The Fourth Wall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KFVLWX7eEY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tX40xe2cnw


There are many techniques to open a film. The classic title cards started everything off. An interesting action sequence where you become engaged to the scene or a pivotal event that gears things in motion. Some intros start off by introducing the main players or a whole monologue to develop the atmosphere we just stepped into. One technique is also the use of narration. Perhaps a Terence Malick style philosophical approach or a classy yet smooth talk can work. There is one technique that engages the audience directly and that is breaking the fourth wall.

Breaking the fourth wall is when the characters become self aware that they are in this platform, perhaps a movie, comic book, or video game. This allows them to become visual and more interactive with the viewer. This can relate to the viewer in many ways and often sympathize with the character since he is your self proclaimed tour guide.

Ferris Bueller, Jordan Belfort, Frank Underwood are some of the characters that have the best breaks. They speak directly to the audience, trying to teach them, and inevitably make them understand the world, the decisions, and the characters they have to deal with. Also, it's just so damn cool. That's another thing too, this emits their coolness with the screen. By making something seem normal and cool, this raises the human interaction for curiosity and sympathetic emotions.

The characters have to have certain abilities to even want to break the fourth wall. They have to be men of power, courageous, and ruthless. A bit narcissistic, but their ego is so big that it can't even fit in the screen. They have to tell everybody what's on their mind, even you.

This technique has helped us with discover what we want to do with our film. Perhaps this can work or maybe it won't. So to wrap things up in this blog post, next time you see a character speaking directly to you, remember back to what you are reading right now. Listen to the character, he probably is the only figure that can help carry you into this world. Now, how am I going to end this blog post?