Ridley Scott Breaks Down His Favorite Scene for 'Blade Runner'

If you read this site a lot, you know Ridley Scott and I go way back. And by that, I mean my Hollywood career began as an intern at Scott Free, and he once called me "smiley." Either way, it's really fun to look at Scott's influence across cinema and hear from one of the most brilliant and singular minds of a generation. 

Scott is famous for meddling with Blade Runner, but one scene that has never changed cut to cut is when Deckard meets Rachel. It's Scott's favorite scene, and he sat down to explain how he worked on it and styled the elements within it. 

Check out this video from WIRED and let's talk after the jump. 

Ridley Scott Breaks Down His Favorite Scene for Blade Runner

As I mentioned before the jump, in this scene Deckard meets Rachel for the first time. He's visiting with a man named Tyrell. Tyrell is the CEO of the corporation that creates replicants, and he's probably the richest and most powerful man in the world. 

When Deckard meets Rachel he's taken by her beauty, but not impressed. When he gives her the replicant rest, he can tell right away she's a machine and has no idea how she doesn't understand that she's one. 

Deckard calls her "it," but we see there's something more in his eyes. A man trying to understand how he feels. 

A lot is going on in these scenes. And Scott knew every layer had to matter. He actually changed and redid Sean Young's makeup in the scene. He painted her lips to give her harsher tones. Scott had done hundreds of commercials and fashion shoots, so he also had them take her hair down and design her more like Hedy Lamarr. 

Check out the light in Sean Young's eyes from Ridley Scott's special camera rig!Credit: 20th Century Fox

One thing he also wanted to do was accentuate her eyes. Throughout the entire movie, Scott wanted to make the eyes of replicants stand out. So they built a special camera rig to shoot them. 

They had a half mirror mounted on the camera at a 45-degree angle. Then added a pup light on a dimmer. It would shoot at the mirror, and then the light would hit the eyes of the actor. There would be a beautiful blip of light inside the eyes. 

Scott was always accused of being too visual and is defensive of that. His work on the visuals and little details have actual story implications. There are hints as to who is and is not a replicant, and we see the hubris in Deckard that eventually chips away in his character arc. It's a really genius way to set the story up and then also build the world with Tyrell and his eccentricities. 

Let us know what you think in the comments! 

Source: WIRED