Stranger than fiction
Reference:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwTQ57YyzI
Directed by: Marc Foster
Written by: Zach Helm
Cast: Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyleenhaal, Dustin Hoffman
Opening Analysis
The movie starts with the name of the production house “The Colombia” and the “Mandate pictures” which appears on the screen with their respective trademark animation and a unique music which represents their production house. However like all other movies this one does not begins with the introduction or names of the characters.
The next scene starts with an extreme wide shot through the city into a room showing a watch on the table with a close up. This close up brings the audience to the point telling them that the watch plays a very significant role in the movie: this is further confirmed when the narrator says that “his wrist watch delighted in the crisp wind against its face.” This reflects that the wristwatch is just not an ordinary watch used as a prop in the movie it has thoughts feelings and emotions.
When the character wakes up, there is a voice in the background of the narrator which connects us with the main character “Harold Crick”. This is shown with an ariel shot giving the audience a feeling as if the narrator is watching the entire life of Harold. While explaining the character of Harold, the narrator says that “Harold is a man of infinite numbers with endless calculations and remarkably few words.” These few words are enough to convey to the audience that what kind of a character Harold maybe i.e. he rarely speaks which makes him less gregarious with few or no friends and all the time he is calculating things, i.e. steps, time etc or maybe he is really good at math.
Harold appears out to be a man of perfection and punctuality as he has had his every move timed and calculated, i.e. he cleans his teeth 76 times 38 stroked up and down and 38 strokes left and right each day. The director has edited this scene by using window editing technique and infographics are used to make the scene interesting and show his calculations and perfection. The text and the instruction about how to knot the tie in the next scene helps the audience to understand what is going inside Harold’s mind. “His watch thinks that the single knot makes his neck look fat,” this suggests that Harold’s watch is just like his friend, the only thing from which his day starts and ends.
Even in the office his colleagues usually don’t speak to him unless there is a calculation which is needed to be solved immediately as Harold is good at numbers. Everything was going just fine and perfect in his life, all planned and calculated until one day he starts hearing the voice of the narrator which is describing his daily routine. Harold gets confused and asks the narrator how she knows so much about his daily routine i.e. counting of strokes, knot of the tie, steps taken to the bus stop etc. As a result Harold gets annoyed and confused i.e. he forgets his strokes, steps and even gets late to work because he missed the bus.
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