BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL

Breaking the Fourth Wall

Breaking the fourth wall is a performance convention where there is an imaginary wall that separates the audience and the actors although the audience can see the actors perform its as if they cannot see the audience. It is basically where the actors look down the camera lens so it looks like they are directly looking and talking to you so they have acknowledge the camera is focused on them but used this effect to interact with the audience. Also as many other people have said when it is used properly and correctly it really makes the film that bit better. This convention all began from the sixteenth century and on wards when people started to come up with some practice performance strategies which eventually lead to the creation of breaking the fourth wall in the nineteenth century.

Examples:

'Lord of War':

Nicholas Cage plays a firearms dealer in this film and gives his audience a dose of (his version of) the cold hard truth. Smoking a cigarette, looking at us in the lens, and telling us that unlike firearms dealers, we're too busy fighting each other to ever inherit the Earth. You can see this format of breaking the fourth wall here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38vd_j7e2HY

'Trading Places':
This one is much more shorter than the first clip but towards then end of the clip you can clearly see Eddie Murphy look straight down the camera and acknowledge that the camera focus in o him and not anyone else. You can see the clip at here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpC51PmphUk

'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang':
In this clip, Robert Downey Jr. wants to leave us with a message that sums the story line up which you can see here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_unZpScGAM

Is it something you would contemplate in your own coursework? 

I have mixed opinions on weather or not i would include this technique in my coursework because due to our initial idea so far I don't think it would fit in with what we have planned although things may change but at the moment I wouldn't. However if our idea was to change I would defiantly try and include it because i think its a very clever and smart way to interact with the viewers therefore it could help our opening two minutes look more professional. Also its not just a good way of interaction but it also shows the examine that you have tried to include as many media strategies as possible in order to make you work as best as it can be.