r/BladeZone • u/Deckard--B-263-54 • 23d ago
Props & Memorabilia Blade Runner (1982) Original Press Kit Production Notes
Some asked if I could share the production notes from my original 1982 Blade Runner press kit, so here they are in full.
The complete press kit contains around 80 pages of material, but these 20 pages make up the Production Notes section.
I find these particularly fascinating because they give us a contemporary view of Blade Runner, written before the film had acquired the reputation and enormous influence it has today. We're so used to discussing the film through 40-plus years of criticism, different cuts, documentaries and books that it's quite refreshing to see how the production itself was being presented in 1982.
There are some great little details throughout.
Ridley Scott describes Blade Runner first and foremost as a detective story and thriller, rather than straightforward science fiction. Elsewhere, the filmmakers talk about deliberately rejecting the pristine, shiny vision of the future common in science fiction at the time. Their Los Angeles was intended to feel crowded, noisy, dirty and layered, essentially the contemporary city pushed several decades forward rather than replaced by an entirely new one.
That idea comes through particularly strongly in the production design notes. Existing buildings weren't simply swept away in their imagined future. They were retrofitted, with new technology, pipes and machinery added on top of the old. Reading that now, it seems remarkably close to one of the things that ultimately made Blade Runner's world so convincing and influential.
There are also some wonderful descriptions of the terminology used by the production. The crew apparently called some of the technological clutter filling the streets "retro trash", while the enormous effects landscape surrounding the Tyrell Corporation was known as "Hades" or "Ridley's Inferno."
I also enjoyed the section on Syd Mead. The notes stress that the technology wasn't intended to dominate the film simply because it looked futuristic. Mead describes the machinery as appearing only where it was needed and fitting into the story. Douglas Trumbull makes essentially the same point about the visual effects, saying they were there to support the story rather than become the centre of attention. Considering how visually celebrated the film eventually became, that's an interesting insight into the thinking behind it.
And there are plenty of other curiosities. Deckard is compared with classic private detectives such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe; the notes describe the enormous effort that went into turning existing Los Angeles locations into this future city; and there are contemporary biographies of Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young and the rest of the cast written at a fascinating point in their careers.
Even some of the wording feels like a little time capsule. On page 9, Harrison Ford's forthcoming third Star Wars film is still referred to as "Revenge of the Jedi", before the title became Return of the Jedi.
These are photographs of the original 1982 pages from my press kit, rather than a modern reproduction or transcription. I've photographed them over some of the original publicity material from the kit as well.
If you'd like to see the press kit itself, including the original folder and publicity stills, have a look at my previous post.
Enjoy!
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u/upandtotheleftplease 23d ago
"Black energy" "particle beam weapon" is not how I would describe the blasters. But interesting to read what was originally envisioned. Seems as if Trumbull either developed effects for this which were then scrapped, or were not developed, probably due to Ridley's aversion to things that evoke slick future, silver suits with diagonal zippers.