Juno - Essay

Discuss how meaning is created through mise-en-scene and cinematography in the film JUNO (2007)

The first scene I looked at was “A Little Viking”. This scene was shot in Juno’s house in the living room. A house is a safe environment where you are able to tell your loved ones anything, however in this scene Juno is hesitant - as seen when she passes back and forth - to tell her dad and step-mum that she is pregnant. The setting is very bland with brown walls and worn and faded furniture which implies that they are very comfortable in their home. This suggests that Juno’s family don’t care about the way there house looks or how others will look at it as they prefer comfort over style.

In the scene Juno just wears comfy clothing as she doesn't really care what anyone thinks about her, this is shown as she is wearing dark green, brown, a little bit of yellow and blue so then it adds a bit of colour to the outfit so it is in all bland. This might suggest that Juno isn’t ready to be a mother as she is still wearing the same clothes as she normally does and she just isn’t purely ready. Mac (her father) is wearing a very significant dad outfit with a chequered t-shirt, blue trousers even though this seems like a work attire it's also very laid back. Bren (Juno's step-mum) Is wearing a pink turtleneck with a dark blue t-shirt and she's also wearing blue jeans, as she is wearing a pink turtleneck each other eyes to look more at her face as the dark blue and the jeans a very dull not very interesting. This shows the audience that they may be parents but they aren’t that old to be grandparents yet.

In this scene everyone is wearing a very minimal amount of makeup, I feel as if this is been done so that we concentrate more on what they're saying than how much makeup they wear. Leah is wearing a bit more maker and she is more of a girly girl, this is shown by her wearing some blush, mascara and lip gloss. This reminds the audience that both Juno and Leah are still young and that Juno is in a serious mature situation.

There are many props in the scene. The props are all over the place which makes spectators look all around the place. There are a couple of lamps lying around which are turned off which indicates that is daytime so that there is natural light coming into the scene. From this the audience can see that the MacGuffs collect things maybe from all over the world but the props are in the background it’s hard to tell.

The only movement in the scene is really from Juno as she is pacing back and forth right about telling her parents that she's pregnant. When she goes to tell them her facial expression shows that she is apprehensive but she's not disappointed in herself for choosing not to have an abortion. Mac was surprise when he hears that Juno is pregnant but wasn’t angry at her however he wasn't overly pleased that she was pregnant and thought that she wasn't capable of being mother at this point in time but he did support her in saying that he would go with her to see the adopting parents. Bren it also surprised when she finds out that her stepdaughter Juno is pregnant but after a few seconds she jumps into being a supportive step-mum; she then starts making a list of healthy things to buy Juno. Juno's friend Leah pushes her into telling her parents as Juno just keeps pacing back and forth. This suggests that Leah is worried about her friend and wants what is best for her but she might also just want someone else to know so she doesn’t have to deal with this. Juno’s movement and expression created a meaning of being scared and vulnerable.

The camera shot is a medium shot when Juno talks, it then does shot reverse shot when here parents talk. It is a two shot on the parents as it affects them both and they both talk one after the other so if they kept doing shot reverse shot between them it would get very annoying. There are no camera angles in this scene as we are concentrated on what they are saying and there facial expressions. There is also very little camera movement as yet again you want to concentrate on the face.  

The next seen I looked at was “Vanessa Talks to Her Baby". This scene was shot at Ridgedale mall. Malls are much clustered places as people come to shop/eat/meet and much more, it is for all ages. So in this scene Vanessa is very unusual as she is a very neat person which the mall isn’t. The mall is made up of two floors with lots of people and shops. It is very busy and noisy making the spectator really know that it is a mall. The noise in the background starts to go quiet when Juno and Vanessa start talking. The background sound going quiet in this scene is perhaps done to emphasize the importance of their conversation.

Even though Juno is pregnant she still acts as if she isn’t even pregnant. She blocks out the stares and dirty looks she gets from people. This yet again shows the audience that she doesn’t want to be a mother as she is young. It also might amaze the audience that Juno is brave enough to go to the mall heavily pregnant.

Vanessa is very dressed down in this scene, as before she made sure that she was all dressed up to meet Juno as she was giving her what she always wanted a child.  But in this scene she is very laid back as she is with her friends. Juno is wearing the same old sort of clothing, chequered shirt, blue t-shirt and a brown. Every time Juno goes over to Vanessa’s house Vanessa is always dressed up implying that she cares about the baby and wants Juno to know that even though Juno doesn’t care. However in this scene Vanessa is dressed in baggy, comfortable clothes which implies that because she wasn’t intending on seeing Juno today she could let her hair down.

Juno’s hair is very messy as she is pregnant and doesn’t really have time to make herself look presentable but she doesn’t really care how she looks, Juno is also not wearing any makeup for the same reason. Leah put a bit more effort into her hair and makeup as she wants to be noticed but it isn’t over the top makeup it is just subtle. Vanessa has put her hair up into a nice pony tail and has added a little bit of makeup so that it still looks realistic.

There are a lot of little props in the background of this scene which aren’t that visible but do make the scene feel more like a mall, however there is one prop that is very visible during this scene which is the baby bump as the whole film revolves around it.  

Vanessa is very excited to be having fun with her friend’s child and can’t wait to have her own kid. When Juno is watching Vanessa she can see by her movement how badly Vanessa wants a kid and how much it means to her, you can also see that Juno is pleased with the chose that she made to choose Vanessa to be her child’s mother.  After that part Juno and Vanessa meet at the top of the lift where Vanessa talks to her baby for the first time; I think that this moment is so special as you can see that this means so much to Vanessa that she is able to have the opportunity to talk to the baby while it is still in the belly like most mothers do and to also feel the baby kick as she doesn’t get to experience this. Juno shows a surprised expression of her face and to me I feel as if this is because of the way Vanessa is acting as it is very different to how she was at her home.

There is very natural light coming in from the windows up above which shows it is daytime, it also makes it more realistic to have natural light rather than fake natural light.

The camera shot shows Juno and Leah messing around then a shot reverse shot, to Vanessa which is zoomed in to look as if we are Juno looking at Vanessa playing with a friend’s child. There isn’t much camera angle in this scene, the only part there is one is when Vanessa who is kneeling talking to the baby and Juno is looking down upon her watching this magical moment that Vanessa gets to enjoy. This reminds the audience that even though Juno doesn’t want the baby she can see how much Vanesa wants a baby and this was shown with the camera being shot as if it was through Juno’s eyes.

The very last scene I looked at was the “Baby Birth”. This scene took place in a hospital, with Juno pacing round the small room waiting for an epidural.

Juno wore a bed gown as she was giving birth. Pauile wore his yellow shorts, red top and sweat bands this shows that he is a jock but not your normal typical jock as he is not very tough and he is lanky. Juno’s parents wore the same sort of clothes they normally wear, chequered shirt and jeans for Mac; and turtleneck and jeans for Bren. Vanessa wore laid back comfortable clothing she wore a yellow top with some black jeans. From this the audience can clearly see that Juno has given birth and that Pauile has just come from his competition. What Vanessa is wearing also implies to the audience that she is a lot calmer about the whole baby situation now that she knows for definite that she has one.

Juno’s hair was all over the place as it was very sweaty as she was giving birth and she wore no makeup as there is no need to wear any makeup in this scene. Vanessa had her hair up and wore natural makeup.

The props were a bed, a curtain and a few small bits to show that it was a hospital like a heart rate monitor. This really brought the scene to life as all the props were placed in the right spot to make it feel like a hospital.

There are a lot of different camera shots in this scene. As there was a very zoomed out shot up until Pauile cuddled up on the bed with Juno then the camera shot changed to zoomed in. There was only one camera angle that I caught which was the 180 degree rule, which was the part when Vanessa was holding the baby and Bren was talking to her. The only camera movement in this scene was when any of the characters moved.

Camera Shots

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Generate Ideas

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Hair and Makeup

Hair and makeup

For hair and makeup, as we didn't decide to do an opening which required any wounds etc, there wasn't as much to think about other than how we wanted the characters to come across. As Sophia is the youngest character we decided that she shouldn't have any makeup to show the age gap and also that she should have her hair up potentially in pigtails or something similar. On the other hand, we thought that Tessa, the older sister, should have more obvious, excessive makeup as we wanted her to look like she was trying to appear older as well as her hair in a side ponytail, again to show that. For Billie and Emma we didn't think that obvious makeup was necessary as Billie is more of a tomboy character and Emma is more sensible. As Jessica is the more popular character, we thought that her makeup could potentially be a bit more obvious but not over the top. For their hair, we didn't have anything in particular that we wanted them to do as they are the age that we want them to be so we thought that their look fit the characters without changing much.

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Lighting

Lighting

Our group decided to use phone lights as it isn't too overpowering over the night light and it will create a more horror like atmosphere. 

Final Idea

In the end we ended up having to use some portable lights as the phone lights didn't show the person that well, but with the portable lights you could see the movement and facial expressions while still being able to see the night light. 

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Film Openings in Genre

Horror Film Openings

In Scream (1996) the first five minutes involve a girl on the phone to the murderer, unaware that it is the murderer, and eventually results in her death. The girl that gets murdered doesn't have any particular relation to the rest of the film, however her murder sets the mood for the rest of the film and introduces the murderer.

The opening for Jaws (1975), again, involves a young girl getting killed. This is mainly to introduce the 'killer', in this case is a shark, this is done through suggestion and implication to further the sense of fear and tension for the rest of the film.

Comparatively, in 28 Weeks Later (2007) the first opening minutes of the film very explicitly introduce the zombies and the hysteria of the characters, this may be due to the fact that the film is a sequel (so the viewers are already aware of what the scary thing is about the film) or it could be to immediately give the audience a sense of panic and fear.

For our 2 minute opening of a horror film, we decided that it would be best to have a similar idea to what happens in Scream and Jaws, where there is a victim of murder. However, it is not clear what or who the killer is, in order to add a sense of mystery and tension as it is left up to the audience's imagination through the power of suggestion.

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Props

Props

We didn’t want to use many props as we wanted the beginning two minutes of the film to be significantly fast paced and we thought using too many props could take away from that. However we did want to uses phones for FaceTime to bring another element into the film.

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Elements of mise en scene - Horror

Horror

Setting - Usually isolated, unpopulated and dark which creates suspense and a fear of the unknown. It also gives opportunity for things to be hidden and unexpected events to happen. There's also no hope of rescue which can add to the tension. Typical settings are graveyards, forests, abandoned buildings or potentially more childhood related places like a fairground as this creates a creepy tone.

Hair and makeup - This varies depending on what the film is about. For a gory film, more extreme makeup will be used to create the special effects, like latex wounds and fake blood. In a ghost film, makeup may be used to make an actor look a lot paler and 'dead looking' while fake wounds may also be used to show the audience that they died a violent death. Makeup may also be used to make actors 

look like monsters, vampires etc or even clowns as this is a common fear of many people. Prosthetics and coloured contacts are often utilised to really change the person's appearance.

Costume - Can be used to show the audience that the characters are ordinary people, which can add to the scary effect as it's easier to believe that the events could happen to you. They are also useful for characterisation and showing what kinds of people the characters are. For example a 'nerdy' character is one that the viewer will assume gets killed/taken first. The costume will also help for if there's a monster as it will add to the scariness of their appearance and help show what they are: ghost etc. 

Props - Often, props used in horror are things like knives and weapons which helps to heighten the tension as it shows that something violent is probably going to happen and someone might be hurt or killed. It can help to show who the 'enemy' is within the film. Other props could be things like haunted objects which add to the plot.

Lighting - To create a mysterious, creepy effect dark lighting is usually utilised as this also adds to the fear of the unknown. It also makes it easy for jump scares to be created as things can be concealed in the shadows. Sometimes red lighting may be used to create a sense of danger, or there may be a general red tone in, for example, a slasher film which involves a lot of blood. Black and white, more muted colours are often used in a very typical horror movie to display the absence of hope and enhance what is happening. 

Character expression/movement - The viewer often feels emotions through the characters so their expressions can help to convey their fear and unease which is then transferred to the audience. This can be effective, especially when a character who hasn't been very outward emotionally is then obviously scared of something as it shows that it is something very terrifying. Movement, like running away, flinching, can also create fear and unease. The actors show that there's something wrong that the viewer should be afraid of.

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Costume

Costume ideas 

As a group we decided we wanted them to wear everyday clothes however we molded what they would usually wear to fit their character slightly.

Poppy – well dressed, proper, jack wills.

Ola – dressed younger, all in white to symbolize vulnerability.

Megan – sensible, warm, practical.

Megan – trying to dress older than she is.

Harriet – just very casual, what she would normally wear on an everyday basis, jeans and a t shirt.

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Script

Final Script:

Tessa: When are the others getting here?

Billie: I’m not sure but wasn’t your sister meant to meet us here first?

Tessa: I’ll ring her.

Tessa rings Sophia

Tessa: Where are you?

Sophia: I’m at the graveyard

The others walk over whilst the call is taking place and are whispering in the background

Billie: Well you’re not

Emma: Are you sure?

Sophia: Yes! I’m pretty sure I can see you guys

Jessica: well obviously she’s gone to the wrong one

Sophia: I know you guys are pranking me, I can see you

Tessa: We’re not pranking you, we’ll come and find you

Sophia drops her phone, the others panic

Tessa: Sophia?

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We wrote this script to give an idea as to what the scene would entail, however if we needed to change certain parts or add in things, we did so in order for the script to work with all the other aspects of the scene. Such as: setting and characters. 

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Character

Characters:

Jessica

Jessica is the popular member of the group, and comes across as very proper. She is likeable and holds an influence over the rest of the group.

Billie
Billie is the comic relief of the group and is quite edgy. She is quite excitable and sometimes over-exaggerates her expressions.

Tessa
Tessa is Sophia's older sister and is not as cool as the rest of the group. She is trying to seen as older by the others. She gets quite worried about her sister.

Emma
Emma is the clever, geeky person of the group. She is shown to be the sensible member of the group and is far more serious than the others.

Sophia
Sophia is Tessa's younger sister. She follows her sister in going out but turns up at the wrong cemetery. She is shown to be quite innocent, especially compared to the others. She doesn't necessarily recognise the dangers around her.

WHOLE Group Task 1 - Auditions