This article is about characters' inner monologues. You may be looking for characters speaking directly to the audience. You can find the disambiguation page here. |
Talking Heads (occasionally referred to as a "confessional," an "aside," a "to camera,"[1] or an "interview") is a scene in which a character provides an inner monologue by speaking their thoughts to a camera outside of the timeline of the actual show, adding to its reality-styled quality.
Description
In Talking Heads, a character is seated in front of a camera with a brick wall in the background. Occasionally, their name and title — i.e. type of dancer, who they are in relation to another person, etc. — will be displayed as a caption at the bottom of the screen, written in white on a purple box.
During Talking Heads, the given character reveals or confesses their thoughts outside of the occurrences of the actual show. This acts as dramatic irony, as this causes only the audience to know something about the character that is not known (or is yet to be known, in some cases) by their fellow characters.
Talking Heads sometimes features more than one person at a time, such as when James interrupts Riley's Talking Heads segment in "A Change Is Gonna Come" and gives her a promise ring, as a sign of his promise to never break up with and marry Riley (and give her a real ring) later in their lives, and when Izzy and Daisy celebrate making the Nationals team together in "Another Suitcase in Another Hall".
"Richelle on Pointe" features unique Talking Heads segments, which are shot not in the normal filming areas of Studio A or Studio 1, but what appears to be the storeroom of the pointe shoe shop where Richelle buys her new pair of pointe shoes.
"Dance Secrets" features Heather talking in Neutral Grounds, where Eldon also speaks in in "A Tale of Two Eldons".
Starting in Season 5, some dancers start talking in the filming area of Studio 1, as opposed to that of Studio A, where the first four seasons of The Next Step were filmed. Throughout the season, characters alternated between the Studio A and Studio 1 setting.
It has been long disputed by fans whether this element is meant to convey a character's thoughts while in a scene or whether it is merely meant to lend itself to its mock-reality genre. However, given that Riley wears her promise ring that James gives her in her Talking Heads in "A Change Is Gonna Come" in The Off Season: Season 1 and Season 5, this indicates that Talking Heads is not just conveying a character's thoughts, but actually takes place within The Next Step's world.
Gallery
"Look at that painting!"
To view the Talking Heads gallery, click here. |
References
- ↑ The Next Step - Becoming: Chloe. Youtube (Aug 10, 2015). Retrieved on December 31, 2015.