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