|
|
Post by sagebrush on Mar 31, 2023 11:11:02 GMT
Shirley Temple breaking the fourth wall in THE BLUE BIRD (can skip to 1:50 marker).
|
|
|
|
Post by sepiatone on Mar 31, 2023 15:36:11 GMT
 Talk about really breaking the fourth wall! Sepiatone |
|
|
|
Post by BunnyWhit on Mar 31, 2023 18:13:20 GMT
Our Looney Tunes pals do it a lot.
Duck Amuck (1953)
|
|
|
|
Post by sagebrush on Mar 31, 2023 22:51:10 GMT
Talk about really breaking the fourth wall! Sepiatone
That reminded me of this from ANNIE HALL:
|
|
|
|
Post by I Love Melvin on Apr 6, 2023 15:42:31 GMT
It's not the same as addressing the audience, but i always get a kick out of catching an actor looking directly at the camera. I think they just let it go sometimes because a reshoot would be too much trouble. There's one I look for every time in White Christmas. The actress in green ("Mutual, I'm sure.") looks down at one point during this scene and when she looks up...Boom...Right at the camera. And in a later scene she did it again.  |
|
|
|
Post by sagebrush on Apr 6, 2023 22:24:09 GMT
It's not the same as addressing the audience, but i always get a kick out of catching an actor looking directly at the camera. I think they just let it go sometimes because a reshoot would be too much trouble. There's one I look for every time in White Christmas. The actress in green ("Mutual, I'm sure.") looks down at one point during this scene and when she looks up...Boom...Right at the camera. And in a later scene she did it again.
That's the lovely Barrie Chase!
|
|
|
|
Post by I Love Melvin on Apr 6, 2023 22:55:06 GMT
Wow. The picture was tagged with her name but I wasn't sure what that was all about. In that case, she really created a character. "Well I like that. Without so much as a kiss my foot or have an apple."
|
|
|
|
Post by dianedebuda on Apr 7, 2023 1:08:07 GMT
Wow. The picture was tagged with her name but I wasn't sure what that was all about. In that case, she really created a character. "Well I like that. Without so much as a kiss my foot or have an apple." |
|
|
|
Post by Swithin on Apr 7, 2023 4:19:33 GMT
Katherine Emery breaks the fourth wall in The Maze (1953), at about the 3:22 and the 1:19:26 points.
|
|
|
|
Post by sepiatone on Apr 7, 2023 16:31:49 GMT
Narrating or otherwise moving the story along doesn't seem to really be braking the fourth wall as Ms. Emery seems to be at one end of a long hallway at the beginning and not really looking towards any kind of "wall". Just as I couldn't say Nat and Stubby here are "breaking a fourth wall". But that might just be me, as I can't see calling it "breaking the fourth wall" when being in wide open spaces(like outdoors) where no assumed fourth wall exists(as in a room with presumed four walls). There have been several movies that began with someone looking towards the audience while relating what the movie might be about or as if they're taking us into their confidence as if we were in the room with them. Sepiatone |
|
|
|
Post by dianedebuda on Apr 7, 2023 22:03:20 GMT
Just as I couldn't say Nat and Stubby here are "breaking a fourth wall". But that might just be me, as I can't see calling it "breaking the fourth wall" when being in wide open spaces(like outdoors) where no assumed fourth wall exists(as in a room with presumed four walls). There have been several movies that began with someone looking towards the audience while relating what the movie might be about or as if they're taking us into their confidence as if we were in the room with them. I thought that the fourth wall was an invisible one between the actors and the audience and that "breaking" it was when an actor spoke directly to the audience (or camera) with other cast members appearing not to hear what was being said. With that definition, Nat & Stubby seem to qualify to me. 🤷♀️ |
|
|
|
Post by jamesjazzguitar on Apr 8, 2023 0:44:05 GMT
Just as I couldn't say Nat and Stubby here are "breaking a fourth wall". But that might just be me, as I can't see calling it "breaking the fourth wall" when being in wide open spaces(like outdoors) where no assumed fourth wall exists(as in a room with presumed four walls). There have been several movies that began with someone looking towards the audience while relating what the movie might be about or as if they're taking us into their confidence as if we were in the room with them. I thought that the fourth wall was an invisible one between the actors and the audience and that "breaking" it was when an actor spoke directly to the audience (or camera) with other cast members appearing not to hear what was being said. With that definition, Nat & Stubby seem to qualify to me. 🤷♀️ I had to google "fourth wall" and while your definition is solid for "fourth wall", breaking the fourth wall is when the actor steps out of character. E.g., speaking directly to the audience as yourself (an actor), instead of the character said actor is playing. Since Nat and Stubby never step out of character they are not breaking the fourth wall. (Assuming one agrees with how my google search defined these terms). |
|
|
|
Post by Swithin on Apr 8, 2023 2:55:41 GMT
I thought that the fourth wall was an invisible one between the actors and the audience and that "breaking" it was when an actor spoke directly to the audience (or camera) with other cast members appearing not to hear what was being said. With that definition, Nat & Stubby seem to qualify to me. 🤷♀️ I had to google "fourth wall" and while your definition is solid for "fourth wall", breaking the fourth wall is when the actor steps out of character. E.g., speaking directly to the audience as yourself (an actor), instead of the character said actor is playing. Since Nat and Stubby never step out of character they are not breaking the fourth wall. (Assuming one agrees with how my google search defined these terms). If that's the case, Tom Jones doesn't qualify either. But I think the definition is more flexible. |
|
|
|
Post by dianedebuda on Apr 8, 2023 3:00:40 GMT
Such fun seeing diverse interpretations. 😁
|
|
|
|
Post by BunnyWhit on Apr 8, 2023 4:43:26 GMT
Yes, dianedebuda, the fourth wall is the invisible space between the characters of the film and the audience. This space is also present in theater, literature, even video games, as it is the "no man's land" between the action and the viewer. It is always there, no matter the setting. Characters are unaware of the fourth wall and the audience beyond it, while audiences know it is there and know it is what allows them to observe undetected.
But how do we see through walls? We put windows in them. Because the eyes are the windows to the sole, it is eye contact that removes this wall between character and audience. When a character in a film directly addresses the audience, they are breaking the fourth wall. When an actor abandons his character to directly address the audience, he is breaking the fourth wall.
An external narrator does not break the fourth wall because he is not part of the story, but in the case of Cat Ballou (1965), Stubby Kaye and Nat 'King' Cole are Shouters, characters actually moving about within the story. In the opening sequence, they provide the audience with background information, then they interact with a group of protestors, then they turn their attention directly to Cat Ballou. They are characters within the story.
jamesjazzguitar mentioned actors abandoning their character. When an actor abandons his character and the construct of the film in order to directly address the audience and make a remark on the action, other characters, the author, matters unrelated to the story, anything that is outside the realm of plot with which the character is supposed to be concerned, this is a break in the fourth wall. This sort of break brings an immediate halt to the momentum of the story and jars you out of the action. Consider Daffy in Duck Amuck (1953). He becomes irate with the artist's rendering of him within the film and calls for the animator's immediate dismissal. He speaks to the audience not as a character but as an actor, as himself.
A break in the fourth wall also occurs when a character directly addresses the audience as the character. This direct interaction invites the audience to participate rather than merely spectate, and it provides a deeper understanding of the character. Consider Rob Gordon (John Cusack) in High Fidelity (2000). Rob directly addresses the audience to relate the top five things he misses about Laura. We are drawn into Rob's world rather than merely watching it from the safety beyond the fourth wall.
Breaking the fourth wall can show the audience that a character is self-aware. This is demonstrated to chilling effect by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) in the final scene of Psycho (1960).
Defining all of this is a little like defining art -- it really is very subjective, but most people can agree to overlook the fringes and agree on a general overlap of what it is and is not. In the end, you typically know it when you see it -- just like a break in the fourth wall!
 
|
|
