The special photographic effects for Blade Runner were executed by
Entertainment Effects Group (E.E.G.), which was and still is
a partnership between Douglas Trumbull and Richard Yuricich.
Trumbull has personally supervised the special effects for many science
fiction films: Silent Running (1971) - which he also directed, Star
Trek : The Motion Picture (1979)- Robert Wise, Steven Spielberg's
CloseEncounters of the Third Kind (1977), and the conscious
dazzling effects of Stanley Kubrick's 2001 : A Space Odyssey (1968).
They had a crew of over 50 technicians involved on miniature work,
matte paintings, optical compositing andsome front projection. The
miniature photography extended over a period of about ten months,
starting more or less currently with the live action photography. There
was over 90 special effects shots made for Blade Runner.
Costume in Blade Runner both encases and exposes the body. For example, when we first encounter Pris in the rain, she is wearing a dog collar around her neck - made of what appears tobe metal - and has rain soaked hair. Suspenders |
hold up a pair of decaying (they have holes in them which
expose her legs) stockings, and the rest of her clothing seems to
barely fit her. She is the classic ‘waif-whore’ image. It is not
clear from the film whether or not this image is merely a disguise to
lure J.F.Sebastian into the replicants’ trap, or if this is really
the state that Pris is in after spending some time on a strange planet.
She anticipates the imminent salvation that J.F.Sebastian will
offer and prepares for this by burying herself underneath a mound of
rubbish which has collected on the street. This act of burying
herself creates a second set of clothing out of the rubbish. Smudged
mascara makes dark rings around her eyes. This image is
revisited the following morning when Pris, replete in
full body-suit, applies a black spray paint to her eyes (which may
or may not be intended as make-up). This racoon-mask she has applied
to herself, together with the surroundings that shenow finds
herself in, parallels the unreality which is taking place on the
screen; the mannequins scattered about the place, the created
“friends” that J.F. has and the |
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