How to Make the “I Love the Smiths” AI Elevator Video

The elevator scene where a woman hears music through a coworker’s headphones and says “I love the Smiths” is from Marc Webb’s 2009 film (500) Days of Summer. The song is “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths. To make your own version, pick who wears the headphones and who says the line. You can cast both roles with two portraits or cast one and keep the default portrait for the other. Searchlight Pictures film page · Original soundtrack

Make your elevator scene

What happens in the original elevator scene?

Summer (Zooey Deschanel) recognizes the music coming from Tom’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) headphones in their office elevator. She tells him she loves the band. Tom lifts an ear cup and asks her to repeat herself. She does, sings a little of the song, then steps out when the doors open. Tom stays behind, stunned. Screenplay, pp. 16–17

The film cuts between their faces. Summer is making a quick comment about a song she likes, while Tom’s reaction makes it feel like something much bigger. That little mismatch is what people play with when they recreate the scene.

How to make the “I Love the Smiths” video from your photos

Open the generator and decide whether you want to deliver the line or react to it. Each role has its own photo slot, and any slot you leave empty uses a default portrait.

1. Choose who wears the headphones. Upload that person’s portrait under Photo 1 · The listener. Put your own photo here if you want to be the one who lifts an ear cup and glances over, surprised.
2. Choose who says the line. Upload that person’s portrait under Photo 2 · The speaker. If you’re using just one photo and want to say the line yourself, put it here and leave Photo 1 empty. Use Swap roles if you change your mind.
3. Choose an orientation and generate. Pick Portrait (9:16) or Landscape (16:9), then sign in. Confirm you have permission to use any uploaded photos and that the people shown are adult private individuals. Check the credit total beside Generate video, then submit.
4. Preview and download. The preview beside the homepage form shows your progress and plays the finished video. Turn on sound in the player and select Download to save the MP4. If you leave while it’s processing, you can find it later under Task records. Open Task records

Use a well-lit portrait with one face clearly visible, ideally facing the camera. Check the generator for the current file formats and size limit. Your original photos are uploaded unchanged. The scene supplies the headphones and the elevator, so you can use an ordinary portrait.

See the input photos and both generated samples

How does the AI version differ from the film?

Our generator makes a 15-second 720p MP4 with sound in 9:16 portrait or 16:9 landscape. The script calls for one fixed shot at eye level, with the Listener on the left and the Speaker on the right. They stand about an arm’s length apart, facing the doors just behind the camera. Their feet stay planted and they exchange brief sideways glances. The prompt asks the model to preserve each person’s appearance and visible clothing from their photo.

The scene starts with faint guitar leaking from the Listener’s headphones. The Speaker says the line, the Listener lifts one ear cup and asks “Sorry?”, and the Speaker repeats it. The Listener then lowers the headphones around their neck. Later, the Speaker quietly sings a line from the song over soft background music. Both stay in the elevator at the end, waiting in silence. The Speaker looks ahead while the Listener looks down.

The model generates the English dialogue, singing and background sound using the written scene, the portraits and the elevator reference for the selected orientation. The performance can vary between takes. Listen to the original song

Maintained by I Love the Smiths AI Video. Generation specs updated November 10, 2026.