Katy Jackson

Juno Trailer Analysis

For my final drama trailer analyse I chose to do Juno. I believe this is a great choice as the film is aimed at the target audience that I am planning to aim at (teenagers and young adults). In addition to this it has the cross-genre element as comedy and romance are included and it also deals with a real-life situation (pregnancy) which some teenagers and young adults have to go through.

Settings/Locations

The locations in this trailer are incredibly conventional of drama films as they are normal, day to day locations such as a local shop. The first shot is an establishing one which immediately tells the audience the location of the film (a suburban area). The shot has clearly been graded to have more of a warm, orange filter, which in turn makes the location seem warmer.

The other locations in the trailer are also very conventional. From a local shop, to the interior of a house, to a park, all of the locations in this trailer are recognisable and with that brings a sense of belonging and familiarity to the area.

The interior of the house (the living room) looks like a homely, cluttered room with various props in acting as 'nick-nacks' to make the room seem more genuine. This works particularly well with the characters in the shot as all of the furniture and props look as if they are things these two characters would have actually bought together.

Another relatable exterior location is shown further on in the trailer. The long, establishing shot of this park has been framed very well allowing the audience to get a good idea of the location but also clearly see the two characters sitting on the bench.

Characters

From the start the preferred reading of Juno is that she's a 'tom-boy'. A close up of her wiping her mouth after drinking from a bottle of 'Sunny-D' enforces this idea. In addition to this her hair is tied back and she wears casual clothes that are a little baggy.

The next character we are introduced to in the trailer is the shopkeeper, played by Rainn Wilson (a marquee name). He has very carefully been placed near the beginning of the trailer to entice audience members who are fans of him to continue watching with the hope of seeing more of him throughout the trailer. This is an effective thing to do although it is only really possible for conglomerates who have access to a large budget and can therefore afford marquee names.

The trailer also features quite a few extras (stock characters) in some of the shots. This medium close up of Juno's back reveals a lot of stock characters staring at her as she walks down the corridor. This emphasises the drama of her situation (teenage pregnancy), which therefore further implements the genre of this trailer into the audience. The use of stock characters can be very effective if the location (e.g. a school) needs them for it to look realistic. However, I think in locations where you would not expect a lot of stock characters (e.g. a field) it works just as well to simply have the protagonist alone as the fact that they are alone further implements the drama of whatever situation they may be in.

Genre Iconography & Themes

The genres of this film are comedy, drama and romance. Each genre is clearly shown through iconography in the trailer.

The comedy element comes from Paulie Bleeker (the father of Juno's baby). He is a typical nerdy teenager and someone you wouldn't expect to be in this situation. His mise en scene makes him even more amusing as he is seen wearing a tank top and shorts at various points in the trailer. The added touch of the sweat bands are pretty effective as well since he doesn't look like the type of guy who would exercise really hard and build up a sweat.

The genre drama is established immediately as the audience find out she's pregnant. The prop of the pregnancy test is particularly effective especially in terms of relating to the target audience as there may be a lot of people who have been pregnant and had to do that test.

The romance genre is hinted at the least in this trailer out of the three genres. Paulie is shown implying a relationship between them after the baby is born but Juno doesn't seem so sure about this. If anything this emphasises how it is quite unusual for this boy to be in this situation as stereotypically guys would get as far away from a girl they got pregnant (if they weren't dating her before).

Sound

The trailer begins almost silent with the faint diegetic sound of Juno drinking a bottle of Sunny-D. As the first inter-titles are cut to, the first incidental non-diegetic music is heard. This music is quite stripped back and simple. Non-diegetic music like this is heard through a lot of the film (although the songs themselves change).

Ambient sounds and dialogue are heard which add an extra layer of sound and make the trailer a lot more interesting to watch (in terms of audio). Various diegetic sounds such as the shop door opening give a sense of professionalism as they can be heard clearly and let the audience obviously know that she is walking into the shop. It is very typical of dramatic trailers to make diegetic sounds loud and clear as it emphasises the action the character is taking to make that sound.

Lighting

The lighting used throughout in this trailer is incredibly conventional of comedy films as it is very natural looking (through high key lighting). This does not allow some unusual shots to be seen in terms of lighting however it does make the audience focus on the action in the trailer itself instead of the lighting (therefore emphasising the drama and romance in the trailer instead of how fancy the lighting looks).

The 3 point high key lighting system is an incredibly effective one but also expensive. In regards to my budget I will probably have to not use any lighting equipment unless I can get my hands on some for a very small amount of money (as I don't have any money allocated for a budget, so will just be using my own money if necessary).

Editing

To begin with the editing is pretty much continuity editing. This helps the audience follow the storyline and get an idea of what the narrative is about and how it develops. At times the shot cuts to another scene related to what the character in the previous shot was talking about. This gives the effect that the characters voice acts as a diegetic voice-over which from analysing previous trailers I can tell has become quite a conventional thing to do.

From 1:35 the editing style changes and montage editing takes place. The shots cut slightly faster giving the audience more of a brief overall picture of the film itself, including its characters and how they interact with each other.

The only transition used in this trailer is a cut. This is easily the most used and most effective transition as it doesn't bring the audience's attention to the transition and allows them to focus on the narrative in the film (an important aspect for any drama film).

Above is an example of a shot-reverse-shot used in the trailer. This demonstrates good editing and shot techniques and allows the audience to see how two characters interact with each other. In addition to this although they are over-the-shoulder shots, they are also close ups of the characters in the background, which enables the audience to see the characters facial expressions and therefore their emotions (which are likely to be heightened at this point in the trailer since Juno has told them that she's pregnant).

Typography

A very minimal amount of inter titles are seen in this trailer, allowing the audience to focus on the narrative of the story instead of extra information such as the actors names.

The typography itself is quite simple and is in a font that looks as if it's been hand written. It is a mixture of black text and white text with a black outline, placed in front of an orange and white striped background. The use of orange makes the inter title (and title) really stand out, with the intention of the audience remembering it after they've watched it.

Although, the other inter title in this trailer is completely contrasted to this as it uses the colours pink and white. The title itself is actually on the pregnancy test, an unusual way to show a title but an effective one. I imagine the aim of it was to get the audience to engage with the title and see that 'Fox Searchlight Pictures' were involved.

In conclusion I believe this trailer is very effective in establishing three genres with a clear, relatable (to some people) plot.