Oliver Turner AS MEDIA: Breaking the fourth wall

What is it?

Breaking the fourth wall is a theatrical term for the imaginary "wall" that appears between both the actors and the audience. This imaginary wall is something the actors have to consider; imagining that they cannot hear or see the audience/camera as to make the storyline more believable. However, sometimes, actors may have to break the fourth wall to get a more direct connection with the audience and allow us to engage with what's happening on screen. Breaking the fourth wall can also help the actors to give a more dramatic or comedic effect when the rule is broken as to speak directly to the audience instead of through dialogue with others. The rule can also hint on what is actually happening in the scene but should not be confused with "aside" or "soliloquy" devices which is where characters on-stage are delivering inner monologues, giving the audience insight into their thoughts.  

Here are some examples of breaking the fourth wall:

Here we can see the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off where the main character is seen directly speaking to the audience about how to skip school. He talks to the audience like his best friend, using rather colloquial language to engage with us. The film is making it obvious that it'll be breaking the fourth wall as if this was introduced later on then it wouldn't be as consistent.


High Fidelity(2000)
In this clip we are introduced to character, Rob Gordon who disregards the fourth wall by directly explaining to the audience about the top 5 things he misses about Laura. The character is seen moving up and down the street as to make the entire shot more interesting and allow for the camera to follow him. For the majority of the time, the camera shows a medium-close-ups to give us a more personal perspective of what's happening and so the direct speaking to the audience only emphasises this point.

Iago, the villain, is seen talking to the camera about his opinions of Othello. Through use of the "breaking the fourth wall" we can clearly develop a deeper understanding of the character and in fact, we can see more of his facial expressions which only make the scene more believable. This also makes Iago's opinion clear to the audience as he is a pivotal character within the film and if he were to not break the fourth wall, then the it would be hard to decipher between opinions and the entire theme of the story.

I would consider using the fourth wall in my own coursework as to make the entire film a little more believable. However, I am planning on doing an action/thriller sequence so I feel this technique would not be entirely appropriate for this style of film. This technique, however, would be suitable for a comedy or drama which I feel would be considerably difficult to portray and include all the professional camera angles.