Breaking the 4th Wall - Narration

'Breaking the fourth wall' is not only used in theatre - but in film too allowing the audience to communicate further with the audience by talking to them directly through Narration.  The Narrator is sometimes a character within the story through non-dietetic sound will speak directly to the audience being the 'viewpoint character'; telling the story through their perspective in a narrative mode - usually told in the first person but sometimes in the third person. A first person narrator communicates to the audience with a personal take on what is being seen, bringing a greater focus onto feelings, opinions and perceptions of a particular character in a story, and on how the character views the world and the views of other characters - this get's us inside the character's personal world. By contrast, a third-person omniscient narrator gives a panoramic view of the world of the story, looking into many characters and into the broader background of a story. A third-person omniscient narrator can tell feelings of every character.  It works well this way to break the fourth wall suggesting that we are being let in closer to the story world to find out more about the characters.  Narration can be used in many situations - for example if a film has been created with an ending to disrupt the narrative - going back to the beginning making it effective.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Dir. John Hughes (1986)


Ferris Bueller's Day off uses narration but not as a voice over - as a monologue that addresses the audience directly breaking the fourth wall.  I think it works really well making it comical as his intentions to have a day off from school succeeds as he fools his parents.





























Mean Girls - Dir. Mark Waters (2004)


Mean girls is a great example of how first-person narration is used coming straight from 'Cady's' character, giving us insight to how she changes perspectives throughout the film as she meets new people at the new school.  It is used as a voice-over (non-diegetic) which works really well to communicate with the audience as to how she is really feeling.