Daily Dialogue theme for next week: Breaking the 4th Wall!

As we wrap up a week’s worth of teacher-student dialogue [thanks, Teddy Pasternak, for the suggestion], it’s time to move onto next week theme:

Breaking the 4th Wall [suggested by Shaula Evans].

For those not familiar with the terminology, here is our old friend Wikipedia:

The fourth wall is the imaginary “wall” at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. The idea of the fourth wall was made explicit by philosopher and critic Denis Diderot and spread in 19th-century theatre with the advent of theatrical realism, which extended the idea to the imaginary boundary between any fictional work and its audience. Speaking directly to or otherwise acknowledging the audience through the camera in a film or television program, or through this imaginary wall in a play, is referred to as “breaking the fourth wall” and is considered a technique of metafiction, as it penetrates the boundaries normally set up by works of fiction. This should not be confused with the aside, a dramatic device often used by playwrights where the character on stage is delivering an inner monologue, giving the audience insight into his or her thoughts.The Fourth wall is also used for comedic purposes.

Here is an example from the movie Annie Hall:

The usual drill:

* Copy/paste dialogue from IMDB Quotes or some other transcript source.

* Copy/paste the URL of an accompanying video from MovieClips or YouTube.

I’d also ask you to think about why the dialogue is notable. Is there anything about the dialogue which provides some takeaway re screenwriting?

Here is the lineup for upcoming Daily Dialogue themes:

November 26-December 2: Giving Birth [blknwite]

December 3-December 9: Confessions of Love [SabinoGiado]

But this week our focus is on Breaking the 4th Wall.

See you in comments for your suggestions!

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