breaking the fourth wall

Bridging the gap between cinema screen and audience

Breaking the fourth wall

Invisible barrier Communication between audience and

filmmaker

Main categories divided into intentions1. To engage the audience2. To make the audience laugh3. To make the audience reflect about the

‘behind the scenes’

Explanation

•Characters

talking to the

camera/audience

•More engaging &

intimate

•Identification

process

•Examples:

Annie Hall’ (1977,

Allen)

‘High Fidelity’

(2000, Frears)

‘Fight Club’

(1999, Fincher)

Character narrators

Interrupts the fiction Creates a documentary feel Can be short and sweet ‘Amelie’ (2001, Jeunet) Have a powerful impact ‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989, Lee) Other characters‘ relation to the audience ‘Whatever

Works’ (2009, Allen)

Characteristics

Comedy

•Mocks filmmaking

techniques

•Critisizes

conventions and

rules by breaking

them

•Makes audience

aware of the

filmmakers

•Examples

Monty Python and

The Holy Grail

(1975, Gilliam)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

(2005, Black)

Spaceballs (1987,

Brooks)

Characteristics Shows the presence of behind camera people Criticise conventions by taking them to the extreme Kiss

Kiss Bang Bang Seems like an interactive dialogue with the audience Ferris

Bueller’s Day Off (1986, Hughes) Self-awareness of cliches Hot Tub Time Machine (2010,

Pink)

Self-reflexive

• No obvious wall-

breaking

•Overall theme is

a breach of the

wall

•Provides an

insight into the

filmmaker’s mind

•Examples

8 ½ (1963,

Fellini)

Le Mepris (1963,

Godard)

The Player (1992,

Altman)

Characteristics Meta-film - film about a film - Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New

York (2008) & Adaptation (2002) Challenges the suspension of disbelief Close to Brecht’s view Distant and analytical Ideological purposes Breathless (1960, Godard)

How real is cinema? New media – digital age Audience more difficult to trick 3D as a breach of the wall