Designer Movie: Stranger than Fiction
Every once in a while, I see a movie that excites me as a designer. The opening titles for Panic Room, combined with that film’s amazing camera work. Fight Club, with it’s “IKEA catalog” sequences and David Carson-like typography.
Last night, I saw another such film, Stranger Than Fiction. The great typography and motion graphics first started my design pulse racing, with a great opening sequence.
Harold Crick (Will Farrell) is an IRS agent with a boring life. He has an amazing gift for numbers, and counts everything in his day, starting with the number of times he brushes his teeth each morning.
Type onscreen gives us visual clues to what Crick is thinking as he knots his tie …
… and counts the individual dots on the knot.
It’s a great sequence visually, with simple, bold graphics that really complement the photography. The motion is extremely elegant, with precise movements orchestrated to synch with what Farrell is doing. Hats off to whoever is responsible.
Beyond that, the film has a great 1960s/70s Kodachrome look to it, with rich mustardy yellows and dirty greens. Modernist Architecture is everywhere, and extreme object macro close-ups remind me of my own corkboard. I haven’t heard a lot about this film critically, but I’d highly recommend it. The web site is pretty cool, too.
I think MK12 was responsible for the graphics for the film.
Comment by Yani — February 15, 2007 @ 3:55 pm
Great movie, intro by one of my favorite motion graphic companies MK12. if you like this stile you’ll like their style. “Retro Motion Graphic”
Comment by Max — February 15, 2007 @ 8:50 pm
Liked this movie a lot, do agree with your observations about it. I loved the camera in the shower head when he is going insane in the first 1/2 of the movie.
Comment by Patrick — February 22, 2007 @ 2:09 am
[…] Later on I went on “tagsurfer” and there was someone robsharpe , who had a total different opinion. Now this made me put in the search engine the movie name and there I found a few more people who talk about this movie. http://www.72dpiintheshade.com/2007/02/15/designer-movie-stranger-than-fiction/ … and yet another on http://www.kpbs.org/blogs/movies/2006/11/10/stranger-than-fiction/ […]
Pingback by STRANGER THAN FICTION ? « ANDREA’S WORLD — April 2, 2007 @ 9:54 am
i just saw the film and loved it as well. very Charlie Kaufman-esque. but i loved it for what the faith aspects i saw in the movie. it reminded me of Christ’s last days on earth. i won’t bore you with all of it, but you can read it all at http://thepulp.wordpress.com/2007/04/02/stranger-than-fiction-a-source-of-hope/.
thanks for making me look at the film in another light.
Comment by John — April 2, 2007 @ 12:09 pm