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Blade Runner and Metropolis: The non too distant future?

 

            Films throughout history have used their misc-en-scene to convey something to the audience about their past, present, or even future. One element of misc-en-scene is lighting and how it is used which might include shadowing or where the light is coming from in a certain scene. Another example is how the background or set is constructed and appears, which help give a film a definite time and place. Props and certain motifs most definitely help a film, they can help the audience make connections to the people and give hints to the audience as to what is going on. In addition to these is the make-up and costumes an actor has on cements exactly where we are when we watch a film and what these actors are involved in. This segues right into the final element of misc-en-scen; acting, acting, whether it be an accent, an expression or how they move helps the audience feel what they are feeling and to experience what they are experiencing. In the openings of the films Metropolis (Lang, 1926) and Blade Runner (Scott, 1982), all of these elements of misc-en-scene contributed to the filmmaker's vision of the future.
             The set design in the films Metropolis (Lang, 1926) and Blade Runner (Lang, 1926) helps set a dreary hopeless view of the future. For example in Metropolis(1926), all of the sets are comprised of angles, some are sharp jagged edges or perfect right angles, the exception being the clock shown in the beginning. The angles in the set design symbolize the confining nature of the city and how there is a limit and border to which people cannot pass, which includes fun and happiness. In addition to that, is that in the city, there is very little definition to any objects as well as no indication where something is located. These suggest that this could happen anywhere in the future, as well as it symbolizes how nothing really matters anymore because everything looks and feels the same.


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