DIEGETIC GAZE
Diegetic perspective or “gaze” is expressed in terms of how the audience is being asked to look at the content or subjects on screen by the director e.g. what is being emphasised through the use of close up?
INTRA-DIEGETIC
The intra-diegetic gaze is when the audience are put in the place of a character and being asked to see things from their viewpoint e.g. through the use of subjective camerawork in films like Cloverfield ().
The use of Intra-diegetic in ‘The Blair Witch Project’ helps the audience feel in the world of the movie as the audience views and watches everything that the characters see from their point of view, this helps the film feel grounded and not overly unrealistic, the use of a found footage film and intra-diegetic also works well with the genre of the film of it being a horror film.
EXTRA-DIEGETIC
The extra-diegetic gaze is when someone on screen addresses the audience directly by looking directly down the lens of the camera– sometimes known as “breaking the 4th wall”. Not to be confused with the above when the audience are being asked to the “perspective” of another character.
Extra-diegetic gaze is used throughout Ferris Buellers Day off Ferris breaks the fourth wall multiple times in his explanation of what he is about to do. He is skipping school for the ninth day in the same semester—and shamelessly showing us his entire secret game plan. This automatically makes him a likable character.