The Representation of Genre and Narrative in the Opening...

The Representation of Genre and Narrative in the Opening Sequence of the Film Blade Runner For this essay question I am going to be viewing and exploring the themes of genre and narrative in the first 10minutes of the film Blade Runner. Blade Runner was first released in 1982, directed by Ridley Scott (The Duellists 1977 and Alien 1979), Blade Runner was a film adaptation of Phillip K Dicks novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Originally a box office flop the film soon built itself a cult following. Its status as a significant science fiction film was further enhanced by the re-release of Blade Runner - The Directors cut in 1992 which omitted the voice-over and, more significantly,†¦show more content†¦Although Stanley Kubricks 2001 - A Space Odyssey (1968) had great impact science fiction did not become popular with audiences again until the late 1970s with Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). The special effects created for these two films set a standard for future productions. Budgets for this new type of film were huge but so were the potential profits - the commercial possibilities of film merchandising were first realised with Star Wars and the popularity of science fiction blockbusters continued up to the present day with the success of films like E.T. (1982), Jurassic Park (1993) and Men in Black (1997). Blade Runner also contains elements from the visual style of Film Noir in its unique presentation. The sequence I am studying contains specific generic conventions in the sequence, from this we can break down the meaning of the sequence and how it helps present us with an expectation of the film we are about to see. The first thing we see at the start of the sequence is a view of Los Angeles in the year 2019, it shows a vast cityscape with the whole horizon packed with buildings and flying traffic. Towering city blocks with huge advertising boards adorning the gargantuan buildings, it is what we would expectShow MoreRelatedBlade Runner – a Method to the Generic Madness2468 Words   |  10 Pagesdistinctive characteristics from both science fiction and film noir, in the multi-generic film Blade Runner. In order to do this, we must first establish what the main characteristics are for film noir and science fiction respectively. These can be divided into visual style, structure and narrational devices, plots, characters and settings and finally worldview, morality and tone. The reason why it is important to know these genres, is because genre consists of a set of codes, that are recognized and