By: Christine Reklaitis
What is the Fourth Wall?
The fourth wall is an imaginary wall that keeps performers from recognizing or directly addressing their audience. If you imagine sitting in a classic theater and looking up at the stage, there are walls in the back, left, and right sides, which might be covered with the set. The front curtains are where the fourth wall would be, and when those curtains open, you are left with a figurative fourth wall. You can now see into the world that the actors occupy, but they pretend as if you aren’t there. Everyone accepts this suspension of disbelief. A cinema can achieve even greater realism, but when filming and viewing, there is still the acceptance that a fourth wall exists between the audience and actors.
What is Breaking the Fourth Wall?
But what if one of those actors paused, turned to you – yes, you there, slurping your drink – and began directly speaking to you? That actor just broke through the fourth wall.
The actor now recognizes the audience. The movie, then, is aware that it is a movie. Usually, it will just be one character aware of the fourth wall break, which allows that character to create a special bond with the audience.
When to Break the Fourth Wall
This narrative device has been used since the beginning of theater and cinema. It’s not new, yet it still catches us, the audience, off guard.
It can enhance a script by making a film feel fresh and forcing the audience’s attention. It is more often used in comedies, and the success of the Deadpool movies has brought it into a trendy blockbuster device. Why does it work so well? In Deadpool, the comic relief is timed perfectly. The satiric element relies on the fact that the audience knows the genre, so the humor can poke fun at the genre or the process of making the movie. The casting of Ryan Reynolds gives the audience a star who can play himself playing a superhero, creating fun fodder for breaking the fourth wall. Most likely, you, the writer, can’t pre-cast your spec script that breaks the fourth wall. What you can do is write great dialogue, perhaps channeling certain actors to help develop the sound of the protagonist.
This doesn’t mean it can only be used for comedies. There are some good reasons a drama could break the fourth wall. It allows the protagonist to share their secrets and can create a creepy tone. Kevin Spacey, as the villain protagonist Frank Underwood in House of Cards, invites us into his mastermind scheming, not only involving us in the plot but sharing with us his worldview. Once we understand his character, he can simply look at us and we remember we are in on the plan. Rather than attempting to create suspense by hiding or saving plot points from the audience, a great script can use dramatic irony to tell the audience the plan and create suspense by keeping that plan from other characters.
Keep in mind, breaking the fourth wall can quickly take the audience out of the story, reminding them that what they are viewing isn’t quite real. If it’s not woven into the fabric of the film, your audience likely will not want to suddenly be pulled out of their romantic fantasy or war drama in the third act.
More Examples of Breaking the Fourth Wall
Amélie is a highly stylized, quirky romance that uses both an outside narrator and the protagonist’s direct comments to the audience to break the fourth wall. While not an inactive character, Amélie is a shy character who doesn’t want to speak with other characters. However, in treating us like a secret diary, she shares what she won’t share with others.
The mockumentary style of filmmaking uses elements of breaking the fourth wall. Take The Office, where looking directly at the camera is often the button of a scene. One might argue that the idea of the audience is built into the world. The documentary subjects don’t need to act as if the cameras aren’t there, so it’s not truly breaking the fourth wall. In these examples, it’s still worth considering what acknowledging an audience can do for your characters. It allows them to communicate a message, whether verbally or visually, directly to an audience without sounding expository, and without letting other characters know. Here, the audience can become the sounding board.
Fleabag, which gives the flawed but sympathetic main character a chance to connect to the audience from the first episode, makes a major creative choice when another character, The Priest, who is closest to Fleabag, notices her break the fourth wall, which is highly original and accentuates the fact that the show recognizes it is a show. It also symbolizes how important this secondary character is to the protagonist.
Although all aspects of filmmaking must come together to make the best use of fourth wall breaks, the decision to utilize this original storytelling device begins with the writer. It must be woven into the tone of the film. The dialogue, whether from the protagonist or a narrator, must hit the right beat.
One of the strongest ways that breaking the fourth wall can enhance your script is by respecting the intelligence of your audience. Whether you highlight the audience’s insights into filmmaking or genre, or you emphasize the audience’s value by letting them in on secrets about the plot or characters, there is a sense that we – the audience – are important enough to be included.
If you have one of those rare scripts that breaks the fourth wall and you want to see how it’s working for an audience, keep in mind, you can always request a reader from the Shore Scripts team who might have a particular interest in the style. Just email Patty, our Coverage Manager for more info!
