For this assignment I decided to focus on the opening title sequence of the film Juno. I chose this movie over the remaining choices, largely because it has a very distinct and memorable introduction, but also because I wished to explore it further with my current understanding of design. Additionally, it had been years since I viewed this film and I wanted to explore the typographic elements further in relation to my newfound knowledge from this class.

          The movie begins with the main character, Juno, walking through her neighborhood and town while taking swigs of orange juice from a gallon jug. As she passes by a tree, the imagery transitions from actual, real-life footage to a stylized animated format, which features a collage of hand-drawn elements and realistic cut outs, from images that have been altered with heavy filters, giving it a quality of being handmade. As she walks in this drawn reality, frames of her steps have been removed, giving a more animated, cut/paper, illustrative style. In a sense, this design choice mirrors and alludes to the alternate reality that the character Juno live in throughout the movie. To explain, many of the characters in the film, especially those that are authoritative figures to Juno, believe that she is delusional, in a sense, both in her recklessness leading to her pregnancy and the decisions she makes regarding the life of her child.

          This is also portrayed through the imagery in the title sequence by the designers use of coloration. Juno is portrayed in harsh lighting and the saturation of her skin tone is reduced to the point of making her appear as though she is almost entirely in black and white. Her clothing and hair have also been desaturated and her bright red coat was made into a much deeper shade of red. This is contrasted by the surrounding hand-drawn environment, her neighborhood, that is full of warm tints and tones making Juno appear out of place. The designer’s choice to create this contrast references Juno’s mood as she makes the trek through the streets to the store where she purchases a pregnancy test and discovers that she is pregnant. Without having the background knowledge of the content of this movie, the viewer is still able to determine that Juno is experiencing some kind of internal turmoil that is in conflict with her surrounding environment, which can be perceived as a metaphor for her life.

           Additionally, the designer’s use of typography in the beginning sequence further pushed the theme of youthfulness, immaturity, and a general sense of being unpolished. Although the text featured in the introduction is actually a typeface, it’s treatment still gives the appearance that it is a hand lettered or drawn element in the collage. The typeface used is sans-serif and appears as if it were drawn in an ink pen and colored using markers. In some of the samples of text, clear coloring strokes are visible. In some places, it appears as though whoever drew the words failed to color them in entirely and have colored outside the lines in certain areas. This design decision also references back to the themes covered throughout the movie. It helps to push a sense of youthfulness, as the viewers are most likely to associate “messy” coloring, and visible marker strokes, with children or those who are not careful or do not spend much time and consideration on the finer details in life. Again, the typographic design decisions used throughout the title sequence further allude to the qualities and characteristics of Juno.

          Lastly, the use of transition scenes and movement are rather unique to this film. The introductory scenes are filmed in a way that it feels like it was taken in one shot. For example, when the scenes transition from reality to the alternate reality, featuring all of the collaged and hand-drawn elements, the designer utilizes a tree that Juno walks behind to provide a smooth transition between the two. Moreover, many of the transitions involve panning from one part of the drawing to another, giving the perception that the imagery is created from one entire drawing as opposed to individual frames. To help provide more fluidity, as the title sequence transitions from one scene to the next, portions of the previous scene are either still visible or purposefully included in the composition. For example, Juno is shown walking in front of one store location and as she walks out of frame, she is shown in a new location, but her legs are still visible walking across what would be the sky in the new frame.

          Overall, the introductory title sequence to the movie Juno is beneficial in establishing character traits and the larger themes portrayed throughout the film. As mentioned, the use of imagery and drawn elements relate to and reference the character Juno’s rather immature, sometimes abrasive, youthful and juvenile personality traits. Similarly, the use of typography with hand-drawn qualities help to further visually portray this idea. Additionally, the lighting helps to communicate the mood leading into the first few scenes as the character discovers she is pregnant, making her a teen mom. And finally, the transitions between scenes in the title sequences tie into the ideas and themes mentioned as well, by relating back to the home made qualities of the animated reality.