Quick answer
Starrd's I Love The Smiths template restages the elevator scene from (500) Days of Summer line for line with two photos. Photo 1 stands on the left in headphones, photo 2 on the right. Photo 2 says "I love the Smiths"; photo 1 slides the headphones down around their neck, and photo 2 says "I said I love the Smiths." Then: "You have good taste in music." "You like the Smiths?" "Yeah." "I love them." The doors open, photo 2 walks out, and photo 1, left alone, mutters "Holy shit." It's one locked-off widescreen shot of you both side by side in a wood-panelled elevator, with one cut to a wide shot of the doors, and the lines are on it. You both keep your own faces, hair and outfits. Contains explicit language. 24 seconds, 16:9 widescreen, 480p, 250 credits (about $12.50).
Twenty-four seconds in an elevator, one pair of headphones and the most famous music-taste flirt in film. Two photos put you and a friend in the "I love the Smiths" scene:
I Love The Smiths
Two photos. One of you slides the headphones off, the other says 'I love the Smiths' and walks out. 24 seconds, widescreen.
What You Get
- The whole scene in 24 seconds, line for line. The line, the headphones coming off, the repeat, the talk about the band, the exit and the "Holy shit."
- Two parts. Photo 1 in the headphones on the left, photo 2 on the right.
- The set. A wood-panelled office elevator.
- One locked-off widescreen shot of you both side by side, with one cut to a wide shot of the doors as they open.
- Your own look. Both of you keep your own faces, hair and outfits.
- Sound. The lines are on it.
- Explicit language. The scene ends on "Holy shit", so the template is marked as containing explicit language.
- 16:9 widescreen, like the film.
What the Scene Actually Is
It's from (500) Days of Summer, the 2009 romantic comedy directed by Marc Webb. Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is riding the office elevator with his headphones on, playing The Smiths. Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the new assistant, hears it leaking out and says "I love the Smiths." He slides his headphones down, she says it again, tells him he has good taste in music, and walks out at her floor. He's left alone to mutter "Holy shit."
The film's studio, Searchlight Pictures, posted the scene on TikTok (@searchlightpics) on February 1, 2024. In early November 2026 it turned into a restage trend: people put themselves and a friend, partner or crush in the two parts.
Why it suits AI: the scene is all faces and timing, and the set is the hard part. Few people have an old wood-panelled elevator to film in. Two photos cover it.
The 24 Seconds, Shot by Shot
| Time | Shot | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| ~0s | Widescreen, both side by side | Photo 2 says "I love the Smiths" |
| ~2s | Same shot | Photo 1 slides the headphones down around their neck; photo 2: "I said I love the Smiths" |
| ~8s | Same shot | Photo 2: "You have good taste in music." Photo 1: "You like the Smiths?" Photo 2: "Yeah." |
| ~16s | Same shot | Photo 2: "I love them." |
| ~20s | Cut to a wide shot of the doors | The doors open and photo 2 walks out |
| ~22s | Same wide shot | Photo 1, left alone, mutters "Holy shit." |
Who Plays Who
| Photo | Part | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The one with the headphones (left) | Slides the headphones down, asks "You like the Smiths?", ends up alone saying "Holy shit" |
| 2 | The one who loves The Smiths (right) | Says the line twice, does most of the talking, walks out |
Tip: the punchline is photo 1's, alone in the elevator at the end. Give that slot to whoever should get the last word.
Your Look, Your Elevator
By default you both wear the clothes from your own photos. A director's note can change either outfit ("a brown cardigan and a tie", "2000s office clothes"), and the headphones always stay. You can also ask for a different elevator, like a glass one in a skyscraper or a mirrored hotel elevator. It's always an elevator, because the scene is.
Use one clear photo each, face lit and looking at the camera. Waist-up or more works best, since the whole scene is a wide shot that shows you nearly head to toe.
The Fastest Way
I Love The Smiths
You and a friend in the (500) Days of Summer elevator scene. Two photos, 24 seconds.
Two photos, 250 credits (about $12.50), no prompt. 16:9 widescreen, 480p, 24 seconds, with sound and explicit language. Find it in Comedy & Viral.
Build It Yourself
1. Start from a clean widescreen clip. Two people side by side in one locked-off shot, both clearly in frame, plus the cut to the doors. Keep it 16:9.
2. Make one still of the set with both of you in it. Take the opening wide frame and recreate it with both people replaced, keeping the props and the poses.
Image 1 and Image 2 are photos of two people. Image 3 is a widescreen frame inside an old office-building elevator with wood-panelled walls. Recreate Image 3 with both people replaced. Keep the exact camera angle, framing, poses, the headphones, the elevator and the lighting. The person on the left, wearing the headphones, becomes the person from Image 1, in the clothes from their own photo. The person on the right becomes the person from Image 2, in the clothes from their own photo. Photoreal film still, both faces sharp and clearly lit, no text.
3. Swap both people with a motion-transfer tool. Feed the clip, your two photos and that still to a character-swap model. Starrd's Character Swap does this on your own clip. Say who becomes whom by position and prop ("the one on the left in the headphones", "the one on the right"), and ask it to keep every movement, every line, the mouth movements, the cuts and the timing exactly as in the clip.
Common Mistakes
Swapped slots. Mix up the photos and the wrong person gets the line. Check which slot is which before you render.
Naming the parts by gender. "The man" and "the woman" break the moment two friends of the same gender play it. Use position and prop.
Face-only selfies. The whole scene is a wide shot, so the tool has to invent your clothes and build. Use a photo that shows more of you.
Dropping the headphones. Without them there's nothing for photo 1 to slide off and no reason for photo 2 to say the line twice. Keep them on photo 1 from the first frame.
Related Reading
- How to Make the 'Push the G*ddamn Button' AI Video: another famous film scene, with up to three photos
- How to Make the White Chicks 'A Thousand Miles' AI Video: the car singalong scene, starring you
- How to Make the 'Cardo, Your Dinner Is Ready' AI Video: another two-person bit, with a friend
- How to Put Yourself in Any Video With AI: character swap on your own clip
- Viral AI Video Trends 2026: every trend we've turned into a template this year
