Kuleshov Effect

The Deckard introduction scene uses Mise-en usefully as a way to introduce the world and main character of Blade Runner. Ridley Scott wants the audience to understand clearly the world and characters as he knows as this scene is the best way to further the plot, as for some it will be too complexed to fully get the movie. So by feeding the information through this scene, to whom Deckard’s character and the world he lives in.

Set Design is very important to the scene as this is the audience’s first real look of the streets of this cyberpunk world, so he needed to make an impact. The way he does this is by compacting the scene with many people to show how this is dystopian Los Angeles facing over population but the surprise too many audiences of the 1982 would have been how familiar it looks to a normal street covered with stalls and restaurants. By 1982 futuristic films always used unusual sets such as in Alien with the space ship but this scene is used to create a realistic future unlike the latter what was using sets to create a unrealistic one. So by the use of these stalls and restaurants with an over compact street shows this world as being small scaled. This sets ups the world perfectly as it’s different to anything else what comes before, while achieving verisimilitude what is done by a familiar set but in an unexpected place.

Costume is used in this scene to separate everyone from each other through culture, job and personality as Deckard can be seen in a mixed cultured district and is distinguishable through his bleak brown clothes unlike the others who have colour to their costumes. Culture is shown by the cook wearing traditional Japanese chefs clothing. Personality can be seen by Gaff who looks like he is wearing high end clothing what can show his smug personality. However these characters are wearing normal clothing, so again it’s used to make the audience feel familiar with the setting. Though there are costumes what uses the futuristic setting in their design such as woman on screen for 5 seconds can clearly be seen wearing futuristic goggles. The reluctance of using that many futuristic costumes is likely to not take away focus of the plot by not going over the top.

Space at the beginning is by the focus being on the narrow street until the camera shifts focus on Deckard who becomes the foreground while the neon light background surrounding him to signify him as the protagonist and is important in this story. When Gaff comes up to Deckard, again he is the foreground while Gaff and the other detective are in the background as a way to show them as unimportant. This focus on Deckard is a way to show the audience this is the person you’ll be focusing on.

Lighting is key in this movie as a whole as this movie is presented as bleak to connect to its theme of being in a bleak future. Throughout this film and this scene light is always used in minimal quantities. This is shown by the neon lights and restaurant, even though the part with the restaurant takes up most of the scene, the lighting seems to be off by the use of steam and the dark background when focusing on Deckard by them blocking out the key light hitting the faces of Deckard and Gaff’s. The use of light gives unease as it’s a very unusual feeling you get from the light on the screen. Scott or his team likely came up with this effect to show the themes such as global affects what at that time would cause unease as these weren’t that much of an issue.

Composition is used well by the arrangement of both sound and lighting. This is seen by the narrow street where the sound is foreign music further implies the themes of mixed-culture and overpopulation. The scene also becomes unbalanced by the amount of people walking down the street what shows the same theme. While lighting is presented only being seen on both sides of the street not in the centre head on, this is implying that the only source of light is from artificial light and not natural light showing the theme of global dimming. This affects the audience as this gives more layers of understanding to the world.

Make-up and hair plays a small part in the scene as these can be only be seen on background characters such as the man at the restaurant with green face paint. This is likely done to make those characters more memorable to the audience.

Film stock and aspect ratio plays into the film by being shot in colour. The use of neon colour gives the film its identity of being cyberpunk. The use of colour also makes it more unique viewing for the audience.

In movies there are two type’s elements incorporated into film and that’s micro and macro. The micro element in film is to do with how the film comes together and how it flows from beginning to end. What forms the micro element is editing, mis-en-scene, cinematography and sound. Editing is used to put the scenes in the right order, to correct mistakes and to improve scenes such as ones what include CGI or may have different camera shots. However too much could see the audience pick out where the effect or camera is slightly not up to standards. Mis-en-scene is the part of the process where they build the scene with certain props or use background/green screen. ‘Cinematography is the art and process of movie photography’ such as how the movie such as if the film is being filmed in black and white or if the film is using first person or third person for the scene. Sound is used throughout film as it includes music, noises and talking, this part of the element is used mostly used to create a mood such as possibly sadness or joy. In The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly the sound is used to show tension between characters as well as danger in my opinion this is a good use of sound in film.

The micro element is what is included in the film. Genre is the theme of the film such as horror or crime what has to be the core throughout the plot of the film. Messages and values should be used to create an effect on the viewer or audience as it could be used as a way to sympathise with the characters or to teach the audience such as movies based on true stories. This gives more of a reason to watch movie because of this. Representation is part of film what continuously debated as minorities haven’t been represented in film through Hollywood however more films are starting to use a diverse cast as films like Gods of Egypt was criticised even by one of their own actors of white washing. Having a diverse cast adds more to movie as it creates more realistic cast of characters unless it’s based upon something. The narrative of the film is how the film comes together to tell a story. Style in film is down to how the director directs his work as will use certain camera techniques, certain types of effects or camera if the film has an off colour background, examples of this are the directors Quentin Tarantino with blood effects and Zack Snyder with certain camera shots and having green tint in his lens, this how their films become memorable. The authorship is considered as the level of the director who is seen as the sole author of the film. Theme is what gives layers to the film by being able to build a more complex story by giving more meaning behind such things as a dialogue. To make a good film there should be a good balance of theme where there is not too much to complicate the film or to little so there is nothing complexed about the film. In Goodfellas the use of theme is used to show how complexed each character with some showing greed while others anger.

To make a good film, each individual part of both elements must be incorporated but must be used in a way what is well balanced as you don’t want to be called out for something what can hurt the film in the end in the way as if you didn’t use these in the final cut. Goodfellas includes all the above as it focuses on a balance to give you the immersion of life as an American gangster or The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly what makes you feel like you’re in the West.

All-time favourites

Best Picture: Goodfellas

Best director: Martin Scorsese

Best Actor: Robert De Niro

Best Soundtrack: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly/Star wars

Goodfellas, September 12 1990, Martin Scorsese

One of Martin Scorsese’s iconic styles is his long take what can be seen in his most critical acclaimed movies but this one is his most iconic long shot to show the relationships between characters, and the advantage of being a gangster. He uses this as a way to take away attention from the violence and illegal behavior of being gangster and shows the upside of it and makes a much calmer scene compared to the rest of the movie. He has done this to make the scene more memorable as it is the part of the movie what is completely different to everything else as its much more chaotic and violent. The type of shot used is sequence shot what allows the background of the scene to become realistic and more layered. The shot took 8 times to get right as it was by a problem with the set what made them having to shoot the scene entering at the back. Scorsese decided to do this unbroken as a way to symbolize the life ahead for Henry.