How did Fred's head turn?

Question

In I Am Legend, when Robert Neville (Will Smith) spots Fred (the mannequin) standing outside at the end of the street, right after Robert stops the car to get a closer look there's a closeup of Fred, and if you look closely enough you can actually see Fred's head turn.

From what I've read some people suggest that it's because of Robert's mental state from being alone, but whenever he starts screaming at Fred he only asks how Fred got out there, so it's possible that Robert didn't even notice Fred's head move (otherwise he might have also screamed, 'how are you able to move?!').

Is there any other explanation for Fred's head turning?

Answer 1

I think a plausible in-universe explanation depends on your interpretation of the scene.

My interpretation is that Fred was placed there as bait by the monsters. They set up the mannequin to attract Neville to that spot. That includes a slightly turning head which would really send him over the edge given his current mental state. You can see that when Neville shoots Fred, Fred just falls apart which means that he's very loosely put together. So it's within the realm of possibility that the monster that set it up was hiding in the shadows and pulling lightly on a rope attached to the mannequin much like a fisherman pulls on a lure to attract fish. This shows that the monsters were becoming quite intelligent which was the theme of the book that the movie was based on (and is more hinted at in the original cut of the movie).

If you interpret that Neville simply forgot that he left that trap there, then it makes more sense that he saw the head move due to his fragile mental state. We as the audience looking at the world Neville's eyes would also see the head move.

A more boring explanation is that it was loosely placed on the body, and it was simply settling in to place at the time we saw it.