This is Not Blade Runner by Chipka
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Description
As I write this, Corey and I are watching Ridley Scott’s classic Blade Runner. Harrison Ford looks so young, Sean Young looks like she has an acting career, Daryl Hannah is incredibly skinny with an airbrushed make-up job, and Rutger Hauer has incredibly blond hair. In short, this is a deliriously brilliant movie. It’s one I know by heart. And as a confirmed Science Fiction aficionado, I recognize it as a dazzling (if improbable) spectacle. I bring this up for two reasons. The first is simple: I love that movie. The second is a wee bit more personal in that “artistic expression” arena. I love the cinematography. I can lose myself in this movie and not care that Los Angeles in 2019 has pyramids and artificial life forms (human and otherwise) are a normal part of existence. The movie looks so good that I can even suspend my disbelief whenever that huge UFO-Mothership of an advertising blimp hovers over LA, while enormous geishas eat sushi with their fingers! on buildings with television screens for sides. The last I checked, however, Geishas don’t eat with their fingers, and LA doesn’t look anything like that! Ah, but this is one sexy movie! It’s night shots galore, it’s poetic dialogue. And well…Sean Young uses the word “lesbian” on screen…heady stuff for 1982!
So now, as I write this, Corey and I are watching Blade Runner and deciding what pictures to post.
Ridley Scott and I have little in common, but I think that we both have a thing for really moody night shots. Well, his are all done in some massive studio in England. Mine are done…well…in real cities like Prague and Chicago. Whenever I do night shots, however, I think of Blade Runner. As a kid, entranced by that movie, I’d wanted to somehow create images with the stark, dark vibe I’d seen on screen. As an adult, with a digital camera, I’m still hypnotized by Sean Young, lit dramatically with that 1930s hairdo and 1980s shoulder pads. She smokes in that scene. She’s risqué. Her lipstick doesn’t smear; nor does it come off on her cigarette filter.
As a digital photographer, science fiction writer, and fan of the genre, I’m amazed at how similar some of my own night shots are to the mood of that movie. There are times, especially downtown, when it seems as if I’m seeing the city through the eyes of Harrison Ford’s Dekkert character. Lucklily I’m never stalked by “replicants” and Edward James Olmos doesn’t pop out of nowhere and inexplicably speaking Hungarian to me. (And for those of you who might have seen that movie, the scene in which “Gaff” recruits Dekkert, at the noodle place is a cheat. Gaff is supposed to be speaking some made up language, but he’s actually speaking Hungarian. I learned this from Hungarians I’d met in Prague. The Poker guys who you might hear about later. I’m still in touch with them, and once I’m on the international circuit again, I’m going to watch Blade Runner with them…probably in some living room in Budapest! THAT will be fun, and I wonder what Budapest will look like if I photograph it at night.
So, as I ramble—midway through the movie as it plays on DVD, now—I keep thinking about night shots and half-lit faces look on screen. I have yet to photograph a Sean Young look-alike in a weirdly retro/futuristic Los Angeles. If I manage to do that, I hope she’s wearing 80s-style shoulder-pads. I doubt that will ever happen, but now—as major drama occurs on one screen—I see the city of Chicago on another. Familiar music plays, and somehow Chicago, bears something in common with the 80s synth-heavy music of Vangelis. I love that. It doesn’t mean I’ve reached a photographic goal, but WOW…look at that light…it’s all bleak and heartless, and there’s even a bit of smog on top!
***
As always, thank you for viewing, commenting and reading and I hope you're all having a great weekend.
Comments (29)
Markal
Cool...needs an advertising blimp in the sky...LOL!
beachzz
Your night shots are just amazing. They become other worlds, universes as yet undiscovered, filled with surreal light and shadows. I expect strange creatures to pop out from under the bridge, from under the water, from just about anywhere. I see footprints, but no people, which makes me think no one goes out at night, for fear those night monsters will get them. On the other hand, maybe it's just really late at night, and most people are in bed. But that's not nearly as fun a thought!!
dadon72
Chicago is definitely on my list of must see places and this just reiterates that fact... an opitome of how beautiful a metropolis can be. A Sci-fi nut myself, obviously Blade Runner is a classic. I think cinematography is under-rated as it can make or break a movie in a lot of cases, and most people overlook it in favor of the actors and their work. Great shot Chip, I hope you have more of these coming.
myrrhluz
I have thoroughly enjoyed myself in your world again! Thank you! Reading your words, I checked my son's collection and found that he has "Blade Runner" I knew he wouldn't fail me. His collection of 'Dark' is pretty extensive. I'm looking forward to watching it for the first time in years, with your words in my head. I love this picture! I shrunk it down so I could see it all at once, then blew it up so I could look at details. The first thing I noticed was the golden glow in the sky. Is this a light out of shot, a reflection of the city lights in the night sky or a trick of the light? Whatever it's origin, it has the effect of adding weight to the scene. This is an image of contradictions to me. In an incredibly cold scene of stark white trees, ice in the river, snow on the paths, and bare branches, running up the side of the picture to an empty sky, yet there is the heat and charged atmosphere of a modern city. It seems at once both coldly impersonal and glowing and alive. Excellent shot and narrative!
nowadayhero
Nice shot, man! The mood is really fantastic, cold, bright and foggy - as the future must be! :) The future we compared reality with is now, but it is not opposed to reality any more, it contains reality, it IS reality. And things we were running from are things we came to. Because science fiction, while showing us the visions of other worlds, inevitable leads us back to human, to ourselves, back to life.
KatesFriend
Great memories. I love that movie so much. It is a New Years Eve tradition for me. We ring in the New Year and then watch Blade Runner before retiring. In the past CITY-TV in Toronto played the movie at the end of their New Year's Eve celebration. These days, it's the directors cut on DVD. But you also should mention the sounds. Not just the etherial Vangellis sound track but the noise of the crowds, the police sirens fritting here and there, the automated cross walks ("cross now"), the (always) rain and the amplified advertisements echoing from those giant air ships. And the neon, so much neon. On another note, I passed a mile stone today. Renderosity pulled my most recent piece for violating the site's TOS. Sigh, personally I've seen much worse. Well, everyone needs a black mark on their permanent record I suppose. Cheers!
ToniDunlap
Listen to you, as I ramble. HA! You do that so well. I like that movie too. And your night scene here is spectacular. Always interesting and wonderful stuff!!
Meisiekind
Oh I know all about knowing movies by heart! I do know a few myself but they are more romantic by nature! I love your narrative Chip, getting all passionate and gagga over Blade Runner and night scenes and LA with pyramids!! :))) Your image - wow! I just love the stark mood. It looks a lot like the area where Clark Street crosses the river. Well, but then again, all the street crossing the river probably looks the same! A fav for sure!
geirla
Excellent picture! (yours and the movie - need to see that again for the I forget how many time)
whaleman
I think you do a smart thing when you think of a mood or a movie scene while shooting a modern digital camera at night. It obviously helps you to 'see' the scene you want because you capture it very well!
ragouc
Very cool..
durleybeachbum
I have a confession...I've not watched Blade Runner! But I'm sure my one of my lodgers has it on DVD so I may remedy this. I even probably thought Sean Young was a bloke. The photo is splendid, that glow in the sky most remarkable!
watapki66
Beautiful scene!
helanker
OH Yes I look and I see a wonderful night shot. Breathtakingly beautiful.
flora-crassella
wonderful night picture!!!!
alwaysonmymind
Blade Runner entranced me too; I did, however, never fully appreciate the alleged subtle differences of it's myriad endings, on which through the decades a great many ink and pixels were lavished. Anecdotically, if I remember well, there were quite a few movies in which Sean Young ends up smashing through glass coffee tables. Must have been a running joke.
LovelyPoetess
Awesome movie, one I make a point of watching every few years for the very reasons you list. Excellent shot of the city, you definately reached your objective in this photo. : )
auntietk
Not being much of a movie buff, I haven't seen Blade Runner ... something for which I hope you'll forgive me! But I love this shot. Fantastic!
MrsRatbag
What a beautiful night shot; you're wonderful at these, conveying such a feeling of impending... something!
kgb224
Outstanding capture and story line my friend.
mbz2662
It's been a good long while since I saw Blade Runner! I love night photos. I don't know what it is, maybe it's the mystery, magical and enchantment you can only see in the night. Whatever it is, you have captured it beautifully here~
bmac62
Oh, no...I have to echo Andrea and Tara...I haven't seen Blade Runner either. But I may just remedy that the next time I order a movie through Netflix. Your night shot is all that has been said above...it is moody and I always marvel at any picture in a large city where there are no people. You know, the lights are on but nobody's home:) Another very good read Chip. Thanks:)
elisheba
Excellent capture, a shot that could be located anywhere in the universe, I like that and how the lights and colors create that effect. Could be an alien town, and I always love it when the photographer/artist/writer/creator/whatever! manages to make us share his vision, to make us see the world with his/her own eyes, wich is what art is all about: take people into our own world, hell, universe, whatever that is ours and that becomes something more once it is shared... And those eyes of yours are also Dekkert's eyes... Very good job :)
jif3d
I reckon if you slapped a couple of crazed cyborgs in there and a touch of sky-traffic, then Mr Scott would have to watch his heels ! Very well composed capture and night time lighting ! ~Cheers~ BTW, Bladerunner is one of all time fav sci-fi's.
xpersona
Piękna sceneria. Doskonała fotografia. Pozdrawiam.
CoreyBlack
No, it's not Blade Runner but it's very close, all it needs is a bit more congestion, that advertising blimp, repeating "Looking for a life of excitement and adventure, then let's go to the Offworld Colonies..." and an errant 1960 Chrysler Imperial that keeps showing up incongruously in all of the traffic with an air conditioner on top. There's not as much neon, but you captured that cold, night-time vibe extremely well. The city never looked so sleek and modern to me as it does in this picture. The title is--as I've said--very evocative of a particular town in a particular movie, at a particular time in my life. Wonderful shot!
EricSBauer
Would be cool if it was, you'd have some light trails in the sky:)! Very well composed.
sawade
Hi Chip, a wonderful sight in your photo. What an exciting land, your country. Bladerunner? I have the movie now in blueray too. I have seen the picture many years ago, and was so overwhelmed by the opening scene. I love this movie, and I think, Harrison Ford at its best. Ridley Scott is always good. Los Angeles, it could be so. All the best, Bernd
mwthunderclap
Brilliant!