Analysing Opening Sequences - Juno

Juno

Analysis of 2 minutes –

The establishing shot shows the audience the area; blue skies and neat house perched on the corner. It also creates the impression that it will be a light-hearted film as the season ‘autumn’ is sketched in the top right hand corner of the frame. The colours are vibrant and the sky does not look dull or cloudy.
There is slight juxtaposition with the atmosphere and the expression on the girl’s face; she does not look happy whilst the atmosphere appears to be upbeat. The camera zooms into a close up of the girl and her stern expression; she does not look upset or angry, but unimpressed. The audience is already positioned to feel that something has gone wrong with her life. Non-diegetic sound is used through a voiceover in the point of view of the girl; from this we become aware that the film will be a flashback and not in the present tense. She continues to tell us where it all began, only for this to be cut short by the diegetic sound of a dog barking.

Within the brief action of her storytelling a low angle is used to emphasise the imposed sex scene; we are aware it is a sex scene because underwear is emphasised whilst dropping to the floor. The low angle continues to prevail until she reaches the chair where a boy is sitting down; with no clothes on. There is diegetic sound of romantic, slow music playing and the lights are dimmed which highlights the events that are to follow. The conversation between the girl and boy in this current scene is limited and even when the boy does try to converse he appears awkward and nervous. The two shot of when the girl sits on the boy highlights their intimacy; also used is an extreme close up of the two which adds further to the idea of intimacy and romance.  The audience is aware of the fact that the boy and girl are not adults, they are in fact teenagers which gives the impression something unplanned will happen.

The audience’s attention is brought to a brown chair at various points in the 2 minutes. It is often at the edge of the frame; which suggests that the girl wants as little as possible to do with the chair. A close up and mid-shot are also used to enhance the chairs importance to the story. We get the impression that the girl is essentially disgusted by this inanimate object, as she is throwing it away; hence the junk furniture in the background of the mid-shot. It has clearly given her bad memories. This unusual way of giving key information to the audience is original in the sense that it is very rare to come across a film that focusses so much on something that is effectively not real, but has so much importance to the story.

The light-hearted music and animated credits/title sequence create the impression of an upbeat comedy drama. It makes the audience feel that, although the concept of the film will be based on real life events, it is necessary they find it laughable. The first 2 minutes of the film gives away enough information to keep the audience occupied but wanting more; due to the effective cut when the dog barks as it stops her storytelling.

1.       The close up of the character’s face, not even a minute into the film, highlights her emotion so the audience is already positioned to feel like she is upset therefore we feel sympathy for her. This is also important because we are aware that she will be an important character because of how much camera time she has already received.  

 

2.       With two components of the film at either edges of the screen we can see that there is a dispute between them. However, because one is an object it creates the impression that the chair is a significant factor to the storyline, but not a positive one as she has distanced herself from it.

 

3.       This low angle emphasises a big scene of the film as it is essentially enlarging it so our attention is focused. The audience can gather that this will be a sex scene because of the bare legs and underwear on the floor; now the audience are aware of this they can link it back to previous scenes and possibly why the actress’ face was as distraught as it appeared.

 

4.       This establishing shot creates the setting for the audience, it tells them the location of the film and the time period it is in (autumn). The significance of this is so that the audience is aware of where it is, in order for them to try and relate it to the story about to follow.

 

5.      Again, the audience’s attention is being brought to the chair. By using a Mid Shot we can also see that there is possibly junk in the background which suggests that the chair is also going to become a part of that; adding further to the suggestion of it being a negative aspect of the storyline.

 

6.       The title sequence appears after the background of the storyline has been shown because the audience now has a sense of what the film will be about. The bright colours used for the sequence enlightens the previous mood which suggests that the film will not be a comedy/light-hearted.