Don't break the 4th wall, just make it disappear

Summary

This video explores the concept of breaking the fourth wall, originating from a literal separation between actors and audience, and evolving into modern storytelling techniques. It discusses how art evokes emotions, either through empathy or direct experience, using examples from various media, including Naruto and the series 'Furin.' The video highlights how subtle storytelling techniques can dissolve the fourth wall, enhancing emotional connection and investment in characters, ultimately enhancing the viewer's experience.

Takeaways

• 🔍 Breaking the fourth wall refers to addressing the audience directly or showing meta self-awareness.
• 📜 The term 'fourth wall' originates from French philosopher Denis Diderot, describing the invisible wall between actors and audience.
• 🎭 Modern definitions of the fourth wall include any degree of separation between the audience and the art.
• 🤝 Emotion in storytelling comes from empathy and connecting with a character's world, often experiencing emotions alongside them.
• 📺 Examples include scenes in 'Naruto Shippuden' where the audience experiences emotions along with the characters.
• 🎮 Video games and virtual reality also remove the separation between the audience and the story.
• 📚 Stories use mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors to reflect back on life, see new perspectives, or deeply engross the audience.
• 🧠 Human responses to art are influenced by cultural norms and biological instincts, affecting our emotional reactions.
• 🎵 Music and visual art evoke emotions through cultural familiarity and instinctual responses.
• 📈 The psychology of art shows that humans have inherent biases, like a preference for the left cheek in faces or comfort in lighter landscapes.
• 😨 Horror movies and high-stakes storytelling can evoke real fear and relief, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
• 🧙‍♂️ In the series 'Frieren,' the subtle breaking of the fourth wall enhances the connection and emotional experience with the story.
• 🧠 Art evokes emotion through both embodied feelings and cognitive empathy, often intertwining these experiences.
• 🌟 Long-running series like 'One Piece' and 'Naruto' build deep emotional connections over time, allowing frequent emotional peaks.
• 📚 'Frieren' uses subtle fourth wall techniques to create a shared experience between the audience and the characters.
• 🧑‍🏫 'Frieren' employs the educational concept of the zone of proximal development to show character growth and development.
• 👩‍🏫 Effective teaching in 'Frieren' involves pushing characters slightly beyond their limits to foster growth.
• 🏆 The series 'Frieren' is praised for its animation, writing, characters, world-building, and subtle storytelling techniques.

Q & A

What does the term 'fourth wall' originally refer to?

The term 'fourth wall' originally refers to the invisible wall between the actors and the audience in a theater, as attributed to French philosopher Denis Diderot.

How does the video argue a modern definition of the fourth wall?

The video argues that the modern definition of the fourth wall represents any degree of separation between the audience and art, extending beyond direct address or meta self-awareness to include other ways of removing the barrier.

What example from 'Naruto Shippuden' is used to illustrate experiencing emotion alongside a character?

The example used is the scene where Shikamaru is mourning the loss of a close one, where the audience doesn't just empathize with him but experiences the emotion alongside him.

How are mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors used as metaphors in storytelling?

Mirrors allow people to reflect on their own life, windows offer a view into someone else's perspective, and sliding glass doors let the audience step into the story and experience emotions alongside the characters.

What is the core purpose of art according to the video?

The core purpose of art, according to the video, is to evoke emotion.

How does the video describe the two ways people feel emotion in art?

The video describes the two ways people feel emotion in art as 'embodied feeling,' which comes from instinctual and bodily responses, and 'cerebral feeling,' which comes from empathizing and putting oneself in a character's shoes.

What are the 'five elements of storytelling' mentioned in the video?

The five elements of storytelling are characters, conflict, plot, setting, and theme.

How does the video describe the character of Fain from the series discussed?

Fain is described as a long-living elf mage who functions as a safety net in the story, making it feel like a slice of life with rarely any substantial real risk.

What educational concept does the video relate to Fain's teaching methods?

The video relates Fain's teaching methods to the 'zone of proximal development,' where growth occurs just outside one's comfort zone but not so far as to cause panic or giving up.

Why does the video argue that making the fourth wall disappear enhances storytelling?

The video argues that making the fourth wall disappear enhances storytelling by allowing the audience to experience emotions and events alongside the characters, creating a deeper connection and investment in the story.

Outlines

00:00

🎭 Understanding the Fourth Wall

The term 'fourth wall' originates from the French philosopher Denis Diderot, symbolizing the invisible barrier between actors and the audience. Modern interpretations extend this to any separation between the audience and art. Breaking the fourth wall involves direct audience engagement or meta-self-awareness, but it can also be subtler, evoking emotions by allowing the audience to experience alongside characters, as seen in scenes from 'Naruto Shippuden'. The series 'Exploring Furīn' delves into these concepts, examining how storytelling can transcend empathy to offer shared experiences.

05:02

🖼️ Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors

Stories can act as mirrors, reflecting our lives, or windows, offering new perspectives. The concept of the sliding glass door suggests a deeper engagement, where audiences not only empathize but also experience emotions alongside characters. This video from 'Exploring Furīn' discusses this phenomenon, highlighting how the show's storytelling allows for such deep connections. The script touches on the importance of empathy and the role of psychological and cultural norms in shaping our emotional responses to art.

10:04

🎶 Psychology of Art and Emotion

The human brain is influenced by cultural norms and instinctual responses, impacting our emotional reactions to art. For instance, most people prefer 12-tone music over microtonal music due to cultural exposure. Similarly, humans have a natural preference for light over dark landscapes and a bias towards the left cheek in faces. These ingrained preferences extend to various forms of art, including music and visual media. The video explores how these biases shape our emotional engagement with art and storytelling.

😔 Body and Mind in Emotional Responses

Art evokes emotions through both the body and the mind. Embodied feelings arise from direct sensory experiences, such as music, while cognitive emotions stem from empathetic connections with characters and narratives. The video explains how storytelling often blends these approaches to create powerful emotional experiences. For example, horror movies elicit real fear despite being fictional, while the death of a beloved character can cause genuine grief. These responses highlight the deep human need for connection and the immersive potential of well-crafted stories.

⚔️ The Subtle Disappearance of the Fourth Wall in 'Furīn'

The video analyzes how 'Furīn' subtly removes the fourth wall by aligning the audience's emotions with the characters' experiences. Unlike traditional stories that rely on conflict, 'Furīn' creates tension through character development and the gradual removal of safety nets. This approach enhances the audience's investment and emotional engagement. The discussion includes the concept of the zone of proximal development, where optimal growth occurs just beyond comfort zones. The episode's climax, where characters face challenges without their usual safety net, exemplifies this technique, making the scene more impactful.

🌟 Character Growth and Emotional Investment

The final paragraph focuses on the growth of two young characters, Stark and Fern, in 'Furīn'. Stark confronts his fears by battling a shadow of his former master, while Fern steps out of her comfort zone to realize her potential. The audience shares the characters' anxiety and triumphs due to their deep investment in the story. The video praises the series for its subtle storytelling techniques, outstanding animation, and ability to make the fourth wall disappear, enhancing emotional connections and redefining the fantasy genre.

Keywords

💡Fourth Wall

The fourth wall refers to the invisible barrier between actors and the audience in traditional theater. In modern media, breaking the fourth wall involves directly addressing the audience or showing self-awareness within the story. Examples from the script include the character looking at the camera and speaking directly to viewers.

💡Empathy

Empathy in storytelling refers to the audience's ability to connect and share the feelings of characters. It's a key element in evoking emotional responses. In the video, empathy is highlighted as the foundation of experiencing emotions through characters' perspectives, like Shikamaru's mourning in Naruto.

💡Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors

These metaphors describe different ways stories engage audiences. Mirrors allow reflection on one's own life, windows offer views into others' lives, and sliding glass doors let audiences experience emotions alongside characters. The video argues that some stories subtly make the fourth wall disappear, enhancing connection.

💡Embodied Feeling

Embodied feeling refers to experiencing emotions directly through sensory engagement, such as through music or visual art. This contrasts with emotions derived from intellectual empathy. The script discusses how certain media can evoke embodied feelings, making emotions feel immediate and visceral.

💡Cultural Norms

Cultural norms are the shared standards and behaviors that are typical within a society. The video explains how these norms influence our perception of art, like the preference for 12-tone music in Western cultures. This concept helps illustrate why different audiences might respond differently to the same piece of art.

💡Instinctual Responses

Instinctual responses are automatic reactions based on biology, such as the fear of the dark. The video uses examples like preferences for light landscapes and symmetry to explain how these innate tendencies shape our emotional reactions to art.

💡Zone of Proximal Development

This educational concept describes the optimal learning zone, just beyond current abilities but not so challenging as to cause frustration. In the video, it's used to explain how the character Fern learns and grows, paralleling audience engagement with the story's stakes and character development.

💡Body and Mind

These terms describe two types of emotional experiences in art. 'Body' emotions are felt physically and immediately, like fear in a horror movie. 'Mind' emotions involve cognitive empathy and reflection. The video discusses how both types contribute to the depth of storytelling.

💡Symmetry

Symmetry refers to balanced and proportionate arrangements, which are often perceived as aesthetically pleasing. The video mentions studies showing human preference for symmetrical faces and how this is used in visual media, such as the composition of Marvel movie posters.

💡Fear

Fear is a powerful emotion often used in storytelling to engage audiences. The video explains how fear can be experienced directly, as in jump scares in horror films, and how it can contribute to the emotional depth of a story when characters face dangerous situations, as seen in the fight scenes of the series 'Furîn'.

Highlights

The term 'fourth wall' is generally attributed to the French philosopher Denis Diderot and originally represents the invisible wall between actor and audience.

Breaking the fourth wall typically means directly addressing the audience or demonstrating meta self-awareness.

There are other ways for media to remove the barrier between the audience and the art, such as creating experiences that audiences share with characters.

Stories can cause audiences to stop empathizing with characters and start experiencing emotions alongside them, enhancing the storytelling impact.

Examples of historic ways the fourth wall was broken include Shakespeare's plays where actors actively talked to the audience.

Modern methods include video games where the player controls a character and influences the story, reducing the separation between the audience and the narrative.

Virtual and augmented reality are pushing the boundaries of storytelling by creating immersive experiences.

The core purpose of art is to evoke emotion, often relying on empathy to connect the audience with the characters and story.

Human brains are influenced by cultural norms and biological instincts, which affect how art is perceived and the emotions it evokes.

Symmetry is appealing to humans, and there is a bias towards the left cheek of the face, as shown by the composition of Marvel posters.

The emotions evoked by art can be categorized into 'body' emotions (instinctual and immediate) and 'mind' emotions (cerebral and reflective).

Storytelling often uses both body and mind to evoke emotions, but core enjoyment comes from stepping out of one's own perspective to empathize and invest.

Fear in horror movies often feels real due to the body's adrenaline and cortisol responses, despite knowing there is no real danger.

The series 'Frein' subtly removes the fourth wall by making the audience experience discomfort alongside the characters when their safety net, Fen, leaves them.

The fight scene in 'Frein' is enhanced by this subtle fourth wall removal, making the audience share the characters' concerns and emotions.

Transcripts

when people talk about breaking the

fourth wall more often than not they're

referring to something like this

oh oh hello or this it's

over go home but you probably don't

think of

this give me a second and I'll explain

the term the fourth wall is generally

attributed to the French philosopher

Deni dito and its original definition

comes from a very literal Place

representing the invisible wall between

actor and an audience but today I'm

arguing a more modern definition that

the fourth wall represents any degree of

separation between the audience and art

breaking the fourth wall generally means

directly addressing the audience or meta

self-awareness but there are other ways

for media to remove that barrier emotion

in storytelling primarily comes from a

place of empathy connecting and seeing

into a character's world but every so

often in stories audiences aren't

experiencing emotion because a character

is they're experiencing something thing

in conjunction with the characters take

for example this scene from Naruto

shapin where Shikamaru is mourning the

loss of a close one when I was watching

this I didn't just empathize with

Shikamaru I was having an experience

alongside him but sometimes stories come

along and get rid of the fourth wall in

a more subtle way one you might not

notice unless you were paying close

attention this is a running series

called exploring furin my name is pay

and today we're talking about when the

audience stops empathizing and and

starts

experiencing so the fourth wall is

actually a really interesting thing we

can look at historic ways that the

fourth wall was broken like Shakespeare

plays where actors were actively talking

to the audience or on the opposite side

of the spectrum more modern ways like

video games that tell a story when

someone's controlling a character and it

influences the story there's once again

a removal of that separation or even a

level beyond that to the most extreme

virtual and augmented reality are

already influenced the way some stories

are being told but all stories are built

off of a foundation of the history of

Storytelling before it there are tons of

established rules and systems that most

people follow and some subvert to create

engaging stories but all of these rules

eventually come down to what I argue is

the core purpose of art to evoke emotion

and emotion in storytelling as a form of

art is built primarily around a

foundation of empathy there's a

necessary degree of investment in the

characters and story now all art takes

advantage of the human brain to evoke

emotion but before we get into the

psychology of art let's understand why

I'm bringing up any of this in the first

place so obviously I have this running

series called exploring furin and if we

include this video I've released 14

different essays using Fein as an excuse

to talk about things I find interesting

if any of you guys find yourself back

after watching one of my previous videos

consider subscribing I'm going to keep

releasing these weekly I've Loosely been

approaching the first season of fre and

chronologically so for this video I

found myself rewatching episode 9 which

has one of my favorite fights from the

entire first season and I noticed

something in this episode that I never

really thought about which I've since

learned can be referred to as mirrors

windows and sliding glass doors mirrors

and windows are a little bit more

intuitive stories can allow people to

reflect back on their own life or see

into someone else's you can see yourself

in some characters and experience

completely New Perspective in others but

what I'm talking about today is more

rooted in that idea of the sliding glass

door in the more traditional sense I've

seen this metaphor used to refer to when

people are really engrossed in a story

but in my case I'm not talking about

when you feel an emotion as an extension

of just empathy but specifically being

able to empathize and personally

experience an emotion alongside a

character I think this episode of frein

does that in a way I've never seen

before but before we analyze that

episode I want to start first by

explaining some of the things I've

learned about the psychology of art

completely independent of individual

personality the human mind is influenced

by certain norms and standards cultural

and biological influence Es are deeply

ingrained from an early age some people

work hard to break away from these

social norms or instinctual responses

but even in breaking away they're still

influencing people and that's only

talking about the standards we're aware

of take for example music taking a look

at the demographics of my audience most

of you will be used to 12-tone music

People's First Time listening to

microtonal music will sound jarring and

off-putting seriously look it up most of

you will hate it but it's actually this

whole world that's super interesting

this is an example of cult cultural

norms the reason we know this is cu

there's many other societies all across

the world that don't subscribe to the 12

tone technique human taste is heavily

influenced by what we're used to whereas

on the other side of the spectrum human

beings have deeply ingrained instinctual

biological responses this study for

example found that light Landscapes are

significantly more comforting than dark

paintings this is based off of the

instinctual response to self- preserve

we're afraid of the dark because we

can't see what's in it while this may

seem obvious there's lots of rules that

are less intuitive that also are based

in instinctual response Studies have

also found that symmetry is appealing to

humans or that we have a bias towards

the left cheek of the face seriously

there's compelling scientific evidence

that independent of culture human beings

value the left side of the face more in

this selfie study they found that people

even did the reverse in mirrors where

they would value the perceived less side

of their face which was really their

right because of the mirror's reflection

as soon as you start noticing it you'll

see it all over the place take for

example these Marvel posters where 19 of

the characters 20 if you include the

raccoon are facing with their left cheek

forward whereas only eight characters

are facing with their right cheek

forward a big portion of them are tiny

and in the background or it seems like

they're there to create a more balanced

image which by the way is just another

rule the point is to highlight the fact

that while light and dark images feels

really obvious there are tons of

examples that are less obvious lots of

rules with lighting a film have nothing

to do with creating a natural image and

more so to do with creating a compelling

one which ultimately leads to the next

point of this video the two different

ways people feel emotion and art the

terms I've used when discussing this in

the past are body and mind take a second

to listen to this

music most likely the emotions you're

feeling are not coming from a cerebral

place you don't have to put yourself in

someone else's shoes or empathize with a

character this is what I would call

embodied feeling now if I were to ask

you to think about the most tragic piece

of mea you've ever consumed see that

comes from the mind in reality there's

overlap between these two they don't

exist in a vacuum and any art can find a

way to participate in both or either and

sometimes it can be completely

determined by the audience member's

interpretation I think storytelling

often uses both the body and mind to

evoke emotions but core to enjoying a

story is the ability to step out of your

own to empathize and invest but

sometimes when consuming in a story you

stop empathizing and you start

experiencing the most most obvious

examples of this are built around

adrenaline and cortisol the stress

hormone when people watch scary movies

independent of how aware of the fact

that they are in no real risk the fear

they feel often feels very real the

experience of a jump scare is startling

completely independent of empathy

sometimes those things feel cheap like

their tricks but there are other ways in

which you can experience a story as well

the death of a character you love can

result in very real grief I'm not saying

people can't differentiate between

reality and fiction but it's genuine

genuinely sad to lose a character you

love when a story you're really invested

in is fighting to save the world it's

easy to feel relief when things work out

in the end there's a deep human

instinctual need for connection it's

also something that independently people

me included just seem to Value so to

actively experience an emotion that runs

in conjunction with a character you're

supposed to be empathizing with it adds

a lot to the experience these moments

are often the byproduct of extreme

emotion the two examples I've given so

far are the death of a character you

loved and the fight to save a world

those moments take a lot of time to

properly set up the average story

generally gets to do that a couple times

there's longer series like one piece and

Naruto that get to do it often but

that's because they have thousands of

episodes to work with and tons of

downtime between those moments but it

turns out that's not the only way to do

it sometimes writers make the fourth

wall disappear in a subtle way I'm sure

more people have done it but I really

can't come up with another example

outside of this episode of furin not

because I don't think it's been done

before but because I think its subtlety

gets in the way of its recognition so

let's finally talk about furin there's

this thing called the five elements of

Storytelling that I've talked about a

couple times characters conflict plot

setting and theme I think you can look

at any story and take those five

elements and put them in order from

least to most important I've argued in

the past that fine is not a story built

around conflict in some ways it almost

feels like a slice of life as Stakes are

sparse and there's very rarely a real

threat and part of the reason for that

is the story is built around this long

living elf Mage who saved the world so

in a similar vein to stories like one

punch man she functions as a safety net

someone so capable that there never

seems to be any substantial real risk

and across the first Nine episodes the

audience is conditioned to rely on that

now this feeling runs in conjunction

with two characters in our story Fern

and Stark they're party members

accompanying Fen and when the stakes

rise and they're forced into a fight

that's really dangerous and F and leaves

the audience and the characters have the

same experience not one built around

crazy high emotions but a discomfort

because we all lost the safety net

something I love about this is it's not

the breaking of the fourth wall it's

making it disappear it's opening the

sliding glass door and enhancing the

ability to connect with the story it's

subtle which means it's probably more

common than I realize and I think it

makes this fight scene which has tons of

significance to the story even better

it's built around these major

breakthroughs for two young characters

that I was already incredibly invested

in Stark has to face a very real fear in

an incredibly clever way essentially

having to fight a shadow of the master

that gave him his scar someone whose

strength he's terrified of Fern has no

idea her capability because it's always

existed in such a vacuum with such

extreme safety in actually a really

interesting way fan is a great teacher

there's this idea in education called

the zone of proximal development the

optimal place to grow is outside of your

comfort zone but not so far that you

panic or give up some people will call

this X+ One X being your limit and then

a little bit beyond that and I think

that the way that fan teaches Fern and

Stark is an excellent example of this

Fern actually explains it to Stark when

they first meet growth is often the

byproduct of consistent effort and then

an eventual leap of faith and part of

what makes the scene so effective is the

audience has been conditioned to also

rely on Fen so when she goes off on her

own and leaves Fern and Stark to deal

with this issue I found myself having

the exact same concerns the characters

did and it enhanced the scene there are

a million things to praise in the series

from the outstanding animation that is

used very sparingly to the writing

characters World building and remarkable

exploration of Trope it's legitimately

changed my mind on one of my least

favorite genres fantasy because there's

all the these things they do that are

really subtle that add a

lot like when they make a scene even

better by making the fourth wall

disappear