Stranger Than Fiction Opening Title Sequence
The film opens with a WS of the main character in bed. This is an establishing shot which determines the scene and the location for the audience. It then cuts to a CU of a watch on the bedside table, its face glowing blue to make it even more noticeable to the audience in the dark room. The narrative 'and his wrist watch said even less' also indicates that the watch is going to play an important role in the film. This is similar to the first shot in our opening sequence, though we use an alarm clock with classical music to suggest the old-fashioned nature of the character. Then a CU of the man’s mouth as he is brushing his teeth is an obvious action to determine the change of location and possible a passage of time. Due to the fact that the camera is placed as if inside the man’s mouth, it gives a humorous effect which implies the comedy genre. Following this, there is a CU of the man’s face as he is brushing his teeth, which then leads to a split screen to suggest a passage of time. Then there is another split screen with a CU of the man’s mouth, followed by a fourth split screen and a fifth split screen which is an EXCU of his teeth which are still being brushed. The effect of a combination of so many split screens is humorous because it suggests that a lot of time has passed, in which all he is doing is brushing his teeth. The fact that these shots are aided by numbers of how many times he has brushed makes it even funnier. The camera then repeats the first two CU’s of the man brushing his teeth to suggest a repetition of the same routine. The narrative 'every week day for twelve years, Harold would brush each of his thirty-two teeth, seventy-six times.' adds to the comedy of the sequence. Again, this is similar to our opening sequence because we are showing the character's daily routine which consists of brushing his teeth and hair, putting slippers, clothes and a tie on, and washing his face and hands.
A MS of the man now in the bedroom shows him tying his tie. This is another establishing shot which displays the character and a section of the new location (the wardrobe), whilst also suggesting more passage of time. The camera then cuts to a MCU of the man tying his tie in the mirror, followed by an EXCU of the tie as he straightens it into place. The effect of this is once again to draw the attention of the audience to the writing onscreen. A CU of the man's shoulders and chest show the finished tie in place. Once again, the narrative talks the audience through each shot, to draw attention to the meticulousness of his routine.
A MS of the man in his full suit as he brushed down his shoulder, suggests another short passage of time, though the location still remains the same. This is followed by a WS of the main character running down a street with an apple in his mouth, which is again an establishing shot to show the audience the character in the new location after a passage of time. The camera then pans right as the character runs over the road, and a CU on a low angle shows the man still running, but draws attention to his watch whic is partly visible. An effective way in which the audience's attentions is drawn to the watch, is by creating the shot in slow motion. This suggests that he may be running late and is about to miss his bus, because following a MCU of him running past the camera, there is a LS of him getting on a bus. Once again, in order to show a change of location and passage of time, the camera cranes up into the leaves of a tree. A low angle LS of businessmen exiting a meeting suggests that these men are superior and of a higher status than perhaps the main character.
An element of technology is shown throughout this clip. Captions and subtitles claim each shot, and help determine the comedy genre. They also suggest a meticulous nature of the character, and the lengthy process of getting ready. The fact that every stage of his daily routine is shown in depth suggests the painstakingly thorough disposition of the character. The narrative draws attention to the theme of time and consistency in the clip, and also adds to the comedy genre. There is no music during the first section of the clip to emphasise the thorough routine of the main character, again adding to the comedy. The music is quite upbeat to suggest humour and the light-heartedness of the film's genre, and the piano could suggest a middle-class respectability.
The similar costume of the main character, and one of the main male characters in our story (Gilbert) show that he is a respectable, well-paid and perhaps old-fashioned man. They are both very organised and smart in appearance, and in both cases, the character's attire isn't necessarily stereotypical of their personalities. The man in Stranger Than Fiction is comical and perhaps slightly foolish, whilst the character in our story is slightly stalkerish and psychotic. These are both examples of challenging stereotypes.
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