The Esper Sequence

Hey all: New to bladezone, but I post over on the imdb BR board a lot. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone would like to give me their interpretation on EXACTLY how the Esper sequence plays out. I've seen the movie roughly 40-50 times and I *still* don't think that scene is as clear as it should be.

Can someone explain how they view the actual sequence of how Deckard moves around in the photo and what he actually sees at each point? He eventually locates Zhora in the MIRROR in the picture, right? At one point he pans right and sees the crook of Zhora's elbow and then he pans left and Zhora magically appears in full...after seeing it so many times and still being unclear, I was actually starting to think he'd slipped TWO photos into the Esper and was comparing them . . . but that doesn't seem to be the case.

When Deckard zooms in too close at one point and the pic seems to be almost under a microscope...what is he seeing then? It always seemed to me that he simply zoomed in too close and then needed to pull back . . . but he lingers on that shot for a second, so what the hell is he looking at?

And what is the ultimate result of the whole sequence? It seems to me Deckard got two things out of it - one, he sees that Zhora has a snake tattoo, which makes him think the scale he found might be from a snake (though this would seem to be contradicted when he brings it to animoid row and asks if it's a fish) and second he gets a hard copy picture of Zhora (which he shouldn't actually need since Bryant had a file on Zhora already).

And what about the sequin from Zhora's dress? Deckard finding a sequing from Zhora's dress was cut from most versions, but in one of the commentaries Fancher and Peoples actually talk about it during the Esper sequence as if THAT is what Deckard is looking for in the picture (as if they didn't realize that piece of info had been cut out...) The way they discuss it makes me think they don't know what the hell is really going on in that scene either!

I'm interested to hear how others interpret this whole scene/sequence. I'd love to know if anyone has come up with a real "shot by shot" explanation of what Deckard sees each time he manipulates the photo and what's exactly going on in his head.

Thanks!

I think what happens is Deckard is able to catch the reflection of Zhora's reflection (there is the wall mirror we see in the door way as well as a mirror on each door of the wardrobe/armoire in the room she is in).

I didn't know what that shiny, blury object he first focuses on before finding Zhora was until I watched the deleted scenes on the new set. Between the voice over and the different image used during the Esper sequence, I found that the object is a sequin dress hanging in the wardrobe (I assume it is the same one he later finds in the Snake Pit dressing room, which explains why he examines one of the sequins then).

I think the reason he has to pan over to see the rest of Zhora is that the door with the mirror he first zooms in on is partly open (which allows us to see inside and view the dress), so the reflection is only of her elbow. When he pans over he must go over to the other door, which is either closed or nearly closed, which reflects the rest of Zhora's image.

As for why he would need the photo of Zhora, I assumed that replicants would've disguised themselves somehow, so a recent photo would be more helpful to him than the incept ones.

Hope that helps a bit.

That does help, thanks. I watched the deleted scenes also, but I still hadn't put two and two together and realized that the blurry object was the sequin dress. That definitely does clarify his search in Zhora's dressing room. And you're right, having an updated photo would definitely be valuable.