Up Close and Personal

When it came time to pick a movie to use for this weeks blog, my mind immediately went to Juno. Not only is Juno one of my favorite movies but the cinematography used is quite appealing. Until this lecture I didn't know much about shot progression, but now I cannot help but notice it. Not only do shots have descriptive meanings but the also provide connotative meanings.

The movie opens with a long shot, showing Juno in the corner looking upon a house. She is shown in the distance and is alone. When a character is shown by herself, it emphasis the isolation she will soon feel because of her pregnancy. From the beginning of the movie, you know that Juno will go through a lot on her own just from the shot selection.

The scene then moves to the middle shot, which provides more information to the viewer. By looking at this shot, you see Juno staring at a chair holding a gallon on Sunny D. It is easy to guess that the chair has a significance to the plot. The relationship between Juno and the chair does not seem to be a happy one, yet not bad either. She looks more or less confused.

This is confirmed by the final shot in the scene, the close up. The viewer now is provided with important details about Juno's feelings and thoughts. Her face is overcome with doubt, worry, and concern, and this can all be inferred by looking at her close up.

Shot progression is extremely important because all of this information was gathered in under a minute, and the scene contained no dialogue. So much information in movies is not just told to you but shown. That is why it is so important to pick the right type of shot when filming a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0SKf0K3bxg