Analysis

 Blade Runner

The opening of blade runner already reflects it's own individual style. The opening credits made it feel like star wars by them disappearing off the top of the screen while still making the film feel original and fresh by existing the screen rather then retracting into central screen. The first shot we see is an establishing shot where we overlook a futuristic city at night Which visually is stunning and draws the spectator into this strange world. After some explosion s in the distance we then see an extreme close up of someone's eye watching these explosion's over the city happen and we can continue to see this through the reflection of the eye. The darkness and small lights create a futuristic peaceful atmosphere because we like the person watching this in the film aren't moving or evening blinking and with the calming but slightly electronic music we are drawn further into the movie like this person focus on the view. This cuts back and forth to short long shots of a man in a suit smoking in what appears to be an office. This is very unusual and individual of Scott to do as most directors would just do this in one cut which already hints that this film is different and unusual which draws us in more because we as the spectators are more interested as to what will happen as we are uncertain due to the originality already being shown within the first 2 minutes. The shot has very low key lighting and this added with the smoke from this man's cigarette also makes us more uncertain and therefore intrigued with what's happening by creating a mysterious atmosphere. One of the main reason Scott used lowkey lighting  and smoke was actually to hide the sets because he didn't like them and as a graphic designer he didn't think that the quality was good enough so with virtually no budget left, he disguised and tried to hide them while still adding to the mood and atmosphere of the scene. Another man walks in and appears to be a medical patient based on the clothing he's wearing and how he acts. By the dialogue exchanged between the two we know this is a test. The reactions from the patient that we now know is called Leon are strange and weird for us the close ups show his strange reactions. This draws us in even more because we want to know and work out what's going on. When asked about his mother, Leon just whips out a gun, stands up and shoots the Doctor Which is very erratic and sudden and then the shot just cuts to outside in the futuristic city again We are then taken into the city where it has lowkey lighting, smoke again and the busy streets are lit by neo lights and other artificial lighting which creates a very grim and mysterious atmosphere again. People are carrying what appear to be light sabers from star wars which is another intertextual reference so we understand the genre and can expect the unexpected and gives off a similar feel to Star Wars. This is where we are introduced to the main character Deckard who we see is sitting central of a mid shot, reading a newspaper in front of a Tv store. This suggests that This will be the main character we follow will be Deckard especial since the only other characters that we've seen speak were never central screen apart from in their close ups and mid shots where as Deckard is immediately in the center being backlit by this neon lighting which tells us he will be important.

The  Lady from Shanghai

The lady from Shanghai opens with the credits over an ocean with loud classical music which was very typical for the time. The Credits fade out to an establishing shot of a city over a river where we see a boat sail past which immediately tells us where we are and where this film is currently taking place. As the shot fades to another establishing shot f the city we hear a voice over of Orson Welles who is our lead male actor speaking with an incredibly terrible Irish accent. This fades out to one of Welles signature Tracking shots where we can see a horse drawn carriage with a perfectly lit and positioned Rita Hayworth right in the middle of the screen which tells us this will be following her added to the fact that her name was the first on the opening credits as she was the selling point of this film.. Welles Character enters the frame and asks Hayworth's character for a cigarette. His close up is very poorly lit where as she is perfectly lit and easily recognizably which already is confusing an bizarre. A close up of her hands which is better lit than Welles face shows her giving him a cigarette and then she drives off after they both exchanged smiles and the voiceover is already obsessed with her so we immediately know these two are going to fall in love throughout this film. then literally 15 seconds later, if that he finds her purse on the floor and the music intensifies so clearly something bad has happened to her and Welles will have to save her. We then see her being kidnapped and screaming for help in another tracking shot even though it makes no sense because they didn't make it clear that there was a time jump so it's just a bit too erratic and confusing for the spectators as she was fine in a carriage 15 seconds ago but we have to ignore that because Welles just starts fighting these three men I the most erratic and weird fight scene that I've ever seen because not only did it happen so abruptly but its sped up for some unknown reason that just makes no sense but at least we can say Welles is a true Auteur because there's no other director who does this to a film. And we can't forget that while this is going down Rita is there perfectly lit watching this all go down while they fight in the darkness. Then they just run away and Welles just becomes a cab driver to make sure Rita is safe even though he could have just go in the cab with her but no one cares. The Next shot is of them on the carriage just talking as i she wasn't just attacked but they're falling in love so that is just irrelevant now. The shot is a very long continuous shot without any cuts in, the camera just adjusts to who is talking while they're on the carriage which is quite impressive for the late 40s considering how big and heavy cameras were in old Hollywood ad Welles did this alot throughout not only this film but most of them.