12 Years A Slave - Micro Features Analysis (Final Draft)

12 Years a Slave is a 2013 drama adaptation of the 1853 Slave narrative by Solomon Northup, a New York born state free African-American man who is kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. Solomon (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) works on various plantations across the state of Louisiana for 12 harsh years before his release. The film directed by Steve McQueen was nominated for 9 oscars and won just 3 in total, the film also won another 223 various awards.12 years a Slave was produced by a number of people including Brad Pitt (who was also featured acting during the film) and director Steve McQueen, various production companies included; Plan B Entertainment, Film 4 Productions and Regency Enterprises, in 2013 the film was distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures and Summit Entertainment to soon achieve a box office of $187.7 million with a budget of only $22 million. 

I chose to analyse this particular scene in '12 Years a Slave' as it was one of the most hard hitting moments for me in the whole film, the scene features the protagonist Solomon as he fights for his life after being hung by the slave owners assistant Tibeats. Within the scene there are many micro features that are used in order to portray how a horrifying situation like this would of been viewed as normal for many people at the time. I will be looking at how performance, cinematography and sound is effective in doing this throughout the 3 minute scene.

Firstly the use of cinematography is very effective through out the scene as a variation of shots (long shots, mid shots and over the shoulder shots) are used in order to show the surroundings of Solomon but also to give the audience an idea of how long he had to endure the severe pain for as the day continued. The establishing long shot of the solitary figure of Solomon hanging from the tree was purposely dragged out for the first 1 minute, 24 seconds of the scene to emphasise the length of time Solomon has to endure this horrifying pain and suffering for, but also using this shot constantly builds up suspense as we (the audience) become unsure if he will survive this possibly fatal occurrence, we are finally relieved as we change to a close up of him receiving water providing us with hope of his survival. I think the composition of this particular shot was purposely constructed like seen in the film in order to display the complete juxtaposition of the bright colours in the trees and the grass compared to what Solomon was experiencing as he tiptoed in the dark muddy pit in order to stay alive, I thought this conveyed the theme of major injustice as he suffered this extreme punishment for standing up against a man who intended to whip him for no reason but because he enjoyed doing it. A medium long shot is also used pointing the camera towards the slave owners house as the overseer acts completely oblivious to him even being there, suggesting he isn't fazed by watching such a horrific act like this shows pure hatred. A mid shot of Solomon is used when someone attempts to help save his life by giving him water, in the mid shot we see him covered in mud where he has been thrown around by the group of men who hanged him, this for me showed how some people(Tibeats in this example) completely dehumanised Black people as Tibeats treated him inhumanely by hanging him in a dirty muddy pit to die. I think the grand white house in the background of the shot is purposely inserted into the composition of this scene to again show how unfairly and disgustingly Black people were treated during this time period compared to White people, we know Solomon really should be at home with his loving family in his own house, but instead has been hung outside someone else's for something so little as standing up for himself. Finally a long shot is taken in which Solomon is placed central still hanging as the day becomes evening, I thought this again emphasised the normallity of this situation for many people back then as he was ignored during the day then forgot about as people went to sleep, the weather in this shot also possibly symbolising his life as the sun goes down and his life runs out. 

The performance of all the actors in the scene made it seem like this horrifying event was a normal everyday occurrence (which is possible) as all but one person acted almost completely oblivious to what was happening to Solomon, other slaves probably avoided aiding Solomon as they also did not want to suffer the same severe punishment. One of the best examples of this is were we see an over the shoulder shot of Solomon which includes young children playing in the background, we see the young innocent children laughing and playing with each other not even acknowledging Solomon's situation. This could suggest that they are so used to such traumatic incidents that it no longer bothers them, or more likely that most people just faced the tremendous fear of such punishments happening to them and therefore did not become involved. Chiwetel Ejiofor who plays Solomon Northup was also key in making this scene all the more accurate as he did not attempt to struggle or escape the noose as he knew no one apart from the Slave Owner would help to save his life. This could possibly portray the theme of loneliness Solomon endured as a slave as he clearly had no one willing to risk their own lives in order to save his, this is made obvious by the other actors in the scene(due to their convincing performances) as most of them do not even acknowledge him, never mind attempt to save his life. 

Finally I thought sound in the scene was key in providing the audience with an accurate description of the severe pain Solomon endured throughout the incident and how his surroundings completely juxtaposed with what he was going through. Throughout the scene we constantly hear the buzzing of the insects in the fields surrounding Solomon, this buzzing could usually be associated with a hot summers day, which in this case it is for many people not having to suffer Solomon's punishment, in contrast to that we hear Solomon chocking quitely as he struggles to stay alive. I thought this comparison could possible represent the insignificance of Solomon's life to many people on the plantation as they probably couldn't even hear him as the buzzing of the insects was louder than the noise he was producing. This could also show how many people at the time attempted to avoid and forgot about the horrors happening in the world, just like how the noise of the insects was louder than Solomon dying allowing people to block out what was actually happening to him. A lack of sound was also evident through out resulting in the scene being possibly more shocking than if dialogue/sound was included , this is because focus is completely kept set on Solomon, due to the audience paying close attention to the minimal sound used as they are concerned if Solomon will survive due to him gradually becoming more overpowered by the surrounding noise of the insects as his chocking is drowned out, his life threatening situation was made clear by the realistic chocking noises put in place. 

In Conclusion I think the cinematography,sound,and performance used in this scene was very effective as it allowed an insight into how badly Black people where treated during the Slave Trade era ,and gave an accurate visual description of some of the sort of horrific incidents that many people endured and experienced in that time. I personally think the main theme this scene presented was the major injustice many people suffered due to the evil hatred and power of others,just like Tibeats who was clearly not as well educated as Solomon but had complete power and authority over him due to the laws of Slavery at the time. The combination of these micro features used in this scene resulted in a highly emotional experience for the audience as suspense is created leaving the audience in general concern for Solomon as he continues to fight for his life through out the traumatic scene.