Film Exercise: Bladerunner 2049
Scott Free Productions (2017)
All streets lead to and from one direction. Radiation levels are just “normal ”. The massive skyscrapers in the background sit dormant. The frog limits the visible of the eye to only a mile or less. Even the light from the sun is not fully capable of piercing the thick layer of fog. The infrastructure is extensive, but not a single car, train, or plane has used these roads in years.
A framed metal pyramid with another smaller pyramid at its base make for a different type of building from what has been seen thus far. The size is colossal compared to the cars flying in front of it. Glass slits in the outer layer allow light to pass into the building, but little light is capable of entering due to the fog. Such grand architecture left to return to the earth because of human’s actions.
At a closer look, the smaller pyramid is almost entirely shut off from outside entry. The seemly metal outer walls reflect the soft, yellow light. While a vertical line of windows stretch the length of the picture. Solemnly, the pyramid lies under a thick blanket of fog similar to a pyramid tomb under sand in Egypt. A city meant to entertain entertains no one.
Another view of the pyramidal structure shows that the outer wall is composed of several shapes. There are seemly random shapes with few places for light to enter. The mind wonders if its goal is to reduce the amount of light that enters the building to trick the mind’s sense of time. Similarly, to other buildings, there are no name or identification makers on the pyramids that can be seen. Possibly, the buildings were identified by other means such as shape.
The skyscrapers break through the heavy layers of fog, seemly reaching just for one ray of sun. Not one building is of today’s typical design shape. From sloped sides to sharp angles, the buildings are completely unique from one another. The fog closer to the ground hides what sits below leaving the imagination to speculate. The cars resemble birds or bees seeking their prey through the air.
The large glass window could have possibly been a clock at some point. A small set of stairs leads the bladerunner to the place he believes will reveal the truth. No names or other distinctions give the outer face of the building a designation. The ground layer of fog radiation is so great that even large objects short distances away are hard to make out. Just as the building lacks identity, the bladerunner is searching for who he truly is as well.
A grand stair way leads to what used to be a place of joy, laughter, and celebration. Now, it leads only to silence and forgotten spaces. Searching out the truth he desires, the bladerunner came to this building chasing a memory. No signs of an emergency evacuation are evident. Rather, the building was simply lock one night after closing and never opened again the next day.
Games sit unfinished as the man wanders through the room. The yellow fog of astronomical amounts of radiation cast a haze through the glass. Unchanged for decades, the room has been frozen in time. The large columns support the open layout of the game hall, but they merely serve as a structural support over stylistic design. The man walks through a room from a time he is unable to remember.
A room meant to hold hundreds only has seen the likes a two in many years. The light spreads out over a plane from the stage illuminating the room. Seating on both sides of the booth maximizes the capacity of occupants. A shadow cast by the man slowly moves along the room. The music in the background is static filled and choppy, but the grand stage gives purpose to the room.
A hall way that stretches for a far as the eye can see. The yellow fog light illuminates the passage until it goes dark. However, something is different from any of the scene before. The chandelier has been taken or fallen down. Possibly a sign of life and interaction for the first time in this forgotten town? Other items down the hall are out of place as well, the bladerunner seems to notice these small abnormalities.
In conclusion, Las Vegas, which was once a city that never slept, has been left to rest eternally. Such massive infrastructure and buildings now serve no purpose but to slowly return the dirt. As the heavy fog blocks the sun’s rays, perfect silence is all that can be found here. Only when humans find a way to make use of this wasteland will be the day that Las Vegas, the city of lights, shines again.
