Juno Opening

'A tale told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. In the waiting room of an abortion clinic, the quirky and whip-sharp Juno decides to give birth and to place the child with an adoptive couple. She finds one in the PennySaver personals, contacts them, tells her dad and step-mother, and carries on with school. The chosen parents, upscale yuppies (one of whom is cool and laid back, the other meticulous and uptight), meet Juno, sign papers, and the year unfolds.'

The film opens with a black screen. The audience then hears (non digetic sound) what sounds like a pencil noise and the word 'Autumn' appears. This immediately sets the scene of where the story is beginning, then an extreme long shot of Ellen Page outside a house.It is sunset, and the extreme long shot seems to be used in place of an aerial shot to establish the setting; suburbs, nothing unusual. There is also some digetic sound of birdsong, reinforcing an average suburb.

The shot then switches to a long shot with Ellen Page (Juno) and a chair, telling the audience that there is something significant about this chair. Also, we can clearly see that Juno is drinking something from a bottle which the audience would immediately assume is alcohol, incinuating there is some form of dilemma she is facing. Then it changes again to a close up of Juno looking nostalgic, confirming there is a story surrounding that chair and her. Then there is some non digetic sound of Juno talking ('It started with a chair.') confirming that the chair is somehow involved in her dilemma. Then, non digetic music begins which is alternative and calm and fits the scenery very well, but also helps the audience to realise that the genres of this film are comedy and drama. The scene then switches again - it is a close up of Juno's legs, but we can see there is someone else in the background. Then we see Juno's underwear fall as a tracking shot of her approaching the other person begins. The audience also notices the chair; the one that was before Juno in the previous shot and it is therefore made clear that Juno is remeniscing on something that has happened.

The shot then switches again to a medim shot of Juno's face which zooms into a close up as she gets closer and closer to the other person. This makes it very clear to the audience what is about to happen (if it isn't clear enough already). It then switches to an extreme close up of Juno and Michael Cera's (Bleeker) nose and mouth followed by some digetic sound once Juno has her ear next to his mouth. Bleeker's voice sounds very young giving the scene the comedic value that was promised earlier in the opening sequence and reinforcing the comedy genre. Then, the shot changes position but remains a close up with the top of the chair being in the foreground reminding us of it, but Juno and Bleeker being in focus in the background as she leans in for a kiss.

The shot then changes again and the music stops, and the sound becomes digetic as we see a medium shot of a dog barking, making it appear as though he was interrupting Juno's thoughts. This once again shows the comedic genre of the film. Then there is a shot reverse shot between Juno, who has a go at the dog (Banana) and the chair, as there is some more non digetic sound if another line from Juno. Also, we see that Juno is drinking Sunny D, showing an immature side to both the character and the film. The audience begins to feel comfortable with the film at this point as they realise that, due to the immaturity shown, this will be a very straightforward to the point film with some comedy.

Then non digetic music begins again, and we see a long shot of Juno walking down the street which gradually turns into animation, but in a very simple form where you can see the artist's individual sketch lines. The titles are also included in these scenes with Juno's surroundings and almost go unnoticed; the main reason they are noticeable is because of the size. The colours used are few and far between with small fragments of each image containing colour. Juno is always coloured in; despite wearing bland colours, they look a lot brighter in contrast with the white background she is in. The title of the film however, compared to most of the other text is very noticeable as it accompanies Juno in a long shot and flashes between very bright colours.

Up to this point, Juno's facial expressions have appeared quite sombre although as she walks down the street she is smiling to herself. This is reinforced by the previous image of a blue sky with birds flying over it. Throughout this title sequence, the audience are led to believe that this is a very alternative film. This is exaaggerated by the way that everything is put together, especially the title sequence as it is shot from a variety of angles and how the artist's work is so simplistic but yet so effective in the way it establishes Juno's location. Also, due to the fact it is quite lengthy it manages to make the crediting to the actors and other roles within the film quite interesting as it makes us ask questions as to where Juno is going, as she walks past numerous shops on her travels. It keeps the audience guessing as we are given no hint as to where she is going. Also, due to the fact we see runners in a particular uniform we wonder what significance they have to the film.

We also find out a lot about Juno as a character through the sequence as she is often looking to the sky, as though she is daydreaming. As well as this, she plays childish games like attempting to walk in a perfectly straight line, which if she wasn't carrying the bottle of Sunny D we would assume is a test of how drunk she might be. However, we assume this is a sign of her immaturity as a character and accept it as a part of the comedy genre of the film. Moreover, in some ways the drama genre of the film is exaggerated as the daydreaming and childish behaviour could be interpreted as a cover up for the dilemma she is experiencing or to block it out altogether. The animated title sequence could also be a representation of some of Juno's characteristics; as mentioned earlier, she is portrayed as a dreamer and as the background becomes 'real' again, Juno remains an animated character for a few seconds as she enters the shop, possibly demonstrating her dreamlike state and tendancies.

Once she enters the shop, she becomes very serious.. As she enters, there is a medium shot of the shopkeeper who clearly knows her and says '..back for another test?' telling the audience that Juno has clearly been in here a few times today for the same thing, which we then decisover in a close up is a pregnancy test. We also see there is another customer (medium shot) in the shop who, in contrast to Juno, appears much more likely to be pregnant than her. Juno then demonstrates her immaturity as she approaches the counter in an over the shoulder shot from the shopkeeper's point of view, by attempting to say that she remains unconvinced by the first test as 'the plus sign looked more like a division sign' once again enforcing the comedic aspect of the film.

As the shopkeeper takes the restroom key away from Juno, there is an over the shoulder shot from her viewpoint which makes the audience feel almost as though they were her and allows for a certain amount of sympathy towards our protagonist. However, the digetic sound continues in a conversation between the shopkeeper and Juno continues, and even though the shopkeeper is rather interefering and rude towards Juno, and the other girl in the shop gets involved with a crude comment in a very brief mid shot, once again to make us laugh, Juno bites back in what is quite a witty but also quite rude demand where she says 'Silencio, old man!' and goes on to continue to explain the Sunny D the audience had been so curious about - so she could use the restroom. At this point, after a shot reverse shot of the conversation consisting mainly of the shopkeeper and Juno which happens quite fast in order to assist in setting the pace of the film as quite fast, the shopkeeper gives in in an over the shoulder shot of him at a low angle and hands over the key. This is quite a confusing shot I feel, as usually a low angle shot is used to establish authority, he has just given in to a young girl who has no power over this situation.

This also tells the audience more about the main character in this film - it identifies her as being quite witty and also very demanding as in the shot reverse shot between her and the shopkeeper, there was a shot of her and him from the side, her with her hand out. This could also tell us, assisted by how annoyed she seems, some things about her background and how she may have always got what she wants and therefore does not respond well to not getting what she wants when she wants it.