Blade Runner 2049 is a visual masterpiece. While this movie does have issues with plot and pacing, I still enjoy it and consider it one of my favorite films. Throughout the film, the combination of practical and visual effects is used spectacularly to build the world of 2049 and has resulted in some of the most iconic shots in recent cinema. Here, I will analyze how the opening 5 minutes of the movie demonstrates this, establishing the world and its characters
The first opening credits aren't anything special, however I appreciate the attention to detail, theming them around the movies Sci-Fi, dystopian world. When the movie properly starts, the first bits of text which show exposition about the world of Blade Runner are shown. The word "replicant" is the first thing the audience sees and reads; it's in red text and shown in the upper left corner of the screen. This is an extremely important aspect of the movie and it's introduction. In the film, the way to tell if someone is a replicant is to have them look to the upper left to reveal their model number imprinted on their eye. While it's simple and an easy detail to miss, it's very atmospheric and immersive and acts as a test for the audience.
The non diegetic sounds, the song "2049" composed by Hans Zimmer is a haunting soundtrack and the ambiance is perfectly set by the lonely piano chords at roughly the 1 minute mark and the long drawn out futuristic synths combined with the imagery of the opening eye. Who's eye it is is a bit of a mystery, it could be K himself or more likely, Ana Stelline, the memory maker, watching back on the film, which in itself is a memory. It's not all uncommon but this is still a strange shot, typically we open with an establishing shot whereas this film opens with the complete, opposite kind of shot. This extreme close up shot signifies the start of the movie and shows the audience the almost unnatural beauty of this eye, which implicitly sets up one of the core themes of this movie, the line between what is real and what isn't.
This is then followed by a few matching shots of the circular patterned solar panels in the protein farm. This is the first look we as the audience have at the future of 2049. We expect a familiar mise-en-scene of futuristic Sci-fi city-scapes and architecture that rises high in the sky. Instead we are greeted with a farm, enveloped in mist. Denis Villeneuve has specifically chosen this aspect of mist for the first establishing shots in this movie and I'll touch on that later. In place of the lack of Sci-Fi Motifs, we have a few shots inside the spinner, keeping with the same neutral grey colour pallet mixed with blue.
We also see the first actual shots of our main character K, even though we don't get a super clear view of his face.
This is then followed up with some shots of Sapper in the protein farm, like this wide shot where Sapper is framed in the center and the composition is very symmetrical. A desaturated colour pallet is used once again but we have all three primary colours present, Mostly blue and yellow, framing Sapper in red.
We continue with more diegetic sounds and he music fades out. Now the audience is placed in a more unfamiliar atmosphere and this builds tension for the interrogation scene.
This is an iconic shot from the movie. Like Sapper, K, who is the darkest subject in the shot, is framed in the center of the shot alongside a lighter colour pallet made up of grey tones. This composition of having the subject in the center creates a matching shot for the characters. Here, the element of mist appears once again, enveloping the main character, this time representing how K initially hides the fact he is a blade runner from Sapper. This also gives the audience a sense of mystery of who this character is with the mist veiling him and how his coat covers up his body up to his face. Alongside this, an important plot element, the tree, is shown in this shot, placed along the most right intersection in the rule of thirds, which is pleasant for the eye and is an important place for a subject to be placed. This shot overall, places our attention on the main character while still conveying to the audience of how important the tree is for later on in the movie is as well.
Following this is a panning shot of the scenery, leading to K, still not showing the audience a clear shot of his face which keeps that sense of mystery installed in the audience. Now we get some interior shots where I want to discuss the lighting.
In this shot, the three point lighting system is mostly abandoned, only keeping the backlight. This silhouettes K and further bolsters the mystery and vagueness around the character.
Finally we end with two matching shots of both of our characters.
Both characters are framed in the most right intersection of the rule of thirds. K is presented as more of a villain, enveloped in his coat with a harsh light shining on him, leaving half in face in shadow to show he's hiding something. His environment is dark and dingy too, further bolstering the negative connotations surrounding this character, Meanwhile, Sapper is in a much brighter environment, with a softer light on him, presenting him to be more of an innocent character. K is looking directly into the camera while Sapper is facing away and the effect of this on the audience is that is shows who will be in a position of power in the next scene.
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