Research: Analysis of the Opening of Juno

Juno is very good at it's opening sequence in many ways. It begins with her walking down a street, then, as she walks behind a tree, the whole images changes from reality to a cartoon, including her, and then the credits begin, it shows that she is almost lost stuck in her own bubble, and that the world isn't very real to her yet, she still sees it through a child's eyes. It instantly shows the first production company, 'Fox Searchlight Pictures' which is Fox's attempt at an 'indie' film production. Within moments, a non-diegetic music begins, it is a very odd song, especially for a typical teenager to be listening to, it's very bubbly and unusual, yet the lyrics say 'If I'd be a tree, you be the leaves', this hints at a romance within this bubbly, teenage world, but in a very innocent and almost naive way, connoting to me that it my be a 'coming of age' journey in this film with the help of romance. The bottle of Sunny Delight in her hand also suggests at a child-likeness to her, as it is often thought of as children who drink Sunny D.
Her clothes aren't very extravagant, and her hair is tied back into a loose knot, it shows that she isn't too bothered by her appearance, she doesn't make too much of an effort, she seems a bit of a tomboy, but she is still fairly bright and stands out in comparison to the rest of the background, which is dull and drab, even more so when in it's cartoon form.
Soon enough there is a close up of her shoes on the floor, with leaves scattered around her, the leaves are a fairly dull brown, and her shoes are very average for an American teenager, it shows that her life is rather dull and that whilst she is different to other teenagers, she isn't extraordinary in any way, just a little odd.

Soon enough she's walking down the road and in the background you can see a few people in a sports kit running past her, they don't seem to even notice her, they could possibly be the stereotypical 'jocks' America always seem to have. She doesn't seem to mind too much that they don't even notice her, conveying that she doesn't have have any real wish to join in with the trends of others, that she is her own person, which we as a society like to see in our TV and films.

Towards the end of the start up credits, she can be seen to be balancing on the curbs in a very childlike manner and being off in her own world (yet again). She seems particularly care free, despite the fact that she is soon to be going to buy a pregnancy test(as we later find out), this possibly connotes naivety, she may not understand the seriousness of the situation, the mise-en-scene - the park - adds to the thought of her being childish and rather immature still, in a loveable way, which is why this film is thought of as so great, the start up credits stands out amongst so many others, so the creators did their job very well.