Writing
In 2001, writer Zach Helm was working with producer Clarence Helmus on a project they called "The Disassociate".[2] Helm came to Doran with a new idea involving a man who finds himself accompanied by a narrator only he can hear. Helm decided that the narrator should state that the man is going to die, because, as Helm described, "There's something very poetic about the understanding of one's place in the universe, but it's far more dramatic when such understanding occurs only days before that life ends." Helm and Doran began referring to the new project as "The Narrator Project", and developed the story through a process of Helm's ideas and Doran's questions. One of Helm's main ideas involved engaging the movie's form as much as its content.[3]
Helm named each of the film's chief characters after a famous scientist or scientifically influential artist, including Crick, Pascal, Eiffel, Escher and David Hilbert. When the character of Dr. Hilbert tells Harold that he has devised a series of 23 questions to investigate the narrator, it is a playful reference to Hilbert's 23 problems. The film's title derives from a quote by Lord Byron: "Tis strange — but true; for truth is always strange, stranger than fiction."[4]
According to Helm, one of the film's major themes is of interconnectivity. Helm stated, "Each of these characters ends up doing little things to save one another. There's an underlying theme that the things we take most for granted are often the ones that make life worth living and actually keep us alive."[3]
Photography
The film was shot on location in Chicago, Illinois. Dave's apartment, in which Harold takes residence after his own building is partially demolished, is part of the River City Condominiums.[5] Hilbert's office was in a lecture hall at the University of Illinois Chicago. The CNA Center at 333 South Wabash Avenue, in the Loop, served as the location of the IRS office. The bakery that Ana Pascal runs is located in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, and is called La Catedral Cafe & Restaurant.[6] The movie theater in the film is the Logan Theatre, located in the Logan Square neighborhood.[7] Many downtown Chicago locations were used for scenes involving Karen Eiffel, Penny Escher and Harold Crick.
The film partly was inspired by Playtime, Jacques Tati's visionary comedy about modern urban life, and the cinematography and production designs help create a claustrophobic sense of life in the city.[8]
Music
The music for Stranger than Fiction includes original scores by the collaborative effort of Britt Daniel (singer-songwriter of Spoon) and Brian Reitzell (composer for Friday Night Lights, The Bling Ring and Hannibal), as well as a mix of indie rock songs from various artists, including Spoon. Reitzell is also the film's music supervisor. The soundtrack includes an original recording of "Whole Wide World", the song Harold plays for Ana, by Wreckless Eric.[9]
