How to Break the Fourth Wall
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2015
- Breaking the Fourth Wall is such a creative and unique cinematic technique, but just how much potential does it have? Let's take a look at the various emotional effects a fourth wall break can have in film.
/ nowyouseeit
The “we have no fear because paramount signed us for five more years” actually got me
That was hilarious.
lol
notice that he then gestures that it's only 2 more years
also robin losing that contest got me too xD
me too
The best fourth wall breaking: barbie’s sister complaining she can’t make fire with plastic sticks
rey omg same I was so shocked as a little kid. Kinda loved it rho
You clearly haven’t seen the office
Hi There well it kinda wasn’t breaking it’s just the point of the show. You’re Supposed to think it’s a reality TV show
Skksks I remember that
800th like so now you must drink a nice cold Pepsi
The fourth wall break to rule them all: "No money means..." *cut to voice actors in studio* "NO ANIMATION!"
ah yes, chowder
a classic
O my god chowder quote
Chowder is epic.
Agreed
YES FUCK YES
The Amazing World of Gumball literally had an entire episode about the animation stops working when you got no more money.
Also that one episode from Chowder.
The Money
I know both of the episodes your talking about. Comedic gold
Gintama did this multiple times years before Gumball began
I say Gumball did it better than Chowder though.
Damm I miss chowder
surprised you didn't mention Dora the Explorer
+gabriel rodrigues many preschool series do it
+Cesar P yeah it's the most common trait in little children's programming.
You mean every show for young children?
these replies are depressing.
Mo oh, is it showing?
Damn, if only you had waited another year to make this video... Deadpool man, freaking Deadpool...
Exactly what I thought!
Yeah yeah.
@@moony2839 It would have been super easy, barely an inconvenience.
He does it all the time in the comics
Deadpool is actually the only example that fits this definition of breaking the 4th wall.
“Paramount will protect us cause we’re signed for five more years”😂😂that’s the best one. 6:18
6:23 😐✌
Lily LMAO
One of my favourite fourth wall breaks is Leslie Nielsen walking around the wall prop while the other characters walk through the door. It's so subtle and you need a second to think "Hey, he wasn't supposed to do that."
Lou Costello did that once in front of a live audience on stage, and Abbot actively told him not to do that. XD 😂
What was the movie?
@@billbauer9795 My best guess would be Naked Gun. Though I don't remember which one.
@@cloudynguyen6527 Thank you. I'll have to watch them all again!
Spoof movies usually do that. In one of the Scary Movie series the main character gets hit by a camera in the head
Yo this guy was my computer science TA and I didn't realize until the end of the video and my mind was blown. That was the realest fourth wall break ever.
Lol hey there
This week on *My TA Is A Celebrity!*
now you see it
Ian Gallagher your also on a show named shameless
YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
My favourite use of breaking the fourth wall is actually from a video game.
In paper Mario 2 there's a villain pretending to be a good guy.
It's very obvious but no one can tell
Then when no ones around he says "I know you know but don't tell anyone."
yes!
That's genius.
Legendary Legend Don’t exaggerate. Yeah it’s cool, but it’s not genius
@@endi3386 Yeah you're right.
TheRallyFTW Genius is discovering E = mc2, or creating the Mona Lisa; not a character breaking the fourth wall in fucking Mario
I dont know if this counts as 4th wall break, but my favourite is in the episode "Blink" in dr who. The weeping angels there even dont move if the audience can see them, not only the characters, and I think that makes the episode a lot creepier.
That's a really interesting point, the fact that not even the audience, who is typically privy to such offscreen knowledge, doesn't see them move either. Great thinking!
never noticed that... woah
I loved that, because it implied that the Weeping Angels were at least partially aware of us, which is horrifying.
And then the whole idea is ruined in their second appearance.
Nyxlave yeah I love blink, but Flesh and Stone kind of ruined their mysticism.
I think I remember Moffet talking about that once. I might be wrong though.
ferris buellers day off is probably the best use of fourth wall breaks i’ve seen. to this day every time he does it, it cracks me up
Malcolm in the middle
@@ProfessionalHomosexualHater That’s a show, not a movie. The best show with fourth wall breaks
Mel Brooks didn't break the fourth wall. He straight up didn't have the fourth wall.
this entire comment implies that Mel Brooks casted every member of the audience to be a part of the show with no pay
@@meowtumnluzz lol
it's good to be King
Actually they paid him
mel brooks: what fourth wall?
If we so rich, why cant we afford no ceiling?
Acrid Moon ?
***** ok I guess
^you should be ashamed
Because it costs too damn much to keep repairing the fourth wall.
That's my favorite fourth wall break on that show.
Kid Icarus Uprising had so many good ones.
"How much longer until the end? I'm pretty sure I saw a loading screen back there..."
"shush you know we're not supposed to talk about that! Theyll HEAR you"
Oh yeah !! The dialogues in Kid Icarus Uprising made a great game even more enjoyable
*El Principe* Hades stopped the typical end of the story by the credits scene and did the mother of all plot twists.
That game stood out even among nintendos amazing cataloge due to the dialogue and plot. A definite must have 3DS game.
I'm very surprised you didn't mention Monty Python, since they use extensive and very successful 4th wall breaks, especially in Flying Circus and The Holy Grail.
Technically, they did. They included a clip from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life; it's where the guy unzips the African tribesman suit and says, "Hello, good evening, and welcome to the middle of the film!" (starts at 4:01)😂
@@phoenixragsdale4579 no wonder that felt so monty python-eque
7.5 minutes in and I just realised I'm not watching Every Frame A Painting lol
*Ding*
+Black And White omg I never even realised realised until reading that comment
+Kali Takumi DUDE :O
+Black And White HAHAHAHHAHA
Guy even uses similar jazz music in his recent videos
My favorite fourth-wall-break is by Kuzco from The emperor's new groove
"Wait how did you get here before us?"
A series of unfortunate events
@@pizzamaster3063 That show is amazing with 4th wall breaks. It's also just amazing in general.
@@gilliganinja you got me there
He even does a double 4th wall break by interrupting his narrating self halfway through the movie, saying that we just saw, much to his narrating self's dismay.
I love how Phoebe Waller-Bridge used that technique in Fleabag. I never felt so close to a character on a TV show before. And then she even tops it with the priest noticing her "interaction" with the viewer while all other characters were not aware of her talking to "someone". Just brillant (after a few moments of pure irritation :D )!
In an alternate dimension: “It’s weird that in another dimension our life isn’t a reality show.”
“What did I tell you about breaking the 8th wall?!”
@Sam Richards bye
I have no response that would be worthy of your out of this world thinking. You are a creative genius!
Bandersnatch's plot is literally about breaking the fourth wall if you take the right paths
That game messed me up for like a day, but gotta admit it is actually really good
@@EmeraldHero ahahah i got stuck really early and gave up. i think i got to the part where he killed his dad
Try playing it late into the night when you get so tired that you desperately want to find a way to end it/finish making the game.........but also stay intrigued enough to find EVERY ending possible.
Emerald Hero lol no. It wasn’t
j p and? lol? thats not a compelling argument...
I love the fact that the "Middle Of The Film" sketch is in the middle of the video, as well.
i thought it was a subtle nod to a fourth wall break in the video itself and it paid off in the end.
same
I feel like Fleabag is a current example and it mastered the art of including it very often with a strong intention behind it. The end of season 2 was amazing in that regard.
Lol the heart attack in had after the priest looked into the camera
The scariest fourth wall break I ever saw was where the whole episode had little frequency interruptions, and at first you think it's to give atmosphere, but at the end the "sand-monster" abruptly interrupts the story and reveals himself to have been recording the events and the tape you are watching is in fact bugged with a sort of virus that melts you down into a sand monster. Really chilling, I felt actually uncomfortable as it happened.
Wasn't that the Sandman episode of Doctor Who?
"A fourth wall break within a fourth wall break that's like sixteen walls
Are you talking about Spaceballs?
Deadpool
deadpool
I came looking in the comments to see if anyone had said this exact thing.
14*
Emporor's new groove has a few good fourth wall breaks
I don't think you're giving the Austin Powers joke enough credit. It's less of a 4th wall break and more of a meta commentary on how people pick apart trivial plot contrivances in movies (particularly time travel stories) rather than just accepting them and focusing on the main point of the movie. I actually think that's one of the more memorable and brilliant jokes in the movie.
Is there a 4th wall break where one character asks "are we gonna die?" and the other character says "of course not, have you read the script?".
stuff like this happens in SpaceBalls all the time
Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die
I feel like these vids started as a college film course project and evolved to a love and devotion of film and it's nuances. great content. Enjoy your 238780th subscriber. Hoping to see you at one million very soon.
Bingo
Now You See It explores film themes and tropes. It's like a college film analysis class minus the lecture halls, essay assignments, and student loan debts.
"enjoy your 238789th subscriber"
u can enjoy a youtube page but you don't have to sounds like a pretentious douchebag
its an objective complement for the content creator, dont be so rude, be glad for him
The Red Rabbit its nuances*
I love this, he shows bad fourth wall breaks, then good ones, then finishes with a bad one, it's like an oreo of fourth wall breaks.
Clark Manor
But what's not to like about an Oreo? How come nobody else has contested your saying so?
I didn't mean to comment of the quality of the oreo itself, more that it's like an oreo in the layering.
or a pie
I'll have you know I really like the chocolate part of the Oreo, thank you.
@@godofthecripples1237 chocolate part of an oreo is good
chocolate part AND chocolate filling is nawh...
I feel like Malcom in the middle did a good job at breaking the 4th wall
The Robin Hood one and the "Paramount signed us for five more years was quite funny.
Robin Hood is one of my favourite parodies
not surprised you didn't mention The Teletubbies
Jack Torrence there, see? Hook them young on the concept.
that show spooked me because they're kind of like The Watcher of marvel universe, an omnipotent, multi-dimensional being that could see anything, anywhere, anytime through their stomach screen
BaZaFa Deluxe *And this is mommy pig*
Wow, this video was -wall- ground breaking...
*Winks at the camera*
wait...what camera?
are we...in a MOVIE?!
*pulls Kevin's signature scream to the camera*
The technique of addressing the audience broke down some walls in the essence of writing tbh
Hey I saw you somewhere. You wrote something about a movie being a moving picture and that you also do that in your animations. Nice vids by the way.
@@sketchyth0ughts399 Thank You! I think I need to stop commenting and instead animate something lol
Um, who are you looking at? *follows your gaze*
Fresh Prince with Will saying they don't have a ceiling is the ultimate breaking of the 4th wall
4:10 was also the middle of the video. Very creative 👏🏽👏🏽
How to ACTUALLY break the Fourth Wall.
Step 1: Look at the camera
Step 2: Say some random crap.
You have officially broke the Fourth Wall.
Common misconception they dont have to look at the camera at all
I agree, but I do think that it seals the deal. Nothing like looking into the camera to make the crowd feel included. I find horror does this, but for the most part badly.
@Zayin Frye Take a look at Mr.Robot, He doesn't directly talk to the audience by looking at the camera, but instead narrates the incidents that happen to him to the viewers. That's good fourth wall breaking.
@@bhuvaneshrooney4044 Well, most of the movies I have watched have the characters look into the audience in order to break the fourth wall, so sorry for the misinformation.
lmao.. regardless if it is the main character or not, narration is not acting.. the narrator doesn't have any other duties to perform during the entirety of the narration because it's a voice over.. in the case of Mr Robot, it's still narration because the main character himself doesn't break character to acknowledge the audience nor does he suspect or conclude that he's in a fictional work.. breaking the 4th wall is essentially breaking character, and that's personally the reason I enjoy them so much.. if done correctly, the work includes the actors and the audience rather than just the characters the story depicts..
I saw Mel Brooks live at a post-screening Q&A of Young Frankenstein so I asked him a question about his enjoyment of breaking the fourth wall this is what he said:
"When I was young, watching The Three Stooges, I learned how big of a laugh you can make by winking into the camera"
This was late 2017 so I can't remember everything he said but that point stuck out the most
Ferris has the best fourth wall break ever in my opinion, the first moment we learn of his attitude, in such an unexpected way as well
THEY BOUGHT IT
I cant believe nobody is mentioning Spongebob, there is some genius fourth wall breaks in that show.
“Hey if we live underwater how can they be....”
* fire goes out *
Your fourth wall breaking is on par with the one in Austin Powers. :P
oof
Especially considering it makes no sense cause there was no fourth wall to break
In dogville the first three walls were broken too
Dogville has such an interesting way to make a movie, too bad it didn't completely capitalize on the concept
if you're not a young boy then you're probably safe
'Middle of the Film' comes at the middle of this video! :D XD
By the way.
the film is Monty Python's meaning of life.
4:10
My personal favorite 4th wall break isn't even in film, it's in SCP: Containment Breach. In the intro sequences, the two escort guards have a randomly chosen conversation. This one sorta breaks the fourth wall, poking fun at our world.
"So, you see any good movies lately?"
"I don't really watch movies."
"Oh ok. Well, what about video games? You know that reminds me, someone should make a video game based on this place."
"Why would anyone do that?"
"I don't know, just thought it was kind of a cool idea."
"Well, I don't play video games either."
Dude, Containment Breach's plotline is a giant fourth wall break in disguise. In the ending where the MTFs take the player in for questioning instead of shooting them, it's mentioned that happened because they survived what should be literally impossible to survive, and even predicted things ahead of time, I.E the _player_ died before and knew what to expect. There's that black/white/grey paper that hints at it too
@@whiteface513abandonedchann8 It wasn't about knowing OUR world, it was D-9341 being capable of going back to before he died, and learn from his mistakes, over and over until he succeeded.
No, that's not what I meant. The player was the one who remembered everything, the going back was going back to the last save. So basically Undertale before Undertale, and if you ask me, better
They do something similar in Batman Arkham City, where a random thug questions if their misery and pain is just some sick twisted simulation, but then he immediately passes that off as a weird thought.
ferris bueller’s day off is my favorite movie, the fourth wall breaks are so iconic
6:18 "Paramount will protect us cause we're signed for five more years"
Brilliant
I love it when characters on The Office look at or talk about the cameras
well that's not breaking the fourth wall in the show theyu are filming a documentary about the office so...
Parks a recreation kinda break the forth wall
He didn't technically say they're breaking the fourth wall so he's objectively right. It's fuck'n great.
I was very little when I first saw the Neverending Story. When the scene came and the Childlike empress was describing Bastian reading the book and how there are even people watching his journey, boy howdy, I damn nearly wet myself from a combination of fear and excitement.
I'll never forget my first 4th wall break.
I love how Brooks use the fourth wall as a tool for the continue of the story and not just wink to the camera.
That last bit caught me off guard.
I thought you would be a forever heard but not seen type.
forfluf yeah, major fourth wall break, I kinda liked not knowing what the narrator of these clips looked like
'Get the fuck out of my room I'm playing minecraft'
A great example in a recent film is The Lighthouse where in the climax scene, the light he stares into, which symbolizes infinite knowledge, wisdom, whatever (something that overwhelms him), is us looking right at him. He laughs hysterically as he's consumed by it and stares maniacally into the camera. Really scary stuff.
I think 4th wall breaks could be really well done when used for horror genres. In Doki Doki Literature Club there’s tons of moments where the characters or narration texts tell you that something appeared in the game files, and checking them will show you some creepy pictures or texts written by the “characters.” There’s also a scene where Monika calls the player by their Steam username rather than the name they chose for the player character, and it’s such a shocking moment that also breaks the 4th wall in a sinister way. Also a very cool use of technology and coding
was looking for this comment 💀💀
kind of a shame that this video came before doki doki because im sure there is plenty more to be said about it.
@@SourDisc agreed, I think that it’s a very effective way to bring the player out of the story and think “wait what”, then look at the character on screen very differently afterwards.
@@tinybubble330 yeah, and subtle things like how monika's sprite is always facing the "player" unlike the rest of the characters.
How about Eternal Darkness? The game does shit like faking the blue screen of death to increase the anxiety of the player.
@@HypercatZ I think ddlc does this a couple of times, but it's rare so I've never experienced it
The ending of Psycho always creeps me out... It's so subtle but so chilling.
I was just thinking how much the young Anthony Perkins looked like Andrew Garfield
Same with clockwork orange (not the ending tho)
I wasn't paying attention and, for a little bit, I thought I was watching an episode of "Every Frame a Painting". Awesome video. You just got a new subscriber.
+TheSludgeMan It's music over a video essay. Tony doesn't have a patent on it. Get over yourself
+Victor Frost Same!! This is my new favorite channel, definitely got a subscription out of me.
+TheSludgeMan On the other hand you have "Frame by frame" which blatently rips off EFAP. this channel strikes me a much more original
One of my favourite fourth wall breaks that's a little different is a Doctor Who monologue from the series 9 episode Before The Flood, where Peter Capaldi's Doctor gives a monologue about the bootstrap paradox, as it's key to understanding the episode. He gives references to googling the definition, constantly talks right to the audience, then the scene is closed with the opening titles after he plays the guitar, which he then plays the guitar over the normal titles. It's a fantastic scene. A fantastic explaination of a sci-fi concept without sacrificing how entertaining it is, talking directly to the audience without talking down to them either. Love it
The 4th wall break that sits strongly in my mind is from Batman Arkham Asylum.
The game 'crashes' and restarts, only with Joker and Batman reversed positions. It's a cutscene, but Joker suddenly shoots Batman.
It brings up the typical 'you died' screen and has a tip saying "Use the middle stick to dodge". Then when you continue the game, it carries on.
It got me good though, I freaked out at the crash and thought my xbox had broke.
The best fourth wall break I ever encountered was in "The Garfield Show": There's a joke that was like "Oh, we should really rest now. I read there is going to be a dramatic escape on page 9 of the script!" :D
Fourth wall breaks in video games tend to be pretty interesting in some instances: when it's not just for comedic effect, it's possible to actually push up an interesting point. For exemple, The Stanley Parable makes the narrator, as well as the player, actual characters, making the game's point about choice in video games work pretty well.
A fourth wall break is when you briefly notice the audience. The Stanley Parable didn't break the fourth wall, it shattered it.
Thomas Riley I don't think a fourth wall break implies it's a brief instant. Or maybe there's down right "no fourth wall" fictions?
...as for the Stanley Parable, the fourth wall stays fine if you do what the narrator says. It's when you divert that things so south for that poor wall.
I'm not sure if this is breaking the fourth wall, but my favorite is in Batman: Arkham Asylum when the game makes you think it crashed, then starts over.
LORDMEGACOM Well, in degesis, there is no reason for the fear toxin to cause the hallucination of a graphical and soud glitch, so...yeah totally a 4th wall break.
Another one - Eternal Darkness's sanity effects
Best use of 4th wall breaks is I feel in Mr Robot. It litreally creates us a character of the show
The Monkees, 60s show had a plenty of fourth wall breaks. Some of jokes in Mel Brooks movies are suspiciously alike, for example, the script joke. It’s even more funnier there because characters begin to read it and ask “was it good?”.
As he mentioned, breaking the fourth wall does NOT make you a comedy genius.
cough* deadpool *cough
*Looks at camera*
what about Malcolm in the Middle?
that was a great show
Oh, yeah... I loved that show 😆
YES, NO, MAYBE.....I DON'T KNOW!
Pink Sabbath CAN YOU REPEAT THE QUESTION ? YOURE NOT THE BOSS OF ME NOWWWWWWW!!!
AND YOUR NOT SO BIG!
1:49 that dramatic change in camera quality made it look even better
Goodfellas has a really cool 4th wall break towards the end of the movie. Then narrator is talking to us throughout the movie to begin with and then the actor becomes the narrator during the court scene and looks right at us while narrating which I felt was really sublime.
Good video, but you've actually mixed two separate but closely-related techniques: breaking the fourth wall, and metafiction. Metafiction is when a character (or the work as a whole) explicitly acknowledges that they are a character in a work of fiction. Breaking the fourth wall is when a character directly addresses an audience. They're close, but not the same thing. The Blazing Saddles out-of-the-set gag is metafiction, but doesn't break the fourth wall. On the other hand, Ferris Bueller breaks the fourth wall, but isn't metafictional; Ferris is treating the audience he addresses as a character in his own reality, not acknowledging that he is a fictional character. When Abed tells Jeff "I guess I can lay low for an episode", Community is being metafictional, but not breaking the fourth wall. Tomorrowland opens with Frank (George Clooney's char) breaking the fourth wall, but it's not metafiction because later in the movie we find out that he's actually addressing an in-movie audience and giving them the history of Tomorrowland. A lot of Shakespearean fourth-wall breaks are also metafictional, because the character both addresses the audience and says that they are a character in a play or story. The Simpsons Movie, Meaning of Life, and Road to Morocco gags are also both: the characters talk to the audience with an explicit awareness that they are characters in a film. So the techniques overlap, but aren't the same.
Soren Harward A very good, well stated point
Soren Harward Huh, so Deadpool is more Metafiction than anything
A Person With a Name two months late, but no because Deadpool knows he's in a film, hence the line "A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break?" how would he know he was breaking the fourth wall if he didn't know he was in a film?
If breaking the fourth wall is taking the audience out of the action and reminding them that they're watching a film, would drops of water or blood or particles of dust on the lens of the camera count as breaking the fourth wall?
Let's take the Beach scene from Saving Private Ryan, the look and sound of the scene are very brutal and realistic, and occasional drops on the lens make the audience feel as if they are right in the action. But at the same time, surely this would count as breaking the fourth wall as the director is showing the audience that yes, this is filmed through a lens, not real life?
He stated that the fourth wall, while often reminding us that we are watching a film, can also be used to pull us into the action. Droplets on the lens are usually an example of the latter.
Benjamin Ljunggren So... you're saying it could be counted as breaking the fourth wall?
J. Haller Productions Yes kind of, sometimes. In my opinion.
Benjamin Ljunggren ok :D
J. Haller Productions If I can put it this way. it's not breaking the wall in the sense that it's addressing the audience. But when used correctly, it puts the viewer right there on the beach next to the allied forces in Normandie. If you were at the beach, blood would splatter in your face. That is the desired effect. But I'm realising that I'm not very coherent right now. I'm going to have to contemplate this more...
Imagine if the collective society always broke the fourth wall, and this was a video on how to not break the fourth wall.
I find the best 4th wall breaks are usually when people turn and say what they’re thinking cause it gives you a feeling of like “no shit, that’s what I would say”
My favorite 4th wall break was The NeverEnding Story. In it, the book broke the 4th wall when Sebastian was reading the book, and then again telling him that even more kids are following him, just like he was follow Atreyu.
what about dora the explorer?
Danyl Vinick, I think you just won the comment contest of this comments section.
@@TornaitSuperBird I think the real winner is *gabriel r* for being first.
The Queen of the 4th wall
You guy won the internet
My favorite 4th wall break is in Trading Places. Robert Hays' "what a pisser" line in Airplane! is a close second.
My favorite use of the fourth wall is in season 2 of Fleabag where The Priest begins to notice Fleabag's fairly straight-forward comedic fourth wall breaks. I'm still trying to puzzle out what exactly that means in the context of the show. Is it because he loves her that he notices? is it because we, the audience, are a stand-in for God in her life? It's so complicated and unsettling, I adore it!
That actually caught me off guard. Good job.
So many unmentionables like Malcolm in the Middle, The Office, Moonlighting, Magnum PI (The famous smirk). I also loved the movie George of the Jungle.
Oh, Moonlighting. Now and then I think about re-watching it but I think it might not hold up.
The Office wasn't necessarily breaking the fourth wall because the story that it had set up was that they were being filmed for a PBS documentary rather than a TV show.
Month Python and the Holy Grail feels very similar to Blazing Saddles’ structure with the same idea of multiple fourth-wall breaks, including messing with the credits and a similar ending with the performers all getting arrested.
Jim looking at the camera in the office is my favourite 4th wall break because of its subtlety
I love how everyone in the comments is a fourth wall break critic now. It's a UA-cam video not a cinematic masterpiece. The ending was obviously just used to wrap the video up. People need to stop being so stuck up.
LMAO seemed like you may be the stuck up one hmm
I guess you opinion matters a lot more than everyone else..
@@jocerv43 except its not an opinion. this litterally isnt a cinamatic masterpeice. its cinamtic as in relating to films but it isnt a masterpeice by definition. a work of outstanding artistry, skill, or workmanship. this isnt outstanding by definition because it isnt any different than most other videos out there. it is average.
@@kitsunianims420 that's what we call an opinion
@@kitsunianims420 You started good.... and then buttfucked yourself by going full subjective in the last sentence..... GG
First of all... this video was published about 6 months before Deadpool was released. So would people quit complaining that Deadpool wasn't mentioned.
Secondly... I thought that the Austin Powers 2 example was one the few decent jokes in that movie that wasn't just cut and pasted from the first. It was a clever way of satirising the fact that most time travel plots in mainstream movies aren't logically coherent if you (the audience) think about them carefully. I'm not sure why it was used as an example of laziness.
I actually like all 3 Austin Powers. It's also weird to think it's a trilogy.
In fairness Mike Myers was the king of the lazy approach to comedy, all of his movies suffer from it to a greater or lesser degree making the few good jokes in each stand out all the more.
Nobody could break the fourth wall more effectively and more subtly than Oliver Hardy. The best part about him doing it was he didn't have to say anything. He wasn't doing it to break out of the movie, but to invite the audience's empathy into the film. And it's hilarious almost every time. It became a wordless catchphrase.
The ending of The Revenant got me totally off guard. So unsettling. Still don't understand why it was used but it was powerful.
I feel like at the end, instead of going further into the joke, he should've looked at the camera while saying "and thanks for watching." and cut it there
yeah I hate drawn out jokes
Definitely correct, short jokes are usually the funniest since there's not enough time to think ahead and potentially figure out the joke before it lands (or lose interest), or it has already landed and all you're doing it letting it take off again by drawing it out.
it wouldve brushed over his terrible acting.
You missed out my favourite 4th wall break - Fresh Prince Of Bel Air "If we so rich"
+TomusMedia Also when they changed Vivian's actor and Jazz notices that she looks different then Will just gives a little glance at the camera and then they ignore it from then on.
Also Carlton's freak out.
I appreciate that welcome to the middle of the film.... was in the middle of the video!!!
I’m no movie geek but slc punk and fight club are two movies that use this that really stood out for me
Funny Games is a perfect example of how to break the fourth wall in a horror movie. It gave me chills.
You make some excellent points! But I think the influence of theater was a little understated at least in the selections you picked out. Breaking the fourth wall seems to accomplish the exact same thing from theater to film. There's really nothing that film brings differently.
House of Cards certainly feels very Shakespearean in the asides. In musicals, especially more comedic scenes, there's already a very "contrived" feeling to begin with (not in a bad way - I mean, there's an orchestra playing and people are singing).
It's a nebulous subject manner which brings up other questions - Is a Voice Over also "breaking the fourth wall"? Is a POV shot a break?
These are interesting topics - thanks for bringing them up!
Filmmaker IQ It absolutely does accomplish the same things in theatre as in film. But I mean to counter your point that it's been a technique since the dawn of performative storytelling, because it hasn't. It didn't use to be seen as strange to directly address the audience, in fact it was expected. When the first plays were produced in realism where they DIDN'T address the audience at all is was seen as strange, however, the reality that was presented was gripping so it's become THE way to present narrative material ever since. Breaking the 4th wall in realism just helps to aid in the storytelling, whereas pre realism is was the story telling. Now, however, there's a lot of 4th wall breaking that is done poorly as a shortcut to gaining insight on certain characters, IE voice overs. I actually think House of Cards' asides are poorly done from a storytelling perspective. They're usually very entertaining, but they add little to nothing to the story itself. It's merely a stylistic storytelling short cut, by no means is it Shakespearian.
As I mentioned previously, in Shakespeare's time it was the norm to directly address the audience, since that was the style. But even still, his asides carry much more weight than a lot of contemporary breaks. Even though they could still be seen as shortcuts, Shakespeare's asides tend to cut SO deep to an emotional core, that they truly could not be expressed otherwise. Nonetheless, you don't see Shakespeare for the realism, you see Shakespeare for the prose and the drama. Shakespeare is about the performance of the written word. The power of oration.
Last point, kind of a side note, I think the best 4th wall break is the movie "Adaptation." They never directly address the camera, but the movie is so meta and aware of itself that it's most definitely breaking the 4th wall without actually peering through it. In contemporary art we've moved beyond the plain direct address. It's old hat. I think if we want to continue the art of breaking the 4th wall, we need to dig deeper and expand to a more meta attack of the trope a la "Adaptation." Like, my favorite 4th wall moments in Fight Club aren't the direct addresses. They're the moments when they play like the film is getting caught in the projector. They make you think the movie you're watching is getting screwed with, but it's actually the movie screwing with you.
That's kinda what I was feeling - that the technique isn't new and that most of the examples given aren't adding anything really that new from a medium standpoint.
But I disagree on the House of Cards front. The asides are brilliant and I really miss them in the third season (though he had to keep his cards closer to his chest - pun intended). You can't separate storytelling from the style and flair of the story teller. In HoC, it was down home southern charm that made it delicious - take it out and you lose the connection point - the entry point to the story for the viewer.
+Filmmaker IQ I must respectfully disagree about there being nothing that film brings differently in regards to fourth wall breaks. With theater, a character will look out into the audience and address them as a whole whereas in film/television, when the character looks into the camera it feels much more personal and if this break is by a villain, the viewer can feel much more uneasy than if a villain in a theatrical production addressed the audience since they aren't being singled out.
But what if you're the only person in the auditorium for a stage play?
And also don't films play to large theaters as well? You could be sitting in a room with a hundred other people in either situation.
Film might be able to project a more intimate relationship to the characters but that isn't just confined to fourth wall breaks or necessarily make fourth wall breaks that much different.
[Disregard, I forgot what I was responding to]
Wayne’s worlds sponsorship scene was my favourite fourth wall break of all time.
1:03 Joke's on you, Homer. I'm watching this on UA-cam. It's free, baby.
Space balls and blazing saddles had the best fourth wall breaks in my book
Jay and Silent Bob's best 4th wall break was , "I don't know , probably Matt Damon and Ben Affleck"
I always enjoy the og Magnum P.I.'s relationship with the audience, Magnum's always so funny and definitely let's the audience in on his feelings
the middle of the film pefectily at the middle of the video is beautiful
How could you not put Monty Python and the Holy Grail in this video?
Or 'and now for something completely different'- such a classic line
Andrew Bowers here comes the old man from scene 24!
Horricule "When suddenly, the animatior died of a severe heart attack."
ua-cam.com/video/m3dZl3yfGpc/v-deo.html
One of my favs
ok but every fourth wall break he was going "eh" at had me giggling hysterically
Perfect ending to your video. It took by surprise and did exactly what you were talking about inn the video. Bravo!
Thanks for mentioning the Fiddler on the Roof movie. It’s one of my favorite, and doesn’t get a lot of mentions these days, despite it being an extremely faithful adaptation, and an all around good film.
There's also this thing called "leaning on the fourth wall", meaning that someone does or says something that makes total sense in the piece of story (TV episode, movie...) but has a totally different meaning to the audience.
And then there's Deadpool.
Toxic Potato Deadpool pretty much shatters it.
Wolf of Wall Street had great fourth wall breaks
And no one is a better master at this than the Muppets
"He died? I thought this was a kids movie?"
a video essay this good made 7 years ago. wild