500 days of summer

The film starts off on what turns out to be the most important day for Tom, day 488, which is the last day he sees Summer in the 500 days of. It shows a brief glimpse of where the story's headed, without the audience realizing the significance of the shot. It then goes on to introduce the characters and their backstory. In the opening monologue, the narrator states, "this is not a love story." This kind of confuses us, because we had just be shown these two people very happily sitting together, 488 days into their relationship. Automatically this has intrigued the audience as they are wanting to figure out why this bold statement has just been said by the narrater, who's voice is unknown. (500) Days of Summer is presented in a non-chronological format, each scene being introduced by which of the 500 days. 

The target audience of this movie is easily related to many different types of people as it shows the infatuation and obsession that we all experience with love and break ups. The film takes a more 'indie' approach to the traditional love story which is more realistic perhaps compared to other romantic films.

The opening titles of this movie are lighthearted and playful, yet romantic. Animations are used along with shots of a girl and a boy throughout different stages of their lives. An old camera style is used emphasising the reality of this film helping the audience relate with it more. The animations in between show different day numbers, with the surrounding images allowing the audience to know if this particular day was good or bad. For example, on day 1, which is a good day, happy animations of a summers day are shown. The titles are shown in a simplistic way, fading in and out between each set of clips shown. The dissolving of the clips that are shown suggests that they are all memories, fading away as distant memories from the past. This gives the movie a relaxed feel. 

After the lighthearted opening titles, the very next scene is from day 290. This is the day that Summer and Tom broke up. The placement of this scene at first seems a little odd, but in fact is the best choice for the film. Showing this scene so early on not only sets the tone for the audience, giving them a taste of where the story is headed, but it also tells them that, that they break up well under the 500 days, showing there is more to this story than originally thought. This already tells us that maybe, there will be a happy ending after all. 

The entire movie is really viewed through the lens of Tom's perspective. The jumping back and forth in time symbolizes Tom's memory of what happened. As the ending narration says, "Most days are not special. They begin and end with no lasting memories being formed." Which is why there are only a select number of days out of the 500 that are showcased here. These are the lasting memories. This is what Tom remembers. The best and the worst. 

For the party scene, the filmmakers decided to use a split-screen technique. On the left side shows Tom's expectations of what the party will be like. On the right side is the painful reality. The scene is almost so heartbreaking to watch, that it makes you feel Tom's pain. Watching what you want to happen, but right next to it watching the cold reality of relationships is such a startling thing to see in a film. This makes it very easy for the target audience to relate, because we all have experienced not getting what we quite want. 
The film is definitely about love but it’s also about loss and dreams and growing up. It’s even about memory, and how it can mislead us and cause problems for us. Many people will relate with this, and the simplicity of the story being told makes the movie more effective. The mise en scene used in this film is simplistic but also unique to the specific character. For example, summer's clothes are quite uniquely styled, showing of her personality of being different to others around her.

Imaginary Forces - 500 Days of Summer from Imaginary Forces on Vimeo.

The Vow

The opening scene of this movie starts of very simple, but seconds in the simplicity suddenly turns into a dramatic twist. Paige and her husband Leo come out of a movie theater. On their way home, at a stop sign, Paige unbuckles her seatbelt to lean over and kiss Leo. At that very moment, a truck rams their car from behind and Paige crashes through the windshield. Both of them are rushed to the emergency room, and as Leo, in a voice-over talks about how "moments of impact help in finding who we are" the movie cuts to how Paige and Leo first met.  
The scenes of how they courted, proposed and became a happy married couple are now shown. This instantly grasps the audiences attention as they're emotions are already being affected before they have even got to know the personality of the characters. The dissolves show that these are distant memories, the bright colours used and laughter from all the characters show the audience that they were a happy couple who seemed to be living a simplistic life but a life that they found perfect because of their intimate relationship. 
The scenery of the snow, almost winter wonderland like, gives the impression that all is peaceful, however, a cold and harsh reality is about to hit them. When the devastating twist is revealed the audience are left feeling emotionally tied to these characters, almost saddened by what was happened. 
The titles are shown throughout this opening scene. There is a simple stye used, the words simple dissolve in and out. Over this a soft sound of a string orchestra can be heard, almost as if the instruments are trying to get into tune. This adds to the opening scene as it adds to the atmosphere of trying to make something perfect, and get everything just right. This this becomes into a soft melody accompanying  the words of the characters. When the car crashes the loud, harsh noises of the class can be heard smashing into millions of tiny pieces. This brings more feelings to the audience, scared, confused and sad. The  dramatics of this opening seen appeals to me as it entices the audience and is a perfect introduction to the story that is about to lead. 

The target audience is directed towards women, the romantic love story theme appeals to most women. Its also directed towards couples perhaps more than males on their own. This is achieved with the typical romantic drama genre shinning through from the beginning with all the focus of the film being on a couple. The happy ending also makes it more appealing as women tend to enjoy romances that have their bad episodes but end up with the perfect happy ending, as women relate to this. It also builds to a climax that's genuinely romantic and moving, though not quite in the way you expect. 
The story is told from Leo's view, although Paige was the one who was physically hurt, it shows the emotional struggle he experienced through his narration. This narration helps entice the audience as it allows them to become more emotionally linked with the tragedy this character is experiencing. Narrative is the art of storytelling, making this movies technique of narration work successfully.  
the soundtrack used in this movie is used at different points of the film for different effects. For example when the 2 main characters are in the car, and Leo begins to sing along with the radio, a playful, care free mood is portrayed. At other points of the movie more romantic styled songs are used to add to the strong love that the 2 characters have for each other. 

Juno

 An important part to making a title sequence work is to relate the titles to the film. The titles in the opening to Juno are quite childlike and similar to the comic book theme; still making links between the main character Juno and the film. The titles themselves are of a large size and are made to look three dimensional. The titles also link into the season that is first introduced in the opening sequence as they seem to be moving in the wind, like the leaves after they fell off a tree. In one part it appears that a title is placed on a fence, this connotes something about the character Juno that much like the title she is stuck between making a decision linking back to the saying “sitting on the fence”. Because the titles are so childlike and arty, it yet again enforces how Juno still has her inner child but is becoming more aware of it as the possibility of her bringing a child into the world becomes more like reality than a daydream. There is clever used of soft pastel background colours which contrast with the hard colours of Juno's clothing. She is contrasting the soft background, and really stands out. Also, at some points there is no colour at all in the background, but Juno stays coloured in. The whole film has a very similar 
sounding soundtrack and songs are used regularly. 
The opening lasts as long as the song does, it is quite 
a happy song which match the calmness of the opening. At this point in the film the viewer is unaware that Juno is pregnant so don't understand where she is going. The music almost tricks the viewer into thinking she is going somewhere nice and fun, when in fact she is going to find out her fate. The names of those involved in creating the film appear on numerous places in the animated form of the town. For example, on walls or windows. We are introduced into the character of Juno, and all we know about her is she is young, apparently likes Sunny D and is going somewhere. We have no reason to dislike her, and she looks like quite a nice girl so the audience is more likely to be sympathetic to her once they discover her situation. The titles give an impression that this is a low budget indie film due to the use of the basic animation. Not many clues are given to the genre, we know it will relate to young people so assume it will be some sort of teen movie. It doesn't really grip the viewer, but charms them. 

The establishing shot in Juno establishes the main character straight away, a close up of her face shows a lot about her personality, in terms of mise en scene, she doesn’t have very neat hair and she is drinking ‘Sunny D’ out of a big bottle. Her expression is very laid back and indolent. She is portrayed as very careless and free straight away in the sequence and rest of the film.
The non-diegetic music that starts to play whilst the character ‘Juno’ begins walking, completely replaces any other noise that could be playing during the introduction, this itself could suggest that she is in her ‘own world’ which could perhaps bring into question as to why she doesn’t want to live in reality. This method of music and titles is simple and effective, here with the addition o the carton like moving images being shown, makes it more appealing and attractive to the audience.