12 Years A Slave does have some truly outstanding moments propelled by its brilliant cinematography, absolutely highlighting some of the films most shocking moments: there probably wasnt a screening in the world devoid of movie-goers redirecting their eyes elsewhere in discomfort during the grisly pseudo-hanging of Solomon Northup. Moments like that occur seemingly every five minutes in the film, and are essentially the driving force behind the emotional punch of 12 Years A Slave. Similar to the special effects match-up, though, it just cant compare to the revolutionary nature of Gravity. Not only is the opening sequence 17 minutes long, it is one continuous shot that also contains an equally impressive action sequence. Furthermore, those aforementioned astonishing technical achievements are as stunning as they are thanks o cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezkis intricate knowledge of how to produce efficient lightning, and fuse the scenes into a digital background. Winner: Gravity
