Advertising is part of the DNA of Blade Runner, so it was only natural to find creative ways of pushing the envelope of this means of expression. “Billboards will be around until the human race is gone”, jokes Paul Inglis [Art director]. “But we had to decide what ads look like in 2049.” The sky was literally the limit, as corporate images could be seen in all possible spaces, even cast upon smog, rain, and snow. “The atmosphere is so thick in the city that you can even project images into thin air. In 3D, no less. And that’s an extension of our own reality today.”
Static billboards are a thing of the past. In this world, commercial images move, transform, and interact with their environments. “We had to take futuristic advertising to another level,” says VFX producer Karen Murphy. “Ads aren’t simply neon signs on a building. We developed new ways of projecting them, like pods that create holographic enhanced moving images.”
— The Art and Soul of Blade Runner 2049, written by Tanya Lapointe
