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.