With the release of "Blade Runner 2049," which by the way, is absolutely incredible, Getty Images has put together a collection of production stills from the incredible 1982 original film. The new movie was produced by Ridley Scott, who directed "Blade Runner" thirty some years ago in both the real world and in the film's sequence. The collection of color plus black and white photographs emphasize the detail and grit of this futuristic film noir world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=eogpIG53Cis
Getty's edit further underscores how artful and intentional the production of the film was and continues to be to this day. Photographs of Harrison Ford in the role of Deckard chasing down bioengineered slaves known as Replicants, including Roy as played by Rutger Hauer, reveal additional details one might miss watching the movie. You can check out the photographs here.
Having now watched "Blade Runner 2049" since first viewing these production stills, both the photographs and most certainly the original film have infinitely more depth now added to them. "Blade Runner 2049" has potentially overthrown "Star Wars" as my favorite film universe, which is saying quite a lot. You can check out the trailer below, in theaters now.
I believe the new film was shot digitally, and it looks absolutely wonderful. This offers definitive proof that movies shot on film do not "look better", as has been claimed by Christopher Nolan and others. I saw Dunkirk in a very high quality theater and shadow detail was muddy. The new Blade Runner features endless dark, shadowy scenes, yet the on-screen image was as fine as could be achieved on film or with digital capture. Digital can be made to look anyway you want it to, it's just a matter of correctly capturing the data required to produce the images.
Saw this story today regarding the new Blade's digital capture:
http://realorfake4k.com/my-product/blade-runner-2049/
It was shot on Alexa, and Deakins was part of all the coloring and mastering for the different screen formats. That's part of why it looked so good.
"A Place Beyond the Pines" is another movie to look at for amazing color and mastering. I watched it three times trying to figure out what they shot it with before I looked it up.
"Blade Runner" and "Star Wars" universes are nothing the same and I don't think they can be compared in any way. Star Wars is a "space soup opera" on steroids. Blade Runner is brilliant on so many levels, even with all the inconsistencies that time reveals when you revisit the old film nowadays. I did not see the new one yet, I hope it to be good...
thanks for the link. the photos are great!
Definitely, they are nothing in the same, simply two of my all time favorite cinematic universes. Nostalgia plays into it heavily for me, as well.
Enjoy the new film!
Yeah! told me about nostalgia. I'm 46 and I'm watching Mazinger Z again!
Loved Blade Runner and just saw Blade Runner 2049. Both had incredible lighting and cinematography. I'm happy to find that BR 2049 honors the original and add to the universe. I always worry when they "reboot" a classic. No need to sweat it on this one.