Juno Opening Sequence

 'Juno stars Ellen Page playing the title character of an independent-minded teenager confronting an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events that put pressures of adult life onto her.'

         General Info:

•  Genre: Comedy-drama film
•  Released: 2007
• Director: Jason Reitman
• Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner
• Budget: $7,000,000
• Box office: $231,411,584
• Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Productions

Analysis

 

The introduction starts with Juno (Ellen Page) casually walking around drinking a large bottle of Sunny D, whilst the introductory music of ‘All I want is you’ –Barry Louis Polar, begins to play. Instantly from the look of Juno in her casual hoodie and carefree attitude as she walks the street drinking from her drink, audiences can relate with Juno, our first impressions being she is a down to earth teenager. The music itself is quite quirky for an opening scene, giving the impression this is not your average film, giving the idea to viewers it is worth waiting to see why it is not your ‘typical teen film’.  As she walks further down the street the buildings and indeed setting have turned into some sort of simple doodle, whilst Juno herself stays the same. Along with her carefree first impression and the simple cartoon like background, it gives audiences a more in depth impression of what Juno is like and that her life is quite simple and relaxed. I think this is clever as it is as though it is a metaphor for how she lives her life, simple and carefree. It also relates to her age and that as a teenager this is when she should be at her freest.

Overall I really like the introduction to Juno. It fits well with the genre and you know that from the creativity and music used in the opening titles that the film will keep you interested if anything else. Having her walk through the streets and ever so slightly introduce places and people that will become important to Juno in the film help to create a character profile of Juno with the viewer from the beginning, which is something that is important in a film as viewers need to feel some sort of a connection to a character whether they like or dislike them to help keep them interested in any film.

Notes

It has been good to look at this opening sequene as it instills how important it is to create a connection between audience and character something which will definitely be in the opening sequences of our film. The music also, whilst not of the same genre we would choose, is important. it sets the tone for the rest of the film and should be something which is researched as it should link with the storylines/ characters being portrayed.