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.