Blade Runner Eye Effect

[krestofre]

I like the Director's Cut, but I still appreciate the theatrical version. Truthfully neither cut is the film that Ridley Scott wanted to put out. Even the directors cut was put together by the studio as a sort of "well, this is closer to what the film originally was." There were rumors that Scott was going to recut the film and release a commemorative DVD set, but I think there were legal problems that have kept him from doing that. Until then, director's cut for me.

Though I do miss the line "They don't advertise for killers in the paper." What a great line....

 

[MojoTrancer]

"Colored lights were also occasionally used to create a special effect for the replicant's eyes: "One of the identifying characteristics of replicants is a strange glowing quality in their eyes," Cronenweth notes. "To achieve this effect, we'd use a two-way mirror — 50 percent transmission, 50 percent reflection — placed in front of the lens at a 45-degree angle. Then we'd project a light into the mirror so that it would be reflected into the eyes of the subject along the optical axis of the lens. We'd sometimes use very subtle gels to add color to the eyes. Often, we'd photograph a scene with and without this effect, so Ridley would have the option of when he'd use it."

So are we talking about one of these? If so, I might give it a try next time one is for sale.

Mirror Beam splitter

 

[Tainted]

Er ... OK. Does that mean I've lost the right to my Roy Batty avatar?

Of course not, anyone with a Batty avatar is a friend of mine -- I was of course kidding, well not really, you SHOULD know about the eyes, but I'll forgive you... LOL!

Here's my take on the two versions, I prefer BOTH! In fact, I actually made a hybrid cut a couple of years back as a pet project if you can believe that, sacraledge to some, but a nice clean transparent edit if I might add. I spliced it together from a copy of the Original Cut (OC) on Criterion Laser Disc -- which is pretty much the only OC widescreen version available (eBay has DVD bootlegs of the Laser Disc all of the time), well it's actually referred to as the Int'l Cut sometimes, but whatever, it's basically the OC with some added violence -- and a copy of the Director's Cut (DC) on DVD:

- I mostly like the VO in the OC, just not all of it, so I left the VO in with some minor cutting (can't remember which lives I cut now though). Basically, sticking with the dectective film noir feel of the OC's VO.

- I absolutely HATE the happy ending of the OC, god was that out of place or what? What a freakin' joke that was, so tacked on it wasn't funny... So, I cut the happy ending of the OC, and ended it at getting into the elevator like the DC.

- Left in all of the "extra violence" of the Int'l Cut just for fun -- smooshing in Tryrell's eyes, nail through Batty's hand, etc.

- Although I'm not a big fan of the DC's unicorn scene itself, I'm a HUGE fan of the implications of the Unicorn scene (because it introduces the possibility of Deckard being a replicant himself), so I left it in.


That project was some good times, but now I'm starting to show my true BR colors...