The Juno one-sheet and the quirkiness of being quirky.
By Burbanked on Oct 30, 2007 in Movie Marketing 101, Movies, One-Sheetery | 3,860 views |
Peter at /Film gives us a look at the new theatrical one-sheet for Juno, the teen pregnancy comedy/drama that will see a limited release this December, ostensibly in the hopes of rolling out wide throughout the awards season.
It’s a good poster (click the thumbnail for a larger version), vibrant and with loads of personality. Still, the part of me who tends to over-analyze such matters - the part I’m not all that crazy about who I wish would just shut his mouth sometimes - finds two things about this poster interesting and, perhaps, oddly motivated.
First Of All, Why Does Robert Ebert Suddenly Feel Compelled To Speak In All Initially-Capped Sentences? As You Can Tell, It’s A Rather Off-Putting And Strange Way To Express Oneself, Not To Mention How Irritating It Is To Type. I’m Guessing That The Poster’s Art Director Suggested That The Designer “Find A Way To Punch Up The Quote A Bit” And This Was What They Came Up With. I’m Probably By Myself Here, But I Find It Quite Annoying.
I also don’t understand the tiny silhouetted people running away, Godzilla-style, from the gigantic Ellen Page and Michael Cera. What are these supposed to represent? There’s some brief running seen in the trailer, but certainly not in a context that makes sense to include it on the poster. What’s more, there are eight characters running and only six major characters in the movie - and none of the silhouettes look like a young pregnant girl - so they seem like they’ve been kind of thrown on there without much reason. Does it suggest the movie’s frantic sensibility? A metaphoric running away from one’s problems?
Or perhaps is it meant to remind us, if even in a small way, of this little piece of movie marketing success: 
Dedicated screenwriting 101 here: From an interview with Harrison Ford on the MTV Movies Blog in which the inevitability of another Indiana Jones movie is mentioned:
How do I get out of this? I love going to the movies with my boys, opening up their minds to the great pleasures of cinema and all that, but this is a hard one. Please help me: do I suck it up and just go, or can anyone out there provide me with a plausible, kind-hearted, permanent way out? (
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Ray | Oct 30, 2007 | Reply
LOL You and I must be psychically linked somehow … I was pondering the same thing myself. I almost wrote something about it, but I’m glad I waited for you
Burbanked | Oct 30, 2007 | Reply
I’m sure that this isn’t the first time you’ve contemplated that psychic link…
Karina | Oct 31, 2007 | Reply
Running is actually a major theme in the film. Michael Cera’s character is a track star, and the film marks the passing of time by showing the track team practicing in different seasons.
But yeah, they’re totally trying to sell this as Little Miss Sunshine 2, which is unfair to Juno because it’s a much better movie.
Burbanked | Oct 31, 2007 | Reply
Thanks for the clarifier, Karina - that’s a very good explanation, but really the poster would have been fine without it, I think. It suggests the kind of thing where they felt SOMETHING had to occupy that empty corner, so they throw in something that’s related to the movie, but a bit out of context.