'Blade Runner' Webpage Deconstruction

As an older film, the webpage is more recent and was made to coincide with the film’s ‘Final Cut’ re-release. The main page loads with the red light icon used in the VK replicant detector test and pulses as it counts up to 100. The idea behind the scenes and graphics of this webpage are to further immerse the audience into the world of the film.

As soon as a page appears the Final Cut teaser trailer begins to play. Ever present in the upper left hand corner is the iconic title as a reminder to familiarise the audience with the brand. By clicking on this at any time, the viewer can return to the home page.

The background of the main menu page is an establishing shot of the city into which flies a Spinner (flying car). The sound that plays over this scene is dramatic music from the soundtrack and important dialogue pulled from the film.

By pulling the curser over the skyscraper the consumer is able to find the menu, the options include:

THE FILM: -Product Info, History, Synopsis and Ridley Scott

CAST & CREW: - Cast and Crew

GALLERY: -Downloads, Video and Photos

NEWS: -News, Events, Comic-Con and Newsletter

DISCUSSIONS and CONTEST: - 'Inspiring the future' contest (These two options open in a separate window.)

When selected the viewer is taken to varying scenes from the film. Moving the curser over the page the viewer can find objects which light up and by selecting these sub-categories (which are shown above) appear, often on a new screen, for selection. All this adds to the feeling of interaction and links to the technological aspect of the film.

THE FILM – Background: The Tyrell Corporation – conference room style, one must click on the desk to move to the next pages and read about the film.

CAST &CREW – J.F. Sebastian’s room full of mechanical toys where Pris is hiding as Deckard hunts her, click on the mirror to see the cast and crew information.

GALLERY –A still from the film, of Roy in the final fight scenes, in the screen of the VK test equipment, the image on the screen takes you to the gallery and the other areas available in this category.

NEWS –Again, this image is from inside the Tyrell Corporation. This room is used in the film as an interrogation suite. The perspective of the viewer places them in the shoes of the replicant being questioned. This is one way in which the Web-page creators have alluded to the film’s main question of humanity.

The ‘Discussions’ and ‘Contest’ give viewers the option to socialise with each other and connect with people who may have similar interests. The contest was a competition held in 2007 and was linked to the theme of the future. Along the bottom of each screen there is a link to add the page to your MySpace account and a ‘tell a friend’ option, as well as links to Amazon and ‘We store’ for purchase of the DVD and merchandise. This highlights the underlying importance of the website to advertise and well as to engage with the viewers.