scene reveals the movie as it exists in its normalcy were police detectives are identifying replicants as part of their usual tasks. At the end of the stage, replicants arrive on earth, and the suspect Leon shoots a detective in the process. Then, the movie introduces the protagonist, who is Deckard. He is reading a newspaper waiting to eat dinner, unaware that Leon had shot a detective. Deckard’s life seems at balance and in order. Still, that equilibrium is disrupted when Deckard gets arrested by Gaff, and Captain Bryant assigns him the role of targeting and eliminating the replicants. The return of the stability is achieved with Deckard destroying the remaining replicants. When he finally defeats the antagonists, the order is restored. With such, Blade Runner’s plot fits in Todorov’s narrative theory of equilibrium, disequilibrium, and new equilibrium.
Form
The technical and artistic achievements of the Blade Runner in the scene where Deckard shoots Zhora Salome can best be explained based on how the shot composition, shot type, camera movement, editing, lighting, and sound develop emotions of the scene. The shot composition utilizes angles and perspectives that create a three-dimensional portrayal of the characters to allow them to run about more realistically a naturally hence evoking emotions of interest. There is a full shot focusing more on Deckard’s entire body as he confidently shoots Zhora that shows his satisfaction in killing her. Immediately after Zhora is killed, there is a zoom, a camera movement that increases the focal length to magnify her body as Deckard examines it to create sympathy. The editor employs a cutting on action technique by cutting from one shot to another and matching the action of the shots to facilitate smooth transitions, thus developing tense feelings of the scene. The scene is dark, with very few bright shots. The contrasts between the illuminated signs and the neon lights scattered through the darkened city streets create fear. Three are pulsing sounds of the road mixed with vocalized traffic signs that offer a mechanical symphony of confusion.
Culture
The Blade Runner reflected, and shaped attitudes about the relationship between humans and machines in the U.S by offering insights into what makes body human, risks of artificial intelligence, and how replicates replicate human concerns in terms of race/gender/class using convections of science and film noir. The continuity of memory makes a body human. Although the human body changes with time, memory offers a foundation for identity. That is why despite Rachael being the most advanced replicant, she is a tragic figure because her memory is not hers, as it comes from her inventor’s niece. Artificial intelligence can be dangerous because the replicates can be programmed to engage in devastating acts. For instance, they can be programmed to kill and cause mass casualties, given they are designed to be extremely difficult to turn off. As a result, humans could plausibly lack control of such situations. Concerns on gender, race, and class are expressed in the form of gender atrocities towards females, the lack of minority groups in the film, and insignificant roles of the lower class in the movie. The female replicants are sexually exploited, brutally assaulted, and killed by men, and there are no single black replicants in the film, even though it is set in Los Angeles, an exceptionally diverse city. At the same time, characters of the lower class exist for the pleasure of protagonists. The film uses convections of science and film noir to explore the questions through Deckard’s in his role marked by romance and violence