Acting Profile

The fourth wall comes from the absence of a fourth wall on a three walled set where the audience is watching the production. The audience is meant to imagine that there is a fourth wall present even though there is no physical wall present. The fourth wall has been adapted to describe the boundaries present between fiction and the audience. The term has also been used in other media including television, comics and more recently, video games. The term is now widely used by actor’s and other media experts.

Sometimes an actor might go into the audience and penetrate the fourth wall. This is so that the audience will be brought into the production. When this happens there is an immediate feeling of being drawn into the production.

Breaking the fourth wall has often been used for comical results as it is the unexpected part of the production.

In films where the character addresses the audience this is breaking the fourth wall. Scary Movie involves a scene where the cast laughs at how the situation they are in resembles a horrror movie. Occasionally the technique is so confusing that the audience doesn’t know what is real or not. It is a wonderful technique that can also help the act or to feel less nervous in front of an audience.