The 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? tells the story of a bounty hunter, Rick Deckard, hunting down rogue androids and ponders whether empathizing with them is a key human component or out of step with society. These themes of dehumanization within a technological society and what it means to be human would carry over to the film based upon the novel. Blade Runner is a film that is both ahead of its time and behind, a foreboding prophetic film, which, as the years go by seems more and more a postmodern reality than a high concept fiction. Ridley Scott advances the well-worn future aesthetic that he had developed for his film, Alien, and pushes forward a beautifully scarred mise-en-scene filled with industry, built upon a foundation of rubble and forgotten debris. The film’s use of visual design went further than other science fiction films of the day, establishing a new film genre that set the standards for the near-future film noirs sub-genre, "cyberpunk." The Blade Runner landscape is defined by its use of a dark mise-en-scene in sets, locations, cinematography, and costumes, serving a script and acting and plot that are beautifully intertwined and infused with the powerful high concept postmodern themes