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Auter signatures in Lady from Shagnhai and Blade Runner

 Every film director has an auteur signature and it is needed to bring a film character and add personal touches that make the film better as a whole as the director has clearly re-used techniques that they enjoy so it gives the film more individuality as each auteur has their own individual style and signature 

A prime example of Ridley Scott’s Auteur style in Blade Runner is when Deckard is being shown the Replicant’s by the police chief????? As there are many elements to this scene which are true to Scott’s Auteur style and his motivations to do the film. Visually the scene fits his auteur style as he uses smoke to cover the two characters faces, which establishes the genre as noir but it is also part of Ridley Scott’s style which we also see throughout the film, he uses a lot of smoke in this dystopian Los Angeles to show just how dystopian it all is. The use of Technology in this scene is interesting because again it establishes the genre as science fiction and this is a theme he commonly uses as seen in Alien which also bases itself around technology. Also in this scene mortality of the replicants is first addressed which is what makes Blade runner personal to Scott because he was inspired to do the film in memory of his brother who passed away. In most of Ridley’s films they have a short timeline surrounded by escaping/finding something which s true as well for Blade Runner as this scene tells us that Deckard’s goal for the rest of the film is to find and ‘retire’ the rest of the replicants. Another noteable part of Scott’s auteur style is strong women, and this is drawn from his strong relationship with his mother which we kind of see in this scene due to the female replicant being just as strong and dangerous as the strongest replicant ‘Batty’. What’s interesting about auteur signatures and specifically Scott’s is the fact most of their common traits and themes seen in their films is influenced from their childhood and own personal lives- for example Ridley Scott’s films are very heavy on visuals and aesthetics (actually one of the reasons Blade Runner caused so much studio conflict with Scott) and he prefers them to plot and narrative, in this specific scene he made it feel very futuristic and technological and he perfectly combines the genres of film noir and Science fiction. 


A scene in Lady from Shanghai that showcases Welles as an auteur is when Michael and Rosalie are walking from the carriage to the garage, it is a very long shot and for the most part appears like one continuous take which is something Welles does in a lot of his films, he also uses elaborate camera movements for when they are exiting the carriages as the camera doesn’t cut until Rosalie gets into her car, these are things Welles does in multiple other films, such as Citizen Kane and Magnificent ambersons. In this scene Welles uses a deep focus making all characters and objects in the scene in full focus which is part of Welles’ auteur signature as he also does this while never losing sight of the characters. Narrative wise- Welles likes to show the dark side of mans nature which h does twice in this scene by Michael saying that he killed a man and telling Rosalie how to properly use a gun so casually, this shows the dark side of mans nature and giving himself this clearly complex and flawed character. He uses lights and darks in this scene by putting the character Rosalie in a stark white dress while he is in dark colours and the majority of the scene has very dark colours making her stand out more, he uses lights and darks in various other films such as Citizen Kane, the magnificent Ambersons and the stranger. Something that is guaranteed in any Orson Welles film is the use of Smoke and Mirrors, in this scene he uses smoke from a cigarette, which is arguably an already established motif in this film as it brought the two characters together in the prior scene. Although it is only a cigarette it is a key part of Welles’ auteur signature and is significant to this narrative. 


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