How is mise en scene and cinematography used in Juno?
For the first scene of the film, Juno walks into a shop to
purchase a pregnancy test. The lighting is bright and the colouring seems quite
saturated implying that it's going to be a fairly happy, more upbeat film not
something with a lot of intense, dramatic scenes in it. In terms of hair and
makeup, she looks very relaxed with slightly messy hair and casual clothing
which demonstrates that she's comfortable in the shop and also isn't very
bothered about her appearance due to her not having put much effort into it. Adding
to this impression, her movement is laid back and almost sluggish as well when
she walks into the shop. The setting of the shop is very colourful and due to
the handwritten signs, not very organised surfaces and the prop of the toilet
key, which is big and looks handmade, it shows the viewer that it's a local
shop in a smaller town not a city. When she picks up a pregnancy test the
packaging says 'teen wave' which tells the viewer that she's young and that
finding out she's pregnant may not actually be a good thing. There's some
subtle elements in the background which hint to the audience that Juno is in
fact pregnant. For example, when the camera faces her as she stands at the
desk, there's some items behind her which look like they depict babies or
children. Coupled with this, there's also sweets being sold that are on display
which are often associated with children. Juno's movement changes later on in
the scene when she does the test as she frantically gets it out of the box and
quickly urinates on it. Her facial expression is pensive and when she finds out
that she's definitely pregnant she tries to shake the test to 'get rid of' the
plus and looks anxious which demonstrates that she doesn't want to be pregnant
and is worried about it. However, the mood is lightened by the shop keeper who
makes a joke about it with a deadpan expression showing that the film is a
humorous one.
In another scene when Juno and Paulie meet in the school
hallway, tensions rise slightly but their close friendship is still very
apparent and they appear to feel more sad and regretful than angry at each
other. This is shown through their facial expressions when, for example, Paulie
says “I should be angry at you” but instead looks upset. Juno’s expression when
talking about who he asked to prom also displays her true feelings about losing,
to an extent, their very close relationship which they had with each other. In
terms of setting, the school hallway is white and semi-busy however this is all
faded into the background as only Juno and Paulie are in focus for most of the scene.
This simplicity and use of medium close up and close up shots helps to really
focus the viewer on the characters and their interaction and expressions as
there’s nothing really to be distracted by in the background. As well, it makes
the conversation look a lot more intimate and important as it’s so in focus
while contributing to displaying how they’re close and comfortable with each
other because the world around them seems to fade away and they’re mostly
concentrating on each other. The lighting is artificial as they’re inside and
highlight both characters, solidifying that the conversation is the important
aspect of the scene. The on screen lighting of strip lights both ‘lead into’
the characters especially Juno where it leads into her eyes, subtly drawing the
viewers attention to her expression and implying that although she may be
saying that she doesn’t cares, looking at her expression shows otherwise. The
light also goes towards Paulie but further down which accentuates the height
difference between the two characters and adds to the vulnerability which Juno
is trying not to show. As the lighting is quite bright, couples with the
humorous dialogue, the more light-hearted tone of the film is maintained. For
hair and makeup, like in the majority of the film, they both have very casual,
relaxed clothing on and neither seem to have out a lot of effort into their
appearances, demonstrating their comfort at the school. There are no props as
the focus of the scene is the characters’ interactions with each other and
their facial expressions.
During one of the ending scenes, Juno surprises Paulie by
filling his letterbox with his favourite flavour of tic tacs and then meeting
him at the sports field where he is running. He’s wearing his sport uniform which
is the same thing that he was wearing at the beginning of the film. This infers
to the audience that the mood of the film is going to be lifted and that their
relationship is going to improve again. Juno is wearing clothing that’s similar
to what she wears during the rest of the film but her open coat makes her baby
bump obvious, reminding the viewer of the main plot and how he is an important
character related to her pregnancy. The setting is very open as it’s outside
and there’s quite a few people in the background, but Juno and Bleeker are the
two who fill up the frame. In terms of props, the tic tacs are important because
they’re a symbol of how she knows him incredibly well and it shows her
accepting him for his idiosyncrasies. They’re also one of the first things she mentions
about him when talking about their night together so the use of these props gives
a kind of cyclical structure to the film, especially when coupled with his
clothing being the same as at the start. The scene has more of an establishing
feel to it than others with a sort of montage of different things happening
like the people running, cheerleaders. There’s then a shot of the two
characters walking towards each other which makes the viewer believe that it’s
an important moment in the film. While they’re talking, the camera cuts to a
shot of the both of them facing each other which sets a romantic tone as it displays
the two of them together and it’s often a shot like this which leads into the
characters kissing. This does happen at the end of the scene, although it’s
still kept humorous and light-hearted with the interaction with her friend. The
lighting is natural as they’re outside but the weather is quite nice which
matches the happy scene.
