History Main / BadVibrations

Whenever there's an earthquake, a particularly large MonsterOfTheWeek, or TheHorde coming, this will often be demonstrated subtly (or not so subtly) by showing a small object (like a lamp or a small pile of coins) vibrating, then jumping around as the vibrations get stronger (or the monster gets closer). Alternatively, this can be done with ripples in a pool of water. Sometimes the camera starts shaking [[StarTrekShake (and possibly the people, too)]], for added emphasis.

** In ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', Joe and Sandra Brody are rather worried about the earthquake that seems to have hit the Janjira nuclear plant. Then Joe realizes that it ''can't'' be an earthquake because A) none of the other plants in the region are reporting tremors, B) the vibrations are too concentrated and regular for an earthquake, and C) the vibrations are slowly but surely ''increasing in strength''.

* In ''Film/IndependenceDay'', the mother ship erases Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's footprints from the moon with this method (those ''bastards!''), and the smaller city destroyers create vibrations strong enough to be mistaken as an earthquake by the characters.

* ''Film/{{Downfall}}''. A vibrating water glass shows that the Russians are close enough to the centre of Berlin to start shelling it with artillery.

* ''Film/WaynesWorld 2'' parodies the ''Jurassic Park'' instance in a brief homage to said film.

* ''[[VideoGame/PipeworksGodzillaTrilogy Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee]]'' opens with a sudden tremor shaking downtown Tokyo, causing manhole covers to rattle, car alarms to go off, and people to look around until [[OhCrap someone screams "Godzilla!"]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'': Ghost's promo cinematic features an overconfident Marine captain leading a company to retake a Zerg-held refinery. Confident that the Zerg force is minimal to absent, he orders his troops forward en masse. He senses a deep rumble in the ground, pauses, and demands to know who had called for heavy armor support. When his lieutenant informs him that there are no tanks in the area, he [[OhCrap realizes]]: that rumble is coming from the enemy.
* And in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'', when Raynor and Tychus show up to [[spoiler:save General Warfield]], a massive swarm of incoming Zerglings is heralded by rattling shell casings on the ground.

* The 2008 ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'' game would hint that Mama Scarface, the Tyrannosaurus of the game, was nearby with slight tremors indicating her footsteps, as well as environmental effects; like small rocks and pebbles crumbling from around the title character, and the sounds of tree branches breaking. Occasionally, there would be the slight echo of her roaring. Would end up being ParanoiaFuel for some of the time, as she didn't appear immediately afterwards for most of these instances, [[NothingIsScarier just leaving the player to wander the jungle, expecting for an encounter, but for nothing to happen]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Noita}}'' the screen shakes whenever explosions go off, but continuous shaking is a sure sign that a large and dangerous [[SandWorm Worm]] is burrowing nearby.

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* Parodied in the SteamPunk comedy ''WesternAnimation/AGentlemansDuel''. Two aristocrats CompeteForTheMaidensHand by dueling with steampunk mecha, whose approach is heralded by the buxom lady's breasts {{gainaxing}} to the [[EatingTheEyeCandy appreciation of her butler]].

* Likewise in the SteamPunk comedy ''WesternAnimation/AGentlemansDuel''. Two aristocrats CompeteForTheMaidensHand by dueling with steampunk mecha, whose approach is heralded by the buxom lady's breasts {{gainaxing}} to the [[EatingTheEyeCandy appreciation of her butler]].

* {{Subverted|trope}} in ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''. Alfred Pennyworth is seen working on a car, then a sound barrier "BANG" is heard and causes ripples in his glass of water -- it's Superman benevolently coming to him for informations on where to find the Justice League.

Whenever there's an earthquake, an enemy horde, or a particularly large MonsterOfTheWeek coming, this will often be demonstrated subtly (or not so subtly) by showing a small object (like a lamp or a small pile of coins) vibrating, then jumping around as the vibrations get stronger (or the monster gets closer). Alternatively, this can be done with ripples in a pool of water. Sometimes the camera starts shaking [[StarTrekShake (and possibly the people, too)]], for added emphasis.

Whenever there's an earthquake or a particularly large MonsterOfTheWeek coming, this will often be demonstrated subtly (or not so subtly) by showing a small object (like a lamp or a small pile of coins) vibrating, then jumping around as the vibrations get stronger (or the monster gets closer). Alternatively, this can be done with ripples in a pool of water. Sometimes the camera starts shaking [[StarTrekShake (and possibly the people, too)]], for added emphasis.

* An early example with Creator/IngmarBergman's ''[[Film/Tystnaden The Silence]]'' (1963) where a teacup suddenly starts shaking before a tank appears on the street below.

* {{Subverted|trope}} in ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague''. Alfred Pennyworth is seen working on a car, then a sound barrier "BANG" is heard and causes ripples in his glass of water -- it's Superman coming at him.

* The film version of ''Film/JurassicPark'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsGjh6ul7mE a much-parodied scene]] where ripples in a glass of water foretold the arrival of the ''[[KingOfTheDinosaurs Tyrannosaurus rex]]''... [[OffscreenTeleportation except at the end.]] To be fair, they were probably a bit distracted by the ''velociraptors trying to eat them'' to notice that the ground is shaking a little.

* The film version of ''Film/JurassicPark'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsGjh6ul7mE a much-parodied scene]] where ripples in a glass of water foretold the arrival of the ''TyrannosaurusRex''... [[OffscreenTeleportation except at the end.]] To be fair, they were probably a bit distracted by the ''velociraptors trying to eat them'' to notice that the ground is shaking a little.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/JurassicPark https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jurassic_world_dinosaur_detection_system.png]]]]

* At the beginning of ''Film/{{Star Trek VI|The Undiscovered Country}}'', Captain Sulu's teacup rattles off the counter top in front of his captain's chair and shatters as his ship, the ''Excelsior'', is buffeted by the [[PlanarShockwave fore-shockwave]] of the Praxis explosion. A mere moment after the cup shatters on the floor, alarms start sounding.

* At the beginning of ''Film/{{Star Trek VI|The Undiscovered Country}}'', Captain Sulu's teacup rattles off the counter top in front of his captain's chair and shatters as his ship, the ''Excelsior'', is buffeted by the [[PlanarShockwave fore-shockwave]] of the Praxis explosion.

* ''Franchise/{{Tremors}}''
** The [[Film/{{Tremors}} first movie]] runs on this all the way long, as vibrations signal the approaching subterranean monsters.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/JurassicPark https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jurassic_world_dinosaur_detection_system.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:261:[[Film/JurassicPark https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jurassic_park_water_9902.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:261:Yeah, you're doomed.]]

* At the beginning of ''Film/{{Star Trek VI|The Undiscovered Country}}'', Captain Sulu's teacup rattles off the counter top in front of his captain's chair and shatters as his ship, the the ''Excelsior'' is buffeted by the fore-shockwave of the Praxis explosion.