Cinematographer Roger Deakins reveals that one Blade Runner 2049 scene was almost too expensive to film. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the 2017 sequel follows K (Ryan Gosling), a Nexus-9 replicant working for the LAPD who discovers that bioengineered humans are capable of reproducing. Despite underperforming at the box office, the movie received praise for its technical achievements and ability to expand upon the 1982 original film. Much like Blade Runner, its portrayal of the future is visually impressive, and the sequence where K encounters Deckard (Harrison Ford) in Las Vegas is one example.

While speaking with GQ, Deakins discussed Blade Runner 2049 and shared how the Vegas showroom scene was accomplished.

Joe Walker, the editor of Blade Runner 2049, once revealed that the sequence was almost cut due to difficulty, and according to Deakins, the set they envisioned was too expensive. To film it, he used drapes and created a "rock and roll lighting scheme" for the holograms that appeared. Read Deakins' break down of that scene in Blade Runner 2049 below:

"A lot of things develop, they start as little things and then they develop and you find, 'How are we going to do it technically?' The sequence of the holograms with the Elvis singing, and it’s like futuristic Las Vegas — maybe it’s not futuristic, I haven’t been to Vegas in a while, maybe it’s like that now. The idea is that it’s all kind of gone wrong, it’s this confusion of different people and different ideas, but you figure out how to do it. One of the big things about that was, actually, 'How are we going to shoot it?' We wanted this big space, but we couldn’t afford the set, so I said, 'Well, let’s just do it in black. We’ll just put black drapes up around.' Couldn’t have been cheaper, so we figured out — I figured out, I did [chuckles] — this whole rock and roll lighting scheme. I did it with a company in Budapest who actually do rock and roll and they had these lights and we worked together and programmed it all in. So, we had this whole sequence of different lighting that goes with different characters that appear on stage and Elvis on the spot. It’s a technical challenge, I’ve never done it before in such a complicated way, it was great fun doing it."

Related: Blade Runner Complete Timeline Explained - Movies & Spinoffs

Why Deakins' Work On Blade Runner 2049 Is So Impressive

K and Deckard fight in Las Vegas hotel in Blade Runner 2049

For his work on Blade Runner 2049, Deakins won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Having been nominated thirteen times prior, he brought a level of experience to the film that proved valuable when it came to shooting the aforementioned scene in a way that would not be too expensive. In the video, he also mentioned aspects involved in creating the movie's world, such as colors, which seemed to effectively update the style of Ridley Scott's original Blade Runner.

To go along with Deakins' work behind the camera, Blade Runner 2049's scale, and overall production design lent to other memorable visuals. Although he collaborated with Villeneuve on previous projects such as Prisoners and Sicario, the settings and effects used in this film were much different. Creating a distinctive version of the future likely involved more effort technically, but the end product was still a spectacle.

Given the movie's lofty budget, it is hard to believe that any scene would have been too expensive to make, but Deakins was eventually able to overcome the difficulty. Considered one of the greats, his ability to find a solution that allowed the sequence to exist is also commendable. By building on its predecessor and using advancements in filmmaking, the look of Blade Runner 2049 continues to be highly regarded.

MORE: Blade Runner 2049 - Why Ridley Scott Didn't Direct The Sequel

​​​​​​​

Source: GQ