Essay On Scene Analysis

In this paper, I have chosen to focus on the cinematography and music of the final scene in 2007’s Juno, starring Ellen Page and Michael Cera. Director Jason Reitman, his director of photography Eric Steelberg and music supervisor Peter Alterman have crafted a gritty, yet innocent and childlike, way of shooting and scoring the film which fits in with Juno’s lifestyle and attitude. Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) appears on the big screen staring at an old yellow reclining chair and swigging a large bottle of Sunny-Delight. As she stares at the chair, she experiences a period of significant reflection. The audience sees her stripping off her pants and walking over to Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) to sit in his lap and exchange a few whispers. Abruptly she snaps out of her daydream and frantically enters a convenience store purchasing her third pregnancy test of the day. She finally accepts that the tests are not broken and she is pregnant. The next scene shows the following morning, when Juno and her friend move the yellow chair and its matching furniture onto Paulie’s front lawn. She tells him that she’s pregnant and both agree that abortion is the best solution. However, Juno cannot go through with the abortion and decides to have the baby. Once the baby is born, she then gives it up for adoption. Juno finds a perfect family out of a newspaper advertisement who agree to adopt the child. The film does an exceptional job of portraying the ups and downs of a pregnant teen with her struggles of disapproving social stigma to the life changing event of giving birth, which makes her change her priorities and choose to start a relationship with Paulie. This decision is cinematically and thematically reflected in the cinematography and music of the final scene.
In the final scene of Juno, Juno’s ultimate happiness is found in simply playing a guitar with Paulie, and finally accepting that they have feelings for one another. It is one of the most stylistically interesting scenes in the film, and provides an ideal example of what Reitman wanted the audience to take away from Juno – a feeling of contentment and simplicity that is shared by Juno, now that her trials are over and she has started a new stage of her life with Paulie.
Juno and Paulie meet in front of Juno’s house after she has had the baby and given it to the Jennifer Garner character, at piece with giving the baby a good home and a bright future. Both she and Paulie begin to play the Moldy Peaches song “Anyone Else But You” and sing to each other, and the entire ending scene consists of this one-shot take of this performance, which is not played for anyone in particular from the character’s point of view.
The music is diegetic, and so the audience is seeing the source of the music right on screen – there is no fading in of instrumental scoring or any other instruments to supplement the performance; just the raw sound from Cera and Page. The song itself is bright and simple, much like the architecture of the shot, just sung in low tones, without any affectation or vibrato, by Page and Cera with acoustic guitars. They sing about accepting each other for their flaws – “We sure are cute for two ugly people” – and recognizing that neither of them are ideal, but they wouldn’t have “anyone else but you.” This song sums up how Juno and Paulie feel about each other, and how they wish to embark upon a relationship despite their prior reservations about the prospect.
Reitman lets this entire scene play out in a single shot, neutral at the two characters, starting out in a close wide. The aspect ratio is 1.85:1, providing a more restrictive view of the background than in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and allowing the characters to occupy more of the frame. The two characters are in dead center frame on the same plane, and the lighting is natural and even, with high contrast and few shadows. The house is in the background, and we see Paulie and Juno on the left and right side of frame, respectively, sitting close to one another. The depth of field is very wide, making the house seem very far away and the characters seem closer. Both have their backs away from the audience, so the audience can see their emotional closeness at this point in the film. The two guitars are pointing toward each other, allowing the two characters to be closer than they already are. As Juno and Paulie play, they are fairly still, apart from a bit of swaying, providing a tableaux image. The color palette contains a lot of yellows and browns, creating an eclectic mix of fall hues. As the song progresses, the camera smoothly pulls back in a dolly shot, as we move further and further away from Juno and Paulie. This gives a sense of leaving the story, as the audience begins to remove themselves from the characters.
With the two characters singing happily to each other, the audience recognizes that they will be okay, and will at the very least attempt a future romantic relationship. The light, acoustic guitar-driven song they are singing is innocent and full of life, offering up a happy ending to the film. The dollying back on the characters happens so slowly the audience might barely realize it, but it is just noticeable enough to allow the audience to see that the film is ending. The shot lingers on them for nearly two minutes, in order to let the audience say goodbye to these characters they have spent the last two hours falling in love with. It also helps to represent the lingering attention Paulie and Juno are giving each other, indicating severe romantic interest, which is also portrayed by them sitting so close to one another.
At the end of the scene, the camera stops dollying back when it gets to an extreme wide shot, and the song also ends. This is an innovative choice, as typical film language suggests that the song would lead the audience out to the credits. However, Reitman wanted to show the entirety of the performance without cuts or any intrusive credits overlaying it, so the audience can share in this interesting moment between the two characters. At this point, Juno and Paulie are centered at the bottom of the frame, and the house is now fully revealed in frame. We get an extended moment of silence, as no music or sound effects play, and Juno innocently leans over to kiss Paulie. The fact that the audience is witnessing this from much further away than the beginning of the shot indicates that their love is much more universal and accessible. Immediately following the kiss, a herd of Paulie’s track mates run past, the only sound being the stamp of their feet (which are below frame), moving from left to right of frame. Paulie and Juno are motionless at this point in the shot, the students running being the only movement throughout the tableaux that has been created. The shot then smash cuts to black, and the credits roll.
The entire last shot, especially the move to have Paulie’s friends run past at the end in a comedically large cluster, is indicative of the film as a whole, as it is punctuated with all manner of quirky, off-beat moments. The fact that the final scene is all one shot provides continuity to Juno’s life – she now wants to stay in one place, be with one man, and this life all happens in one shot. It is meant to be a symbolic snapshot of Juno’s life, as it is spent being silly, innocent and quirky with Paulie.
The final scene of Juno uses smooth, one-shot cinematography and a simple, diegetic song to help represent the happiness and stability Juno feels now with Paulie, illustrating just how uncomplicated her life has become. Reitman could have used other techniques like a montage of their lives together in the future, but this scene and shot provides an economy of visual direction that is not found in most films. Reitman’s use of a single tracking shot in the final scene of Juno is prime evidence of the film being a visual representation of Juno’s character: it is very quirky, offbeat, and full of surprises. In this final scene, we gain a measure of happiness and contentment, as Juno is feeling, which is accomplished through the pleasing song, the lack of harsh cuts, and the smooth camera movement as it dollies back from the characters.