Juno

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.