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A review of cinematographic techniques in twelve years a slave film
The Twelve years a slave film is a drama film released in August 2013, directed by Steve Mc Queen, screen written by John Ridney and whose film cinematography technician is Sean Bobbitt. The film review analyzes depth, handheld shot, and low key lighting cinematographic techniques utilized in the hanging scene, night interrogation, and whipping scenes depicted in the movie. The film’s central theme is slavery and racism that illustrates the suffering of Solomon Northup, the main character in the film. The twelve years a slave utilizes low key lighting, depth, and handheld shots to analyze the hanging, night interrogation, and whipping scenes in the twelve years a slave film.
The film is a pre-civil war story of Solomon Northup, a black man who is forcibly taken from New York to the south to work as a slave. Solomon North up is demoralized by Michael Fassbender as he struggles to maintain his dignity but finds kindness from the surrounding community. At a small plantation owned by a kind minister, Solomon, along with other slaves, get treated well, which earns him some degree of freedom. However, after twelve years of a disheartening odyssey, the Canadian slave emancipator transforms the life of Solomon Northup’s.
The twelve years a slave blends contemporary cinematographic techniques covering unique historical elements of the film. The film begins with shots of slaves waiting for induction and also captures the period determining Solomon’s slavery. These waiting periods depict the most dramatic scenes in the movie. In the film, Bobbitt captures multiple scenes using extreme shallow depth of focus that details the transformation of Solomon’s freedom to slavery. The trees and the languid leaves floating along Mississippi delta intercut the footage, which reinforces a slow, sustained passage of time. The twelve years seem like a lifetime under the extension of these moments.
In the scene where Solomon hangs in a tree,Bobbitt devotes much time taking shots that lasts almost the entire day. At these moments, when Solomon is attempting to stay alive, Bobbitt employs the shallow depth of focus shot, which ensures other characters behind the scenes are out of focus. In this case, those in the focus of the camera are slavers and Solomon’s wife, who watches from the deck and walks away. While other slaves do laundry ignoring Solomon’s suffering, the cinematography and editing seem as though they are circling Solomon in the scene as if not offering help. The low lighting in the interrogation scene depicts the transition from highlight to the shadow, which enhances the harsh and dramatic shift of scenes.
In the night interrogation scene, Bobbitt’s use of low key lighting is spectacular. During Edwin Epps’s interrogation of Solomon over a letter, Bobbitt utilizes light from a lantern in the scene to illuminate on their face. The light from the lantern held by Epps marks Solomon’s turning point, where he gives himself to slavery. The vibrant black shadows and warm yellow tones appear challenging to shot in low light. However, despite the difficulties, the shots capture the scene superbly. The whipping scene captures Solomon whipping Patsey in a single shot using a handheld camera. The camera captures every single moment of the whipping strokes on Patsey’s back hence remaining invisible to the viewer since it captures a bystander’s action.
The analytic film review of twelve years a slave establishes the use of handheld, low lighting, and depth shadow focusing cinematographic techniques. Bobbitt, the cinematographic technician, elaborates on the extensive use of deep shadow focus at the beginning of the film when Solomon and other slaves get inducted to slavery. Additionally, Bobbit utilizes the shallow depth of focus technique at Solomon’s hanging scene. At the interrogation, scene Bobbit captures the dramatic shift of Solomon’s freedom to slavery through the use of low key lighting, which consisted of lantern light. Moreover, at the whipping scene, Bobbit utilizes handheld cameras to capture Patsey’s whipping, which emphasizes on the actions of the bystanders. Therefore, the twelve years a slave utilized a handheld shot, low key lighting, and shadow depth of focusing techniques.