How to use the 500 days of summer script to master nonlinear storytelling. Browse other questions tagged plotexplanation ending 500daysofsummer. People will see tom and summers example of how relationships are able to form, as well as. The time cannot wait, it passes, and so does the life. This becomes less of a problem and more of a strength when you consider the nonlinear approach to weaving the individual throughlines. The wife and i saw 500 days of summer last night before we caught inglourious basterds. Tom, greetingcard writer and hopeless romantic, is caught completely offguard when his girlfriend, summer, suddenly dumps him. In marc webbs film 500 days of summer, his expectations and reality scene utilises a split screen to juxtapose toms joseph gordon levitt hopes of getting back together with summer. The fantasy scenes of 500 and fwb, when deconstructed, become a symbol of selfawareness and selfdeprecation regarding the process in which they have been realised as a romantic. In fact, 500 days of summer is a brilliant example of how to repackage tried and tested ideas to make them feel fresh and original again. Conversation analysis of 500 days of summer film essay. Writing a script can be hard enough without playing around with timeframes and trying to still make it all make sense. Clear, linear narrative remains the dominant factor in this type of filmmaking.
Countless scripts have subjected their protagonists through the archetypal woes, resentments, and recoveries. Visualizing nonlinear narratives with story curves edinburgh. Analysis of 500 days of summer heartshapedhandgrenade. A rhetorical analysis of 500 days of summer humans can be very complicated individuals. But the relationship, which lasts 500 days, is doomed, and tom plays us scenes from random days, out of narrative order, to illustrate the painful business. What 500 days of summer writers neustadter and weber did was to take that central idea and apply it to a typical relationship, giving them freedom to jump from timeframe to timeframe without baffling. Some say theyre annoyed by the way it begins on day 488 or whatever and then jumps around, providing utterly unhelpful data labels. The soundtrack to 500 days of summer not only accomplishes this, but also manages to capture the height of every emotional turn in the film, thus evoking the same thoughts and feelings experienced. The story of the film 500 days of summer revolves around a young man, tom hanson, who works for the agency that produces greeting cards. Summary and analysis for the film 500 days of summer. Christopher nolan illustrated this seemingly random narrative 14 years ago in his low budget debut. Spoilers ahead, this is a semiargumentative analysis about the state of the main character, tom, at the end of the movie.
The narratives are linear and complete in aristotles sense, meaning having a. The film stars joseph gordonlevitt and zooey deschanel, and employs a nonlinear narrative structure, with the story based upon its male protagonist and his memories. From his early childhood, tom was sure that everything in his life was preordained. People always say start at the beginning, but we didnt know at the time it was the beginning. Wolfe life can offer a seemingly perfect relationship that takes a sudden drop towards separation without the realization. Most may think its your typical love story with a fairytale ending but instead marc webb decided to take a different approach, realism. The use of numbers on screen, representing the stage of the main couples relationship out of a total of 500 days, lets the audience know where they are in the story. My love life is the reallife version of 500 days of summer. The ending may not be what weve come to expect, but the beats and. Cities across the us and world are adept at marketing and creating new urban spaces for this generation by borrowing recipes from planners like richard florida. Given that 500 days of summer is a film in which boy meets girl but it is not a.
Focusing on the narration of the movie 500 days of summer from 2009 which is told in a nonlinear narrative in other words the film events are portrayed out of chronological order. Whether fictional or biographical, stories have and always will be a part of what has shaped my life. Summer is more distant and does not want a relationship, while tom wants a relationship. Walking tour page 5 of 6 grand central market 315 south broadway john parkinson, 1897 listed in the national register of historic places this was the site of a deleted. What was the moraltheme of the movie 500 days of summer. How to use the 500 days of summer script to master nonlinear.
The majority of romcoms you see have a happy ending, where you have been rooting for the title characters to get together and they do. Days of summer screenplay as well to get more out of the analysis. The ending may not be what weve come to expect, but the beats and choices that many of the characters make are familiar territory for fans of romantic fare. The narrator tells the viewer in the first 5 minutes of the movie that though the story is. And while 500 days of summer is fascinating in regards to its perspective, reality, fantasy and subtext, it is kinda full of bullshit because the writer of the film has already stated at the. Weber and scott neustadter, the script narrates the story of the male protagonist and memories of his failed relationship that lasted for exactly 500 days scott 1. It is a film that also miraculously manages to subvert generic expectations in one way while also completely confirming them in another. The film is presented in a nonlinear narrative, jumping between various days within the 500 days of tom and summers relationship.
The film 500 days of summer by marc webb is a story of boy meets girl. But since im a dating and relationship coach and not a revenge. How to use the 500 days of summer script to master non. Analysis of 500 days of summer by marc webb and produced by steven j.
Analysis of the interpersonal communication in 500 days of summer 3 depending on context or the listeners personal experiences. Advice for film school graduates from spike lee may, 2020. Very different movies, with very different messages. In my exploration in interactive cinema class,i was assigned to do a video essay on a particular film, directors, film topic, etc. Employing a nonlinear narrative structure, 500 days of summer is an american romantic comedydrama produced in 2009 by mark waters. Every moment there is a different thought going through their heads. In my interpersonal communication class, we viewed the film 500 days of summer featuring joseph gordonlevitt as tom hansen and zooey deschanel as summer. Its not realistic in the sense of hipster greeting card careers, bullshit smart as adults child characters, musical. The following analysis is taken from the script, rather than the feature film. All the visual and narrative gimmicks cant hide the fact that 500 days of summer is a ballsy movie for ignoring the conventions and expectations of the genre and instead treating the. In one of my college courses, i was assigned to do a video essay on a particular film, directors, film topic, etc.
No, its not a grand epic sequence compare the fairy. Prior to the opening credits of 500 days of summer, in a voiceover, the. We start near the end, and then hop around between the times that were good and the times that left pain. I decided to do my video essay on marc webbs 2009 film, 500.
People are drawn to a good story, and i am no different. Five hundred days of summer analysis film studies essay. Marc webbs 500 days of summer does exactly this through the films nonlinear narrative, reversal of gender stereo types and. The final scene in 500 days of summer is completed by answering the question fate does exist and there is the one or soul mate out there and you will never know when it happens.
In the movie 500 days of summer, one can see the nonverbal communication through out the whole movie. Tom and summer start dating slowly, getting to know one another over several months. The dominant in this shot from the film 500 days of summer is the character of tom hansen, played by joseph gordonlevitt. However, the days go by, and still nobody special appears. For all the warm, generous, very funny things that it is, the movie is also a cry of pain from a guy who just cant. A moment, a love a dream aloud a kiss, a cry our rights, our wrongs. Use this 500 days of summer script structure breakdown to learn how to. I decided to do my video essay on marc webbs 2009 film, 500 days of. We know this because a basso profundo narrator richard mcgonagle tells us so in the opening moments of the. In the opening seen, the omniscient narrator warns the audience of the outcome of.
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