Blade Runner: Cinematography

Blade Runner has excellent cinematography and lighting. The lighting with the characters matches the mood each character is feeling.

The first scene we see with people, we see the silhouette of a strange man, smoking, a ceiling fan, and blue light spilling into the smokey room. The next time we cut to this scene, as we get closer to the building, we learn more: A table, 2 chairs, and mysterious objects sitting there. We cut back again, to find this is an office of sorts. We get to see the man for the first time, and we see his "subject," Leon. When Leon sits down, he is outlined with light, and the majority of his form is in a shadow - Perhaps a symbolic representation of a facade hiding what one truly is. - The entire scenes lighting suggests cold and impersonal tone; strictly business.

The next scene we see, we are introduced to Deckard. He is sitting outside of a building with a lot of neon and televisions: A representation of the high tech world. He crosses to the restaurant , which has sickly green neon lights. He crosses from a pretty "ideal" world, a world that glories in its technological advancement, into a harsh ugly "reality."

When Deckard is learning about the details of the replicants, the lighting resumes the extremely cold and impersonal tone, to a more extreme level: It is absolutely all business; no humanity to be found.

At the Tyrell Corporation's offices, we move from the cold, blue/grey setting into a golden one: Everything is beautiful, wonderful, as it should be, it is paradise. In this scene, towards the end when Tyrell and Decker are talking, when the camera is looking at Tyrell, there is light dancing around in the background; it looks like a water pattern of some sort. When we look at Deckard, his background is dark. It shows Tyrell's knowledge, a certain amount of enlightenment, while Deckard, is in the dark.

In Deckard's Apartment with Rachel the light spilling in from outside silhouettes Deckard. A light near him turns on as if motion activated, but it does little to nothing to illuminate Deckard: he is guarded; he is keeping things to himself. Later he reveals what he knows in a harsh, blunt way. The lighting is harsh, the shadows defined. Light streaming through the blinds. The lighting on Rachel is soft: the shadows of the blinds are diffused strongly.
Once Rachel leaves, and the kitchen light goes off, Deckard is alone again: All he knows is himself, and everything else is darkness.

Later when we return to Deckard's Apartment, we learn more about him as the camera moves across the appartment. The Lighting silhouettes certain objects, hiding some, revealing others. We stop on an old piece of the past: a Piano, sheet music, and photographs.
When he analyzes a photo he found, the lighting plays in subtly to the scene. As the machine zooms in and enhances, the scene is dark. Once it stops on what Deckard wanted to see closer, the lighting around the screen lights up. As he discovers more, we get closer and closer. Towards the end, we have an extreme close up on his eyes: a revelation of some sort.

Fairly comistantly we see lighting reflect the emotional tone. The only time it doesn't really seem to, is when Deckard is first taken to the police station and to the office of his old boss.

Blade Runner also has a wide variety of lighting textures. Blinds, glass, steel bars, smoke, railings, fans, and water, all create excellent shadows and light distortion.

The final scenes of the movie, the way they are lit and the way they are filmed, gives the sense of insanity, which builds the tension. The bright back light and background fills everything, as the final lines of Roy's monologue are delivered, a revelation, something that can not be escaped.