The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049

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The production and art department teams found plenty of Brutalist inspiration when scouting the angular, concrete buildings in Budapest where the movie was shot but there has been some debate on the use of this word as a visual style or as reference to Brutalism, the architectural movement born in the 1950s. Brutalist architecture has its roots in socialism and is so much more than a look or style – which is actually at odds with the film’s take on a future born from capitalism, as pointed out in an interesting article on Failed Architecture. K and his Spinner in Blade Runner 2049 After my latest re-watch of the film I found myself overcome with the same emotions that seem to flow through me each time I view it. Though, on this occasion I was triggered to dig up the accompanying coffee table book that I had not yet read, which lay buried among a pile of similarly sized books collecting dust. It has long been begging for a christening. And this time I obliged.

Exclusive Look at Stunning Blade Runner 2049 Concept Art Book

Lighting and cinematography also influenced the choice of furniture and design: “Roger Deakins had a big part in the creative process, we worked very closely looking at possible light s sources. Together we also designed and custom made light fixtures and testing all manner of materials” Querzola continues. This is Luv (Sylvia Hoeks). She works for the head of the Wallace Corporation, Niander Wallace and she is ruthless. She is his soldier, his warrior. Wallace played by Jared Leto (interestingly, David Bowie had been earmarked for the role) is the zen-like inventor who has taken over and well-surpassed the technology developed by Tyrell in the creation of replicants. Now he is the most powerful man on the planet. So what the hell is this dude doing? Whether a plot hole or simply evidence of Wallace’s madness, this particular bit of motivation remains a mystery.

In 2049 we find little evidence of the kind of high-tech gadgetry and interactive, holographic computer screens that we have become used to in sci-fi films. Instead we find what Set Decorator Querzola described to me as a “sidebar” view of the future. Villeneuve and the production team wanted to create a future which extended the vision of the first movie and they found a grounding in this vision by imagining how the year 2049 might look if Steve Jobs and Apple hadn’t existed. In 1982’s ground-breaking science-fiction film Blade Runner, the world saw a vision of the future so bold and breath-taking it remains at the forefront of pop culture. Thirty-five years later, many of the world-renowned original cast and crew made a thrilling return to that world. Their journey is chronicled with captivating detail in this official visual guide to Blade Runner 2049, presented in an oversized and luxe full-colour format. Lapointe does a good job of highlighting different parts of the movie's production as needed and also in reiterating key design philosophies behind the movie - the consistent reminders of the noir influence, the authenticity, the "soviet brutalism" style, etc - that went into the making of the film. Gassner created what he refers to as a “pattern language” – a core vision which informed the production design, the sets and the choice of many of the objects and artefacts throughout the movie. This began with the redesign of the iconic flying police car – K’s Spinner, which is particularly angular and robust. An extensive collection of Mead’s visionary film work including ALIENS, Blade Runner, Star Trek The Motion Picture, and Elysium, compiling hundreds of images, sketches and concept arts from a career spanning almost 40 years, many of which have never been seen in print before. Shop Now

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The Memory Orb is my favourite piece of kit in the movie. This piece of wizardry is used to design memories for Wallace’s replicants, to help create structure for their personalities. These memories are created by a singular genius artist – Dr. Ana Stelline, a kind of virtual 3D artist using the Memory Orb to manipulate holographic stories which are then coded into replicants to make them feel more ‘real’ or human. “There’s a little of every artist in their work” she says. Dr. Ana Stelline creates memories for replicants using the Memory Orb When K uncovers Rachael’s bones buried deep in the retired Sapper Morton’s (Dave Bautista) farm, Blade Runner 2049suddenly becomes about more than a simple skinjob case. Multiple factions are interested and would benefit from either revealing the truth about Rachael’s baby or covering it up for good, including Lt. Joshi (Robin Wright) and the LAPD, Replicant manufacturer Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) and his henchwoman Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), and a group of freedom fighters led by the mysterious Freysa (Hiam Abbas). K is somewhere in the middle, at first trying to simply complete his mission (after all, Nexus-9s don’t run or rebel) and destroy all evidence of the Replicant offspring, and then convinced that he’s actually the baby in question. Director DENIS VILLENEUVE on the set of Alcon Entertainment’s sci fi thriller BLADE RUNNER 2049 in association with Columbia Pictures, domestic distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures and international distribution by Sony Pictures Releasing International. The Arnolfo di Cambio heavyweight glass whisky tumbler as see in Blade Runner. The Blade Runner 2049 journey is chronicled with captivating detail in this official visual guide presented in an oversized, luxe, full-colour format. The author documented the film’s production for two years, gaining unprecedented access to the creative process of bringing this epic to life. Shop Now Now that aside - and what really created its lasting impression on me was the images, this book for its size (and its big) has fewer words than you would expect and that is partly down I think to the intention of letting the pictures do the talking. And boy do they shout loud and clear.We get a better view of them in a behind-the-scenes shot of Denis Villeneuve on set, but they played even more of a starring role in the first movie. The author documented the film’s production for two years, with unprecedented access to the creative process that brought this epic film to life. Exclusive concept art, storyboards, behind-the-scenes photography, and production stills are accompanied by fascinating insights and interviews by the cast and crew. This book is for the fan- the images are crisp clear and huge! Its as if you have the film on pause and I think who ever put this book together it was a labour of love. Her office sits below Wallace’s main room, and the dappled light on the walls are created by the reflections of the water above. Querzola tells me she chose the Pierre Paulin chair in response to this lighting by Deakins: “I wanted curves and flow, I couldn’t imagine these light waves reflecting on a cube-shaped chair. I also wanted something neat but eclectic”. The Pierre Paulin ribbon chair by Artifort

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A fittingly beautiful book that lives up to its somewhat presumptuous title. Having collected a number of "Art of" books, this is easily one of the best that I've actually read. In addition to providing loads of concept art, set photos, and stills from the finished product; this book also features a load of cast and crew interviews that cover a fair bit of what went into the making of the movie without overloading the reader. In Joshi’s (Robin Wright) LAPD office in Blade Runner 2049 we find an oh-so-beautiful grey metal E63 Table Lamp (also called the Ruspa Table Lamp) designed by Umberto Riva. The posters for Mother! and The Shape of Water started out as pencil sketches, while the Blade Runner 2049 poster was made entirely digitally, using an iPad Pro’s Apple Pencil and the Procreate app. (Jean also used pencil sketches, promotional material, director Denis Villeneuve's prior films, and time-lapse photos for reference points.) His two character posters for Mother! were both hand-painted. “I’m really happy with how I used different media to achieve different moods and feelings,” Jean said during a phone interview earlier this week. Anyway when I head that there was a long (very long) awaited sequel coming out I had to know more. Now like it or loath it - or generally not really bothered by it the sequel Blade Runner 2049 has some amazing visuals.The Blade Runner Wiki t ells us “ Dr. Ana Stelline is a subcontractor under the Wallace Corporation working as a memory designer at an ‘upgrade center’ named ‘Stelline Laboratories’. Although enamored with her work, Stelline is confined within an isolated dome, only visible through a visitor window; due to a ‘compromised immune system’, meaning that if she were to leave, she would die and the sole reason she is not off-world. Her parents had put her there, but gave her enough to make her happy”. The Memory Orb in Blade Runner 2049 This is the first of two Blade Runner 2049 art books, the newer one being "Interlinked - The Art" (which I have also recently reviewed). Comparing the two books, this one has much more information about the whole process of making the movie, which was very interesting and gave me a lot of insight that I look forward to considering the next time I watch the film. The art was also beautiful, though including many photographs from production, and being much more focused on detailing the process of making the film. "Interlinked," on the other hand is almost all concept art. I was delighted to give a talk at a recent screening of Blade Runner 2049 hosted at the stunning The Conran Shop showroom in London’s Fulham Road in collaboration with Sony. I took this opportunity to dissect and discuss my favourite artefacts in the film. Here I share my opinions on the hidden narrative behind these objects, supplemented by fascinating facts gleaned from conversations with the movie’s Set Decorator Alessandra Querzola SDSA and Concept Artist Mike Hill. Given the technological, political and environmental news that has hit us over the last few months, the choice and design of many of these objects predict the future with more insight than one might realise. Blade Runner (1982)