Genre/atmosphere

The introduction to the movie '500 days of Summer'  has a very happy family-feel with a mixture of fairytale story at the end of the title sequence. This links into the movie by setting up the characters' opinions of love. The girl Summer believies that there is no fairytale love but only the chance to have a happy life with someone you like. The boy Tom believes that the only way to have a happy life is to find your one true love. The mood of the happy family is created by the use of tinting during the title sequence when the film is shot with parallel action. The video is given a slightly yellow tint while the children are playing it makes everything seem happy, while adding the family feel with them being children. The fairy tale mood is introduced when the narrator starts talking.The fairy tale mood is brought across by the familiarity of this style of introduction which is so much like the beginning of  many childhood fairy tales.

I think the director Mark Webb was trying to bring across the romantic comedy theme when he introduces the main characters with his 'once upon a time' narration . This is brought across by the way in which the music, with its cheerful up-beat tone, contrasts with the serious the voice of the narrator. This technique is not out-rightly funny but it hints at the reaccuring theme of comedy which the narrator  reinforces through his dialogue as the film evolves.