Ridley Scott : The Film Director and the Film
that the word 'android' was rather cliched,
being used in countless science fiction novels
and films, even in his own film Alien:
"People immediately expect a character
with nuts and bolts coming out of its
head. You are talking about robotics
or androids and the next stage is
humanoids - in other words, a replica
of a human". (Starlog, p. 61)
Ridley Scott may or may not have read the
novel, but it is obvious from the similarity of
the two stories that the screenwriters, Hampton
Fancher and David W. Peoples, did read and study
the book. Blade Runner the film, is not a
literal re-telling of Do Androids Dream of
Electric Sheep? as setting, characters, plot
elements, and so forth have all been altered.
But the core of the novel, the essential story,
is the core of the film. The intellectual level
of the screenplay and its perceived audience are
both much closer to the intent of Dick's novel
than to 'action adventure', and the theme, and
its modes of expression are intellectually and
spiritually true to the novel to an impressive
degree. The overall look of the film involves 		Ridley Scott's personal vision of the future and
Philip K. Dick's conception of the impact of
genetic engineering in our society in the near
future.

Every film director is, basically, an
illusionist. Since the great advances in cinema
technology, the director has more artistic
freedom, especially in the special effects
department. Directors have to elaborate their
portrayal of actions and reaction(s) in order to
achieve a comprehensible narrative. Some film-
makers, such as Ridley Scott, are able to
exploit this necessity so that the means
employed to make the action clear become the
means also of directing its impact and
significance.

A single image is made to act both as a
recording to show us what happens, and as an
expressive device to heighten the effect and
significance of what we see. To use the example
that is included in the extract of the shooting
script which comes up a little later on: after
Rachael has left Deckard's flat he takes another

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