Fourth wall

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The fourth wall is the imaginary wall at the front of the stage in a proscenium theater, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. Although the concept has been around since before the ancient Greeks and is used by Shakespeare, it was made explicit by Denis Diderot^[1] and spread in nineteenth century theatre with the advent of theatrical realism. Critic Vincent Canby described it in 1987 as "that invisible screen that forever separates the audience from the stage."^[2]

Contents 1 Origin and meaning 2 Breaking the fourth wall 3 In video games 3.1 Tutorial method 3.2 Story-driven 3.3 Physical interaction with the Player 3.4 Unusual player actions 3.5 Character awareness 3.6 Easter eggs 4 Controversy 5 Technical limitations 6 References 7 See also

[edit] Origin and meaning

The term "fourth wall" stems from the absence of a fourth wall on a three-walled set where the audience is viewing the production. The audience is supposed to assume there is a "fourth wall" present, even though it physically is not there. This is widely noticeable on various television programs, such as situational comedies, but the term originated in theatre, where conventional three-walled stage sets provide a more obvious "fourth wall".

The meaning of the term "fourth wall" has been adapted to refer to the boundary between the fiction and the audience. "Fourth wall" is part of the suspension of disbelief between a fictional work and an audience. The audience will usually passively accept the presence of the fourth wall without giving it any direct thought, allowing them to enjoy the fiction as if they were observing real events. It is the invisible barrier between realities.

The presence of a fourth wall is one of the best established conventions of fiction and as such has led some artists to draw direct attention to it for dramatic effect. This is known as "breaking the fourth wall". For instance, in A.R. Gurney's The Fourth Wall, a quartet of characters deal with housewife Peggy's obsession with a blank wall in her house, slowly being drawn into a series of theatre clichés as the furniture and action on the stage become more and more directed to the supposed fourth wall.

Besides theatre and television, the term has been adopted by other media, such as cinema, comics, and more recently, video games.

[edit] Breaking the fourth wall

The term "breaking the fourth wall" in theatre generally means that a character is showing his/her awareness of the audience (this can also be called metatheatre). The term originated from Bertolt Brecht's theory of "epic theatre" that he developed from (and in contrast to) Konstantin Stanislavski's drama theory. But in practice, the technique has been used for millennia: it was standard practice in Greek comedy. For instance, in the Greek playwright Aristophanes' play Peace, the hero Trygaeus (who is being lifted up by a theatrical device) tells the crane-handler to be more careful. Most often, the fourth wall is broken through a character directly addressing the audience; an example is the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder's Our Town, who speaks to the audience. In Greek comedy, parabases showing awareness of the audience were expected in every play. A similar effect can be achieved by breaking character, through dialogue, or by the characters interacting with objects outside the context of the work (e.g. a character is handed a prop by a stage hand). The reason why this is referred to as breaking a fourth wall is because it is implied that, in most theatre, any scenes that take place indoors are taking place in a room that of course has all four walls, with the one facing the audience being imaginary so the scene can be observed. The character who "breaks the fourth wall" ignores the imaginary wall and addresses the audiences instead.

Various artists have used this jarring effect to make a point, as it forces an audience to see the fiction in a new light and to watch it less passively. Bertolt Brecht was known for deliberately breaking the fourth wall to encourage his audience to think more critically about what they were watching, referred to as Verfremdungseffekt ("alienation effect").

The sudden breaking of the fourth wall is often employed for comical effect, as a sort of visual non-sequitur; the unexpected breaking from normal conventions of narrative fiction can surprise the audience and create humor. A very early example of this occurs in Francis Beaumont's play The Knight of the Burning Pestle, which contains three characters who are purportedly part of the audience. They interrupt the prologue and demand to be consulted on the plot, ordering a number of sudden (and usually extremely awkward) changes throughout the play, with comic results.

A common traditional theatrical production which makes frequent use of 'breaking the fourth wall' is the British pantomime.

Such exploitation of an audience's familiarity with the conventions of fiction is a key element in many works defined as post-modern, which dismantle established rules of fiction. Works which break or directly refer to the fourth wall often utilize other post-modern devices such as meta-reference or breaking character.

In the early days of "talkies", the Marx Brothers' stage-to-screen productions often broke this barrier. In their 1932 film Horse Feathers, for example, when Chico sits down at a piano to begin a musical interlude, Groucho turns to the camera and deadpans "I've got to stay here, but there's no reason why you folks shouldn't go out into the lobby until this thing blows over." ^[3]

By the 1940s, breaking the fourth wall was accepted in popular culture, as evident in the appealing "Road to..." movies with Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. Hope or Crosby often addressed the audience with a wisecrack, letting them in on the joke or with an irreverent comment about the film's producers.

A compromise to the concept often occurs in improvisational theatre, in which the audience is asked to interact with the players to some extent, such as by voting on a resolution to a mystery. In that case, the audience members are treated as if they were witnesses to the action in the play, effectively becoming "actors" rather than being a true "fourth wall." This is a major tenet of Augusto Boal's Theater of the Oppressed.

It is arguable that this technique was first employed in the modern sense (i.e., not in which an actor merely makes a clarifying aside to the audience, or clever implied self-references are made, but rather when the fourth wall is demolished to the point that there no longer remains any significant division between performance and audience, with drama joining reality or the exact opposite depending on one's perspective) in the sensational 1921 premiere of Pirandello's play Sei Personaggi in Cerca d'Autore (Six Characters in Search of an Author), wherein six ordinary people come to the rehearsal of a play to demand that their stories be told as part of the performance. This type of fourth wall breaking is also used in "The Aliens Are Coming! The Aliens Are Coming!" where at one point it is impossible to tell what is real and what is not in the play, as the aliens end up everywhere. The fourth wall was broken twice in the 2008 movie Funny Games starring Micheal Pitt.

The fourth wall is sometimes included as part of the narrative, when a character discovers that they are part of a fiction and 'breaks the fourth wall' to make contact with their audience, as seen in films like Tom Jones, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1963, Woody Allen's Annie Hall (with Marshall McLuhan) and The Purple Rose of Cairo, and Jonathan Gash's Lovejoy novels. Also, it is broken both by Peter Pan and Captain Hook in the 1954 musical of Peter Pan. George Burns commonly broke the fourth wall and directly addressed the audience in his 1950s TV comedy show.^[4]

In the stage version of the hit musical Oliver!, the fourth wall is broken when Nancy and Bill Sikes, who are supposed to be dead at the end of the show, join the entire cast in singing the final medley of three songs from the show. This was not done in the film version.

In Sir Laurence Olivier's film Richard III (1955), Olivier as Richard off camera addresses the film audience directly.

In these situations however, the 'fourth wall' that the character breaks remains part of the overall narrative and the wall between the real audience and the fiction remains intact. These sorts of stories do not actually break the fourth wall in the strictest sense, but are more properly referred to as metafiction, or fiction that refers to the conventions of fiction. The television series Titus, which ran from 2000-2002, employed a similar technique; lead character Christopher Titus directly addressed the audience in a black-and-white "neutral space", which he used for narrating the events in the show's "Live Story".

In Malcolm in the Middle, Malcolm frequently breaks the fourth wall, describing characters and events to the audience.

It can be intentional as well as some television series involve a character telling the audience important factors, such as gun violence in schools, help people with certain kinds of diseases, and death in immediate family, and to help people with other problems as well.

A good example of this type of metafiction can be found in the film Stranger Than Fiction, in which Will Ferrell's character Harold is able to hear the voice of the film's narrator. His attempts to discover the identity of this woman, aware of every action he takes, becomes the plot of the film. It is also heavily used in the 1989 movie Shirley Valentine, in which the protagonist often talks to the wall in her kitchen, and then speaks to the audience (and seems to get more satisfaction from talking to the wall and the audience than she does talking to her husband).

The fourth wall can be broken for only a few seconds. In Sixteen Candles, the geeky freshman, Farmer Ted, finds himself driving a Rolls Royce with the drunken prom queen, who has suddenly becomes amorous towards him. At this point, Farmer Ted turns toward the audience and says "This is getting good." It is the only time during the movie that the wall is broken.

Mel Brooks frequently breaks the fourth wall in his movies for comedic effect. The climax of Blazing Saddles features the characters crashing into the set of "another" production. In Robin Hood: Men in Tights, the characters review the script of the movie during the archery competition scene. Spaceballs features several examples including reviewing the script, a character hitting a camera, the actors' stunt doubles mistakingly being captured, and viewing a copy of the movie on an "instant cassette" that was released "before the movie [was] finished."

This technique is also used in comic strips; for example, Calvin and Hobbes "spoke" to the readers in a few strips. The Marvel Comics character Deadpool is also known to speak to the reader and even refer to his nature as a comic book character, much to the confusion of others around him. She-Hulk is another Marvel Comics character that is seen tearing through pages and advertisements, and even addressing the writer of the storyline. Characters in the comic strip Pearls Before Swine have discussed their own strip and other comic strips, and the author, Stephan Pastis, has appeared as a character. The comic The Far Side by Gary Larson, had one comic where a professor is discussing his paper, "The Possiblity of Other Cartoons on the Known Comics Page", in a reference to the search for life on other planets.

Some webcomics frequently break the wall, and the online Crossover Wars collaborations between various webcomic artists contain an entire plot arc entitled "WCA Hunt," which involved webcomic awareness spreading throughout the internet, resulting in fourth walls breaking in normally self-contained comics. [1]

The television series Moonlighting, Clarissa Explains It All, Saved By The Bell, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and The Weekenders made extensive use of breaking the fourth wall.

The fourth wall is also often broken in both the traditional Commedia Dell'arte style or modern reincarnations of such kinds of plays, such as Pippin. Usually, the cast of players is looking to the audience for advice or support. This device is also common in many popular television comedy series, such as Magnum, P.I., Boston Legal, The Mighty Boosh, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Family Guy, The Bernie Mac Show, Malcolm in the Middle, 30 Rock, Oz, Saved by the Bell and Hustle where characters use 'knowing' and comical looks toward the audience or sometimes even speak directly to camera. Ferris Bueller's Day Off and High Fidelity are popular examples.

The fourth wall is frequently broken in cartoons, often in very imaginative ways difficult or impossible with live actors. Perhaps one of the most humorous is to "fight the iris", i.e, right before the picture ends and while the image gradually is diminished by a contracting circle, a character uses his hands or body to force the "eye" open in order to injerject a wry comment or complaint. (Often the iris seems to stretch and go out of shape like pliant rubber during this stunt.) Often this technique is combined with physical comedy, e.g. having the iris snap back into shape and painfully pinch the person's nose or finger for their trouble. Another variation is having them appear onscreen after the iris is closed, walking or running over a solid black background. Warner Bros. directors like Bob McKimson and Tex Avery used the gag to good effect in the forties and fifties, and many modern cartoon directors have adapted it.

Additionally in traditional British Pantomime the audience is encouraged and expected to interact with the cast in breaking the fourth wall by booing the villains, who will often respond, cheering the heroes, who will often thank the audience, and by providing hints to the characters as to what to do next. e.g. shouting 'he's behind you' when the villain is sneaking up on the hero, or 'She's in the cellar' when the Prince Charming is searching for Cinderella who has been locked in the basement by the Ugly Sisters.

Breaking the fourth wall can also be done by a narrator, by standing in the midst of the action while narrating. This is made famous by Rod Serling in The Twilight Zone.

Last but not least, many Japanese anime and manga titles are also notoriously famous for breaking the fourth wall.

[edit] In video games

Breaking the fourth wall in video games is very common, mostly because the players play an active role within the game. It's usually done as a comic relief, as a part of the game, or to increase the player's awareness of the game's fictional nature. Some game series are known to use this technique very often, such as Crash Bandicoot, Ape Escape 2, EarthBound, Banjo-Kazooie, Final Fantasy V, Donkey Kong Country, Paper Mario, the Metal Gear series, Contact, Spyro The Dragon, Destroy All Humans 2, Monkey Island, and No More Heroes and Jak III

[edit] Tutorial method

The most common way to break the fourth wall in video games is in a tutorial fashion. A character in the game instructs the player’s avatar (or in some cases, directly instructs the player) how to perform a specific action within the game world.

In the game Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, when the player gets the item 'Running Shoes', their 'mom' says "Here, let me read the instructions. Press B and blaze new trails of adventure!". Saying "Press B" is breaking the fourth wall, as there is no "actual" B Button in the game universe (though there is one on the game console. Notable instances occur in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Metal Gear Solid as the character must input a radio-frequency which is never given in-game, but instead printed on the video-game's manual (in Metal Gear 2) or back CD cover (in Metal Gear Solid). This particular kind of phenomenon was also seen in the NES game Startropics, where the user is asked to enter coordinates that are found in the game manual. (An alternative interpretation of this technique is to prevent software piracy, with the assumption that pirated game owners will not have access to the original packaging.) In the video game Super Paper Mario, when the character is instructed on basic actions such as jumping, he asks what the "A Button" is, and the instructor replies, "The beings controlling us will know what that means."

[edit] Story-driven

The fourth wall can also be broken simply through story-driven elements within the game. In the game Tak and the Power of Juju, the Shaman addresses the player directly as an omniscient being throughout the story. The player in the seventh Fire Emblem game is represented in-game as the tactician of the army. Characters, particularly the Lords, have conversations with the player; the gender of the player (entered as a new game is created) slightly alters this, as the flirtatious knight Sain will flirt with female players and the timid pegasus rider Florina will be more shy towards a male player. During the dream sequences in Max Payne, if the character answers a ringing telephone a voice will say something like "Wake up! You are in a computer game!" or Max will gain partial awareness that he is being controlled by the player and is not a real person, although these are just easter eggs that reference The Matrix.

The narrative of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty breaks the fourth wall a number of times, by communicating to the player indirectly through the protagonist Raiden. For example, during a codec conversation, Raiden (and by extension, the player) is told to "Turn the game console off now!" Later on, the message "Fission mailed" appears on the game screen (instead of "Mission failed") as the artificial intelligence of the GW program in the narrative (and by extension, the game itself) begin malfunctioning.

[edit] Physical interaction with the Player

The advent of force-feedback and controller vibration gave a new way for a game to reach out for the player. In Metal Gear Solid, during an encounter with Psycho Mantis, the player is asked to place the console controller in the ground so Psycho Mantis himself might move it with the powers of his mind. Later, after the torture scene, the player is asked by Naomi Hunter to press the controller against the arm, then the controller vibrates as a kind of massage to compensate for the stress done on the arm during the torture. All this enhances the player's interaction with not only the game but also the story of the game. This physical interaction between the player and the protagonist is further employed in its sequels Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

[edit] Unusual player actions

Another common method employed by video games is to address the player when he does something unusual while playing (e.g, clicking numerous times on a character in a Real-time strategy game, such as the Warcraft Universe, or waiting a long time without moving their avatar). An example of this would be in the video game Bubsy where, if left idle for some time, Bubsy will knock on the TV screen, trying to get the player's attention), or the video game The Bard's Tale where, if left idle for some time, the narrator of the game will state that "there was a long period where nothing much happened". The series of "Sonic the Hedgehog" games take this to an extreme where, in one game, if left idle for too long, Sonic tells off the player and leaves, resulting in a game over. In Icewind Dale, clicking numerous times on a character causes him or her to express annoyance at the player. In Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, when the cursor is moved over water, ripples appear. If you click on a person in the game a numerous amount of times that person acts as if they are being tickled and there thoughts read: "What is that little white thing?" and "Hehe that tickles!" In EA's game Skate if the player leaves the game on pause for a long time when un paused the videographer that follows you around will make a comment on this action such as "Did you actually go skate for once" or "Where have you been? I've been waiting"

[edit] Character awareness

The fourth wall is broken by the game Pathologic. During the last day of events, the player can visit the Theater (which is somewhat a metafictional entity throughout the entire gameplay). In a dialogue taking place there the player will be presented with a choice to answer the question "Who is saying this?" either as "It is me, Bachelor" (or another playable character) or as "It is me, the player". In the latter case the NPC will show the full awareness that he is "merely a bunch of triangles on your monitor". In Shadow Hearts, the character Roger Bacon will tell the player, after having chosen a name for Bacon, that that one isn't his name. The main character, Yuri, asks him who is he talking to. In Tales of Symphonia, the main character, Lloyd Irving will sometimes reference the usage of a warp option in a dungeon, often in the form of a complaint that there is no way to use it at the time. In Jak 3 a monk scolds Jak and Daxter "This isn't a game!", causing Jak and Daxter to look at the player with confused expressions.

[edit] Easter eggs

Main article: Easter egg (virtual)

Easter eggs are another way to break the fourth wall. Easter eggs in video games are objects, quotes, characters (either avatars or NPCs), levels, or any other element of the game that makes a reference to the exterior world. The references may be to a picture of the programmer, a reference to another game of the same or affiliated company, an element created by a rumor circulating about the game or a previous one in the same series, or any other entity which does not exist directly within the game world. This breaks the fourth wall by introducing an element that is superfluous to gameplay, reminding the player of the virtual nature of the game. One such example is in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. After finishing the game as on both the light and dark sides, Atton Rand will say this quote when you find him:

"I'm Atton. I actually wasn't supposed to make it into the final game, but I was created at the last minute. Blame my agent. I was actually slated for a spin-off to Jedi Knight, but I don't want to talk about what happened there."

Another example of this is the Konami Eyes models in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, posters of the magazine models appear on the inside of lockers and on the backs of doors, even in a codec transmission. Not to mention, a toy figure of Vulcan Raven (from the original Metal Gear Solid) scares Solid Snake during his original sweep of the tanker.

One other example of a good easter egg is in the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In the game there is a very big, red bridge which connects the provinces of San Fierro and Las Venturas. To find the easter egg, the player must acquire a jetpack and fly up to a high girder. Up there the player finds a brown sign stating that "There are no Easter Eggs up here. Go Away": ironically, the sign is itself an easter egg.

Another example of this is in Grand Theft Auto IV. If you're able to get to the feet of the Statue of Happiness, there will be be a sign that says "No Hidden Content this way". Though in actual fact there is a huge beating heart inside the statue.

Another example is in the game Spider-Man for PC. In numerous levels where you must web-swing to other buildings, there may be a billboard featuring Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3. Another is in the first level of the game. After the large building that has NEW YORK on the side in large green letters, you will swing to another building, and if you look, you may see a billboard advertising an interview with Cletus Cassidy a.k.a. Carnage. This may be a reference to him being a boss in the game. A way to get to many of the game's easter eggs is the code: UATUSEES. The game will enter a "What If? Content" mode. For example: in the second level, you will see a Fantastic Four building that normally has a comic book on it. Instead, you breifly meet up with The Human Torch. He will say something about fighting Mole Man. This may have been a boss that was taken out of the original game. Another example of the UATUSEES code is when you fight Doc Ock in his undersea lair. His fortress will be what is commonly known as "hippyized". The walls will feature a picture of Dr. Love and the floors will be dotted with hearts and smiley faces. Another example is in the Hostage Situation level. Where Spider-Man crawls through a vent and comes out in a room with 3 switches. Open the one that releases the hostage. Walk into the room and you will be greeted with a disco party. The only way to leave is to restart the level or quit to the menu.

[edit] Controversy

As can be seen from the numerous examples above, breaking the fourth wall has become quite common in modern visual arts, but it is not without its critics. Used sparingly and appropriately it can be quite startling to an audience immersed in the suspension of disbelief. But by over-use it is in danger of becoming almost conventional, especially in TV and film comedy; such that no-one is remotely surprised when an actor or actress turns to camera to deliver a slick aside to the audience.

Breaking the fourth wall can be annoying and distracting to the audience, and create plot holes by interrupting the natural flow of the dramatic narrative. For example, in a video game (or film), narrative continuity could be broken if a character begins talking to the player/viewer without contributing to the theme of the game. However, it can work if the character is giving "catch-up" information about previous episodes; and such techniques can be used to build atmosphere and tension, or fill in the characters' backstory. This is most commonly used in episodic genres, especially anime.

Commentary by characters can occasionally be effective even in straight drama, such as when a first-person narrator frames the main dramatic presentation with an introduction and conclusion delivered direct to camera, and perhaps interjects commentary at key points in the storyline (for instance, American Beauty). In this context it could almost be seen as a return to earlier theatrical conventions of prologue and epilogue. This technique needs to be used very selectively, since it tends to slow the pace, and can be seen as somewhat ponderous if not done for good reasons. And since such pieces are often delivered "front of curtain" (in the studio, or in the narrator's oak-panelled study, or as a disembodied voice-over) and hence separated from the world inhabited by the drama, it is arguable whether or not they constitute breaking the fourth wall at all.

Breaking the fourth wall is historically considered highly controversial in the professional wrestling business where the wrestlers breach the imaginary storyline known as "kayfabe" and communicate real life behind the scenes events directly to the audience. The most notable examples of breaking kayfabe are the Madison Square Garden curtain call of 1996, the Mike Tyson-Stone Cold Steve Austin storyline of 1998, Vince McMahon's disclosure of the Chris Benoit double-murder suicide in 2007, and Triple H kissing Stephanie McMahon to reveal their marriage at the RAW 15th anniversary show on 12/10/07. Kayfabe was breached so much in 2007 that it is no longer so taboo and is now more of a technique to induce ratings or reinvent the storylines that suspend disbelief.

[edit] Technical limitations

Although breaking of the fourth wall is usually deliberate, the technical constraints of filmmaking, or the impracticality of refilming a complicated scene, can sometimes inadvertently break the wall by "reminding" the audience that they are watching a film:

• Lens Flare.
• Something splashing on the lens, such as water or mud or blood, such as the effects used in "Saving Private Ryan", and more recently, Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men (in which an extra's fake blood hit the camera's lens early on in a roughly 10-minute-long shot) and Tim Burton's adaptation of "Sweeney Todd".
• A hand or other object appearing distorted due to being too close to the camera (if not done purposely for visual effect).
• The apparent backwards-motion of rotating wheels on a fast-moving car or carriage, due to the stroboscopic effect.
• An object or a person bumping into the lens (though normally meant to be deliberate).
• Shadows and mirrors' reflections of the camera or cameraman.
• The boom microphone appearing at the top of the picture, as in "Elizabethtown".
• The camera shaking when a car passes by, such as the Moscow car chase scene in The Bourne Supremacy.

The above kinds of anomalies, if accidental and obvious, are sometimes considered "bloopers". However, in some cases they are inserted deliberately to add "realism" because audiences have come to expect to see them. A shot that lacks these flaws can call attention to itself as not being rooted in the physical world, making it look even more false than a physical-world shot with a flaw. "Babylon 5", "Firefly" and the re-imagined series of "Battlestar Galactica" contain many examples in CGI sequences, such as lens flares, cameras shaking when a starship passes close, or the camera being hit by debris after a ship blows up, even though neither the camera nor the spaceships actually exist. Such fourth wall shenanigans can also be used for comic effect, such as an episode of "Arrested Development" where the families' lawyer suggests that a mole might be listening in on the Bluth Company, the boom microphone is clearly visible at the top of the screen.

Most modern computer and video games featuring advanced graphics also feature lens flares when the camera is facing the sun.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Corpsing
• Gaze
• Kayfabe, a similar concept in professional wrestling
• Descartes' philosophy - The concept of reality itself being illusory.
• Alternate reality game