Blade Runner (1982) opens on a hellish Los Angeles skyline with no horizon in sight. While the explosive cityscape appears endless, it’s far less expansive than it seems.
Known as the ‘Hades landscape’, it was created on an enormous table (15ft by 8ft) with models that were acid-etched into brass. Bigger models were placed at the front and smaller ones at the back. This created the illusion of depth, which was aided by filling the room with smoke. The model also contained thousands of fibre-optic cables to make it look like a living city, while the erupting flames were superimposed onto the landscape shot.
These four matte paintings you see here were used like a green screen – part of a shot is cut out of the frame and then is replaced by the painting.
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The trailer for Blade Runner (1982), via Movieclips Classic Trailers YouTube channel.
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On display until
16 February 2031
ACMI: Gallery 1
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The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Worlds → MW-06. Visual Effects → MW-06-C01