What is an Example of an Aside in Film?

Have you ever watched a drama that included characters which would have what would seem to be an incredibly dramatic conversation with the audience. But by convention you know that the conversation is between you and the character. And that the other characters on the screen are not hearing it? An Aside in film is a dramatic device. That is sometimes used in film narration. By which a character will speak to the audience directly. Naturally, the audience realizes that the conversation taking place is not to be heard and cannot be heard by other characters. But only by the audience itself.

Most of the time, an aside is a simple comment or two. But what is an example of an aside in film?

What is an Aside?

An aside is a script writing technique in which a character is used to share a bit of conventional wisdom with the audience, without that information being meant as to have been heard by other characters in the film.

Typically, an aside in film is a very simple comment or brief narrative that really doesn’t take away from the story, but rather adds value to the audience’s understanding of what’s taking place on the screen.

An aside in film is used sometimes to solve a particular problem in the film dialogue. For example, sometimes a character will be deep in thought, but the audience will have few clues as to what the characters are thinking about.

The Fourth Wall

As an “Aside” to the film’s narrative, the character might make a simple comment to the audience that tells them exactly what the character is thinking.

This comment is not meant to be heard by others on the set. And thus, it’s as if the character has something to share with only the audience. Nobody else on the set will act as if they could hear.

The use of an aside in film is often called breaking the fourth wall. This simply means, in a humorous way, that the character is breaking down the imaginary wall between the actor and the audience. And speaking directly to the audience. 

Is an Aside the Same as a Soliloquy?

Asides and Soliloquies are both types of dramatic devices that are used in filmmaking and scriptwriting, but they are not the same. While there are some similarities between the two, there are also differences.

With an aside, the character speaks directly to the audience and none of the other characters hear. With a soliloquy, this conversation is a lot longer. And, although the others may still not hear, the purpose is different.

Asides reveal a hidden secret that the character is ready to expose. Whereas the soliloquy reveals the motives behind a character’s actions or his or her inner struggles.

Examples of an Aside in Film

So, what is an example of an aside in film? In literature there are many uses of asides, but in film this is something that you may not recall as frequently because we often use other visual cues to share the details of the thoughts.

However, here are a few examples:

• The Truman Show – Truman asked who his wife is speaking to.
• American Psycho – Patrick speaks frequently to the audience.
• Fight Club – Norton’s character speaks to the audience and so does Brad Pitt’s

As you can see, there are several instances in which an aside in film is used and the characters will break the fourth wall to communicate with the audience.