via GIPHY

During this scene in the film Ich bin ein Elephant, Madame, several characters are attending a dinner party and playing a game called “the idiot’. They must confess the worst thing they have ever done in this game. All the actors in this scene break the fourth wall, looking directly at the camera. This is extremely awkward and uncomfortable for viewers. This scene is shot from an eye-level view to make the audience feel like they are participating in the dinner and the game with the actors. The audience feels like they are sitting across from the actors throughout this scene, attending the dinner and playing the game with them. This is achieved by the camera being placed across the table with one actor in the frame in many shots. Occasionally, food blocks the viewer’s vision of the actor in the shot, adding to this effect. The scene adds to the film’s obscure nature and relates to the theme of going against normalcy and subverting expectations found throughout the film. At most dinner parties, guests have light, trivial conversations, while in this scene, the opposite occurs. Guests seem highly uncomfortable and on edge, which is the opposite goal of most dinner parties and parties in general.