Blade Runner

To end the induction day, we watched Blade Runner. Having previously watched the beginning I knew that I was not going to be interested in the film although after experiencing the whole film it gave me a new insight on what I had just previewed. Blade Runner is one of the first films to be based on the genre Science-fiction and although it's not my favourite genre it really opened my eyes into what the future could potentially be like. The film sparked the initial thoughts of confusion however the idea of the film being set in the future was interesting and really made me think about what the future could actually be like. On the other hand, at the start of the film it says it is set in 2019 which would of been a date set dramatically in the future as the film was released in 1982. To think that 2019 is only 6 years away seems unlikely that the events and set of the film would be similar to our near future.

The film is set in a dystopian LA, 2019 where robots called replicants that look like the human race, are manufactured around the world. The robots are not permitted to be used on Earth and are generally used exclusively for dangerous or leisure work on off-world colonies. Replicants who do not obey the rules and decide to return to Earth are hunted down and "retired" by police special operatives known as "Blade Runners". The Plot is very confusing and took me into researching the film through the site. I wanted to fully understand the film and after research I found the link between the film and memories which would later be used within the course. For example, the issue of concern with memory and the idea of the human being able to possess childhood memories which could be recalled throughout their lives however the robots had planted memories from other people. I feel almost sad for the non human beings and this is a way in which the director has grabbed the audiences' emotions.

Particular scenes that I am interested in are the long shots of the buildings and lights within them. I love the way in which the lights make up a beautiful scene for the characters to be in. I think that the idea of this would have been to create a more futuristic look and feel to the film and it is correct in someways. The buildings are growing taller as well as the population increasing with the amount of commercial properties increasing within the future of our world. I understand it would have been a long time from when the film was produced although it is interesting to see that not all of their ideas of the future are wrong.

Induction day: Getting to know you

Being the first day and not knowing many of the people around meant that there was a chance to meet new people and get to know each other; however I did not think that I was going to introduce myself through drawing the other persons hand. This task brought many including myself into the awkward zone and was overcome through laughter. I enjoyed this task as it gave me an opportunity to get to know not only someone's personality but on another level. On first thoughts I wanted my drawing of the hand to look lifelike although the daunting task of drawing on a large scale over come this idea. I quickly changed to a felt tip in the contrasting colours, yellow, pink and purple. I thought that the unrealistic colours would give the hand a new dimension and bring it to life rather than a plain pencil drawing. It also gave me a chance to show off personality within the drawing. I feel that this task gave me chance to get to know someone through the way that they drew their partners hand.

A new technique that I have never used was then brought up. I was to draw the back of my head. The simple task of grabbing a mirror or taking a picture was eliminated and I was left with nothing but a pencil and my left hand. Drawing in this style was very challenging and by looking around the room I felt everyone was on the same level. Once building up the courage to put the pencil to the blank paper, there were no limits to what I could produce. This style of Drawing really pushed me to look past the idea of keeping things to the way they are meant to look like. The pencil drew what I felt rather than what I saw and this was an eye opener into what kind of artist I really am.

If drawing a random person's hand wasn't weird enough, we were now lying on large rolls of paper drawing around each other. The task really took people out of their comfort zones and also helped to engage with each other rather than on our own. We drew around each other and then cut out the life size drawings which we then took and photographed in different places. It was very interesting to see what I looked like as a cut out piece of paper and although the shapes of some people were not entirely correct the task was an interesting effect which gave people a chance to get involved and get to know others on a different level.

 I really enjoyed the whole day and it was amazing to get to know many of the people within my group. This was a great way to get everyone involved and broke the ice very well. I can not wait to start the course.