Part One - Mise-En-Scene
12 Years a Slave
Steve McQueen (2013)
With its entrancing but often brutal content, Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave gives "an eerie feeling where you're torn between looking away due to the brutality" [1] or admiring his unflinching use of mise-en-scene. His blocking and settings especially give imporatant focus to the content and themes of the film. To quote LarsonOnFilm it's "clear from the start that this movie isn't content to simply be viewed. The picture stares back." [2]
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| MLS from the opening sequence of 12 Years a Slave |
A very
important aspect of mise-en-scene and perhaps one of the most relevant for 12
Years a Slave is the setting or set. The setting for this film is 1940s
America, in the south. This is important for the set as it justifies the cotton
and sugarcane fields that the slaves worked in. The opening shot of the film is notable not only for it's composition and length of time but
also for its set. We are placed instantly into a sugarcane field with the
slaves looking into the camera, at us. The tightness of the medium long shot is emphasized by the sugarcane surrounding the slaves who are bunched together.
This reflects the crushing claustrophobia that is prevalent
throughout the film. We constantly see shots of Soloman trapped by the
set; the small shared hut he sleeps in, the cotton fields. Even when Soloman
finds himself in the ‘space’ outside the plantation, and we hope that he might
escape, the set closes in around him, the tress towering over him and grabbing
at him as he flees.
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| LS of Soloman hanging in 21 Years a Slave This can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92AmGY8P2po |
Another
crucial aspect of the mise-en-scene in the film is the blocking, or placement, of mise-en-scene in the shot. Corrigan and White give the two definitions
of blocking; “social blocking describes the arrangement of characters to
accentuate relations among them [and] Graphic blocking arranges characters or
groups according to visual patterns […]” [3]
In an
especially significant scene, Soloman is left hanging by rope, barely breathing. This is a wide shot which “feels as though it
goes on forever” [1] and presents social blocking of the characters around him.
Gradually the other slaves on the plantation drift out of their huts and go
about their usual business. They stay away from his general area and avoid
acknowledging him. At one point we see children playing in the grass and this
juxtaposition of the horror and innocence of children also emphasizes the idea
in the film that slavery was an everyday reality, even for the people
suffering under it's regime.
Graphic
blocking is demonstrated in a scene between Solomon, Master Tibeats and Master
Ford, where the three stand with Master Ford in the middle. This scene
effectively draws out the segregation of views as well as race prominent in the
film by placing the white man and the black man on opposite sides of an
arguably impartial third party.
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| MLS of Soloman in his costume before he was captured |
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| MLS of Soloman in his costume after he was captured |
The costume
element of mise-en-scene also deserves a mention as it reflects Soloman’s
journey from freedom to slavery to great effect. At the beginning Soloman is
wearing a costume that could be deemed aristocratic, very similar to the other
gentleman around him in the north. However when he is captured his costume
reflects this change by becoming drab, plain clothing that looks uncomfortable
and dirty. These costumes “define” him as a character and “contribute to the
visual impression and design of the film overall.” [3]
Works Cited:
[12 Years a Slave. Dir. Steve McQueen. Regency Enterprises, Plan B Entertainment,Film4 Productions, Summit Entertainment, 2013. Film.]
[3] Timothy Corrigan and Patricia White, The Film Experience, 3rd ed. Boston, New York: Bedford/St Martins, 2004, 2009, 2012. Print,
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