DZ-109: Talking DIRECTLY to your audience

Listen if you've wondered what a character actually wants when they're talking directly to the audience!? What are the different ways a filmmaker can ask something of the audience? Chas and Stu are joined by Mel in this prelude episode to upcoming episodes on Voiceover (DZ-110, DZ-111) and Breaking the 4th Wall (DZ-112). In this episode, we attempt to taxonomise the different ways filmmakers can ask something directly of their audience. To this end, we identify 4 levers that can be pulled: 1. Diagetic to non-diagetic (in story world to outside story world) 2. Who is talking? From story-teller to a character 3. Whom are they talking to? Themselves or directly to the audience? 4. From when in time is the communication coming? They then take these levers and ask a series of questions, including: What does the communication want from the audience? Does the audience know who’s talking? How reliable is the information? How aware is who is communicating of the audience? They then apply these questions and levers to… deep breath… : STAR WARS, ROBOCOP, STARSHIP TROOPERS, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, MINORITY REPORT, CHILDREN OF MEN, NEVER HAVE I EVER, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, STRANGER THAN FICTION, DUNE, OPPENHEIMER, YELLOWJACKETS, HUSTLERS, THE OFFICE, MASTERCHEF, ZOMBIELAND, FLEABAG, PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, SPONTANEOUS, BLACKKKLANSMAN, AMERICAN FICTION, AMERICAN SPLENDOR, THE KILLER, VERONICA MARS, FIGHT CLUB, SHUTTER ISLAND, SIXTH SENSE, HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR. FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, GOODFELLAS, EMPERORS NEW GROOVE, THE TRUMAN SHOW, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, DIE HARD, THE BIG SHORT, THE USUAL SUSPECTS, DERRY GIRLS, THE LAST JEDI, THE LAST DUEL, RASHOMON, BONES AND ALL, ARCHIVE 81, SANS SOLEIL, F IS FOR FAKE, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS, JULIUS CAESAR, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Vol. 1 Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Watch and comment on YouTube. Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob. → Read the transcript for this episode. ——— "If you don't have anything dramatic to say, don't say it at all." — Stu Willis @ 00:00:00 ——— CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Cold Open 00:00:49 – Distinguishing talking directly to the audience 00:04:32 – Different levers to pull 00:09:20 – Who is communicating? 00:15:01 – › Mapping the spectrum from title cards to character narrators 00:20:37 – › When narration blurs the line between diegetic and meta 00:26:13 – Does the audience know who's talking? 00:29:47 – › What narrators want from their audience 00:32:21 – › Filmmakers speaking directly without breaking the fourth wall 00:40:00 – From when is the communication coming? 00:40:50 – How reliable is the communication? 00:46:08 – How aware are the characters? 00:49:56 – › What does the speaker want from their audience 00:53:46 – › Emotional vs intellectual effects of direct address 00:58:35 – Analysing edge cases 01:04:00 – › Writer's intent versus character's intent in voiceover 01:07:37 – What effects do these have on the audience? 01:11:51 – › Monologue length and its emotional effect on audiences 01:16:00 – Key learnings and wrap-up 01:19:00 – Thanks patreons! FILMS FIGHT CLUB (1999) — (w) Chuck Palahniuk, Jim Uhls (d) David Fincher FLEABAG (2016) — (w) Phoebe Waller Bridge THE BIG SHORT (2015) — (w) Adam Mckay, Charles Randolph (d) Adam Mckay F FOR FAKE (1973) — (w) Orson Welles STAR WARS (1977) — (w) George Lucas SCRIPTS Study the script: FIGHT CLUB (1999) — Chuck Palahniuk, Jim Uhls Study the script: THE BIG SHORT (2015) — Adam Mckay, Charles Randolph EPISODES IN THE TALKING DIRECTLY TO THE AUDIENCE SERIES DZ-109: Talking DIRECTLY to your audience DZ-110: Voiceover DZ-111: Unreliable Narrators and FIGHT CLUB DZ-112: Breaking the 4th wall DZ-113: Tools For Filmmakers To Talk To The Audience RELATED EPISODES DZ-15: World Building Rules, Okay? DZ-54: Thematic Sequences DZ-108: The Emotional Event with Judith Weston ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2024/dz-109/