Juno – Jason Reitman

These are some notes I made while watching the film. I find this very helpful in understanding a film when I take notes. It gives a better understanding of the film and what was the thought behind framing a shot in a particular way. It gives me a better understanding of the mind of the director. These notes are not properly formatted and I apologize for this. Would try to post something more finished the next time, but for now I just want to get this one floating. Hope you like it. Would love to hear what you people have to say. So, here we go..

• ·         The movie starts with a warm light reflecting autumn. Also, the warm lighting gives an uplifting feeling as we don’t know yet what is going on.
• ·         The shop where she goes to take the pregnancy test is shot in tight frame. Gives a claustrophobic feeling. Here Juno is confronting her fears. Same with the lavatory scene.
• ·         When she is going back home after the positive test, the lighting is very dim and cold. Reflects the mood. A tracking shot follows Juno while she passes the boys in yellow shorts jogging. Creates a visual parallel between the boys who are apparently happy and carefree and Juno, who is going through considerable mental frustration. Even Juno’s sweatshirt is crimson and somehow dull as against the yellow shorts of the boys.
• ·         The 1^st time we enter Juno’s room, the camera focuses on odd objects in her room, as if the viewer is there and just looking at the odd things in the room, trying to see what Juno likes and all.
• ·         Juno’s room also has lots of things to create a tight shot. Painting on the wall, hangings from ceiling. The wood is dark but warm in colour. When she calls her friend, the friend’s room is much more open in the shot. Much more space in the frame. Once again, emphasising the psychological status of the two friends.
• ·         Bleeker, the boyfriend, is introduced in an interesting manner. Instead of showing him, the director shows us various things he does in the morning. All very routine and planned things. The background plays “A Well Respected Man”. The whole thing gives a character sketch of Bleeker.
• ·         When Juno is telling Bleeker about the pregnancy, her shots are much tighter than Bleeker’s. Bleeker is framed with a white background while Juno is sitting on a dark chair and hence, when the camera goes for a close up shot, Bleeker is given more space than Juno in the frame. Signifies that although Bleeker is worried about it, he doesn’t have to carry the real burden. It’s Juno’s burden to bear.
• ·         When she is calling the abortion clinic, the camera starts from a back shot, showing the clinic ad on a paper and moves slowly to the front capturing Juno’s face. There are no cuts in the scene. It’s one slow graceful camera movement. Interesting. It establishes a connect between Juno and her act which might have been diluted with a cut shot.
• ·         In the abortion clinic, there are lots of geometric patterns. In the cabinet, the upholstery, the wall frame. Everything is lines and geometric. Gives a somewhat cold and calculating and precise feel to the place.
• ·         Vanessa is introduced in a similar way as Bleeker. Draws a parallel between the two characters in a way. Both are ridiculously perfect, so to say.
• ·         Vanessa’s house is big, specious and white. Gives the feeling of affluence, but also makes it look empty in contrast to Juno’s home. Shows that although they have money, there is something missing. 1^st instinct is that it’s the baby, but later we find more.
• ·         While discussing the adoption with Juno, Vanessa constantly tries hard to impress while her husband is more aloof. Gives the indication that she wants the baby badly while he may be just playing along with her.
• ·         Most of the scenes with Vanessa and Mark together have some sort of divide between them. The bamboo shoot in the beginning then the vase when they are sitting. These are in the background, but clearly divide the two characters. A visual indication to the tension between the two.
• ·         Juno’s room is always lit with warm light in high key. Creates a very cosy feel.
• ·         When Juno is showing the ultra-sound picture to Vanessa, the camera momentarily focuses on Mark at a distance. Shows while the two women are bonding over the baby, Mark is watching from a distance.
• ·         The scene where Juno, Vanessa and Mark are discussing the baby shower and how somebody earlier flaked out on them, the three are sitting in different parts of the room and the director frames them all differently. Juno is shot in mid close-up, thus giving her some amount of importance. Vanessa is a long shot with her whole figure in the frame. There is a lot of space around her and the background is mostly white or pale yellow. Mark has the most interesting framing. He is sitting in a staircase and is shot in mid close-up too, but the camera is placed behind Vanessa and her shoulder is always visible. Points out the presence of Vanessa in Mark’s life all the time and it comes out somewhat intrusive. As if he has no space of his own. This accentuates the part earlier where mark says that Vanessa has given him a room for all his music stuff. Also, the railing on the staircase creates a diagonal in the frame with Mark, thus giving him more visual important in the scene than anyone else.
• ·         Once again when Laurens are talking about what colour to paint the baby’s room with, the director creates a visual bifurcation between Mark and Vanessa with the colour patch right in between them in the background.
• ·         When Juno and Bleeker are talking about him taking another girl to prom, the lights on the ceiling make a diagonal, thus creating a visual emphasis.
• ·         The scene where Mark tells Juno that he is going to divorce Vanessa, the lighting once again creates the mood. The light is subdued but somewhat low key, creating some shadows around both the characters and the surroundings. Also, although the room is coloured on mahogany, the light is cold. Doesn’t bring out the warmth as is the case in Juno’s home which has a similar colour pattern.
• ·         A very interesting framing when Vanessa walks in and finds Juno crying and leaving and confronts Mark. All three are in the scene. Juno and Vanessa are shot in the same frame. Mark is shot in a separate frame with Juno still visible, but only in profile and again, Vanessa’s shoulder is visible. Very beautifully depicts the dynamics between the three.
• ·         In that scene, Mark is shot is close-up twice. Once when he puts a mild argument saying that he is wondering if they are ready to be parents. In this scene, he is making a mild argument and hence, even in the close-up, we can see Vanessa’s back in the corner of the frame. Next time Mark makes it clear that he is not ready to be a father. He has finally broken from the tie and is coming out clear with his thoughts. This shot has only Mark. Vanessa is off the camera completely.
• ·         When Juno is driving back home from the Laurens’ place after Mark says that he is going to divorce Vanessa, she stops the car mid-way and cries. That scene has a very tight framing with Juno being shown in a frame within a frame, created by the window. Enhances the sense of helplessness and loneliness.
• ·         When Juno goes to the hospital and is about to deliver the baby and when she is delivering the baby, the rooms are white. It’s a neural colour. When she is resting in a room after the delivery, the room is back to gold and mahogany. Lighting is high key and warm. Heightens the mood.
• When Vanessa 1^st holds the baby, the background is white and washed out. Creates a halo effect around her.