Juno

        Gareth Smith's (Shadowplay Studio) title sequence for Jason Reitman's comedy Juno is unusual in that it occurs after an opening scene, but shows Juno's journey from home to the pharmacy, before the live action story picks up once again. The sequence begins and ends with seamless edits between the film and painstakingly hand drawn, collaged and traced animation.

        The effect of following Juno on her journey is that she is rooted firmly in the centre of the story, as she is pretty much the only human figure seen in the sequence, and her photographic appearance stands out from the flat colours and lines of her surroundings (to me the environments are reminiscent of the work of Patrick Caulfield). The interesting amalgamation of animation techniques reflects Juno's own quirky outlook, setting the tone for an oddball comedy. There was an immense amount of work involved to achieve an almost scrap book aesthetic, in which Juno almost seems to float rather than walk. Many, many photos were taken of Ellen Page walking, which were than coloured, photocopied repeatedly (to fade and degrade the image) before being cut out and assembled as deliberately stilted stop motion sequences. However, the picture book line drawings act as a reminder that behind her quick wit and ostensible bravado, Juno is at heart still a child forced to go through a difficult period