Line #49 Main/FeaturelessPlaneOfDisembodiedDialogue


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/{{Sonichu}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revised_sonichu_10_page.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey My God,]] [[{{Textplosion}} it's full of words!]] (And not much else.)]]
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8	->'''Rival's Pidgeotto:''' I can blow you all off this bridge with one wing tied behind my back.\
9	'''Jasmine:''' Wait, since when were we on a bridge?
10	-->-- Azza's Nuzlocke Run, ''[[http://www.nuzlocke.com/ Nuzlocke Fan Comics]]''
11
12	Conversations don't take place in a vacuum. Other things don't [[TalkingIsAFreeAction stop happening]] just because characters are talking. Many beginning writers forget this, writing long chunks of dialogue without any narration or dialogue tags to break it up, and in the process, the reader becomes lost in the [[TitleDrop Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue]].
13
14	Like an unintentional version of the WhiteVoidRoom or BlankWhiteVoid, the reader is given no reminders of the setting in which the dialogue actually occurs: For all they know, the scene could be completely bare and blank, with nothing to look at, no other characters and absolutely nothing occurring whatsoever aside from the dialogue in question. In the very worst cases, the writer may fail to even set the scene in the first place, giving the reader absolutely nothing at all to visualise what's happening. Another problem is that it's easy to lose track of who's saying what, especially if there are more than two characters involved in the conversation.
15
16	Sometimes an author may [[IntendedAudienceReaction do this on purpose]], for example to keep TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness appropriately vague. Other than that though, the Featureless Plane Of Disembodied Dialogue is uncommon in published literature, because professional editors tend to frown on it quite heavily. It's very common in live theatre, however, since it's easier to strip the stage bare of scenery than it is to transform from one set to another.
17
18	The trope also finds quite a bit of intentional use in stylized visual media for a number of purposes: FilmNoir, for instance, is fond of using {{Chiaroscuro}} and minimalist staging to put an extreme focus on the actors and dialogue. Part of Creator/AlfredHitchcock's SignatureStyle involved abstract shots giving this impression to create a dream-like disconnect between characters and their surroundings, while Creator/AkiraKurosawa and Creator/SergioLeone together cemented it as THE trope for tense confrontations where the scope of the world is reduced to the participants and their immediate surroundings [[{{Eyedscreen}} (if that far)]]. More [[{{Surrealism}} esoteric]] [[{{Absurdism}} works]] frequently seek to further separate dialogue and context- say, a conversation is carried out in voiceover while closeup shots of various objects in the room are displayed.
19
20	Compare {{Textplosion}}, when a {{comic\|s}}'s panels are suddenly filled with text before reverting to illustrations, and ScriptFic (indeed, many examples of this trope are script fics clumsily converted into prose to [[LoopholeAbuse get around]] Website/FanFictionDotNet's ban of the format). See also TalkingIsAFreeAction, WallOfText, and SpeechCentricWork. When the dialogue itself is being used as a substitute for describing the scene, see ShowDontTell and {{Expospeak}}.
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Comic Books]]
26	* ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' comics often have minimalistic backgrounds that don't accurately define the story's setting, which is a result of most of the panels being covered by the protagonist's speech bubbles. In particular, Creator/RobLiefeld's stories lack backgrounds entirely, with the scenery details only being added later in production by the colorist. This practice would later be mocked by ''ComicBook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool'', who states she dislikes Deadpool's comics due to the dialogue obscuring the art.
27	* ''ComicBook/MonicasGang'': Most stories employ simplistic, monochromatic backgrounds, with the colour changing every panel. This stylistic choice applies regardless of whether the story takes place outside or indoors, making it impossible to discern the current setting.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:FanFic]]
31	* ''FanFic/DarkSecrets'': A review of this fic was the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]].
32	* ''Hogwarts Exposed'': Used throughout, but exaggerated in the fourth chapter of ''Too Exposed'' which is a ScriptFic in all but name.
33	* ''FanFic/MaisRamblings'': Every entry is completely encased in quotation marks. Some fans have speculated that Mai is telling it all to a psychiatrist in his office.
34	* ''FanFic/PrinceOfDarknessNoMore'': Particularly bad towards the end of the first part, where it's lampshaded in the author's notes.
35	* In ''Fanfic/HermionesTalent'', it's not only the Featureless Plane of Disembodied Dialogue but the Featureless Plain of Disembodied [[SongFic Singing]] as well.
36	* The Fans inhabit one of these in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'' most of the time, though hints as to their setting come out in the dialogue, and the different Fans are delineated with different quote-substitutes (i.e., Jeft's dialogue ~is surrounded by tildes~). WordOfGod has it that she took the technique from Piers Anthony's Cluster series. Note that whenever the Fans interact with the four there's physical description, since they're meeting in a mental space (albeit one that's usually a big white blank anyway, though all the characters are visible).
37	* ''Fanfic/OversaturatedWorld'': ''Group Precipitation'' is a collection where there are some minifics less than 200 words, so environmental description is sometimes non-existent:
38	** [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/323071/1/group-precipitation/yet-another-revolution-by-tophe Yet Another Revolution, by Tophe]]:
39	---> "Show some respect fer yer elders, Jackie, Ah ain't deaf!" barked Granny. "Ah understand that [[spoiler:Shimmer girl turned inta a sun goddess and changed the world bah magic]]."
40	---> "Uh, good. You just seem weirdly... chill about all this."
41	---> Granny smiled. "Ye say tha world's changed forever. Ah've heard that before. They said it when Fence Gates invented tha Internet. They said it when they split tha atom. An' by gum, they'll say it again someday!"
42	---> "Ah don't think this is entirely comparable."
43	---> "They said that before too. Now, since y'all can [[spoiler:lift fifty stone onehanded]], there's some chores need doin'..."
44	** [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/323071/96/group-precipitation/hell-save-every-one-of-us-by-masterweaver-and-fome He'll Save Every One of Us, by Masterweaver and FoME]]:
45	---> (Masterweaver)
46
47	---> "Huh. Flash Sentry made the news."
48	---> "What, again?"
49	---> "Yeah, apparently he singlehandedly stopped a corrupt company from demolishing an orphanage using nothing but a slinkie, his guitar, and the power of apple pie."
50	---> "...Par for the course. Popcorn's ready."
51	---> "Ooo, good, movie's in two minutes!"
52
53	---> ([=FoME=])
54
55	---> "Flash Sentry says he wasn't fully aware of what happened, but you were there with him. What can you tell us?"
56	---> "Well—"
57	---> Applejack put a hand over Pinkie's mouth. "No comment."
58	---> The reporter blinked. "But—"
59	---> "No. Comment."
60	** [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/323071/140/group-precipitation/encoded-toil-inn-by-masterweaver Encoded Toil Inn, by Masterweaver]]:
61	---> "Hey." Sonata grinned. "I was just thinking about how we all got back together."
62	---> Adagio groaned. "Oh, don't remind me. That experience was horrible."
63	---> "I dunno, I think it was kind of funny," Aria mused.
64	---> "Yeah, well, I was just wondering... what ever happened to that one guy? You know, the one that had the thing?"
65	---> "We left him at that theme park, remember?"
66	---> "Well, yeah, but--"
67	---> "Wait, I wasn't there for this. Who was this guy, and was the thing that thing?"
68	---> "It was indeed, that thing. See, here's what happened....."
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Literature]]
72	* Creator/JaneAusten, to a surprising degree. She may tell you what house a conversation is happening in, and maybe the room, but she spends very little time describing the surroundings. Somewhat justified in that most of the action actually is in what is being said, implied, and not said.
73	* Creator/JohnGreen uses this in certain scenes of ''Literature/AnAbundanceOfKatherines'', when Colin and Lindsey talk in a pitch-black cave.
74	* In ''Literature/TrueGrit'', Charles Portis does this for one scene. However the scene takes place in a courtroom [[JustifiedTrope where no one is doing anything other than sitting and talking.]]
75	* In ''[[Literature/ThursdayNext Lost in a Good Book]]'', Thursday and Harris pull this off deliberately, with a long stream of conversation with no indication of who said each line, to trap another character who may not be real (and who turns out to have escaped from his own book).
76	* ''Literature/{{Vox}}'' is a transcript of a phone conversation over a [[TechnologyMarchesOn chat line]]. The trope is even somewhat {{lampshade\|hanging}}d in the book.
77	* Steven Brust occasionally likes to narrate a scene strictly through the dialogue. In ''Literature/ToReignInHell'' for example, dialogue between two characters in a fight scene indicates all of their actions.
78	* ''Literature/EndersGame'' deliberately establishes no context with the conversations between Graff and Anderson, and the conversations between Graff and Carlotta, to give them the impression of being an OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness. The comic book adaptation depicts these conversations as a page with nothing but script written on it.
79	* This happens from time to time in ''S'' (by J. J. Abrams and Doug Dorst) because Jen and Eric's dialogue is entirely carried out through marginal notes in a book. There's very little physical description because the form doesn't really allow for it; we don't get to hear much about the characters' appearance or what their college or town looks like. It's surprisingly unimportant. By contrast the novel they're commenting on has plenty of description.
80	* Strongly advised against in ''Literature/HowNotToWriteANovel''.
81	* Creator/IsaacAsimov is famous for this, and a list where this trope is averted would be very short:
82	** The ''Literature/BlackWidowers'' story "{{Literature/Northwestward}}": Despite including a fair bit of activity by the characters and describing their food and drink, the Milano is left relatively bare of description.
83	** "Literature/ABoysBestFriend": Only Jimmy and Robutt are described, due to this story's FlashFiction format. His parents, and the home where they live, are left entirely to the audience's imagination. When printed in ''Magazine/BoysLife'' magazine, it was accompanied by art to help the reader imagine what living on the moon would be like for kids their age.
84	** "Literature/TheDeadPast": Some descriptors for the main characters are used, but never very detailed and few rooms are described, or even named. The opening scene, specifically, presumably takes place in Director Araman's office, but it could just as easily be occurring in a hotel, given the details included.
85	** "Literature/DreamingIsAPrivateThing": There apparently isn't very much in the office; a nondescript desk, implied chairs, and a helmet for experiencing [[{{Cyberspace}} dreams]].
86	** "Literature/TheFeelingOfPower": The characters of Aub and Shuman are the only ones to rate a description, even when other characters are the only ones present in a scene. The rooms are all empty of description; although chairs and tables are implied, no textual evidence supports their existence.
87	** "Literature/FirstLaw": As typical for Dr Asimov's short fiction, there is little description for the characters or the setting in this story, emphasized by the FramingDevice where Donovan is telling the story of what happened to him on [[UsefulNotes/TheMoonsOfSaturn Titan]], which describes the [[AlienSky sky in some detail]], but doesn't describe anything else.
88	** "{{Literature/Flies}}": Despite taking place during a college ClassReunion, which would imply a large crowd of hundreds of people, the only description is of the three characters. The {{flashback}}s are expected to take place in different rooms, but there isn't any description to differentiate them from each other, or from the present day.
89	** ''Literature/FoundationSeries'' "Literature/SearchByTheMule": Normally [[BeigeProse generic in his descriptions]], Dr Asimov {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}s it for the Interludes, because the exact location and names of the Second Foundation characters are being held in a deliberate aura of mystery. The title refers to the way the Mule is trying to find them, and they've kept themselves hidden from the galaxy for hundreds of years.
90	--->The Executive Council of the Second Foundation was in session. To us, they are merely voices. Neither the exact scene of the meeting nor the identity of those present are essential at the point.
91	** ''{{Literature/Franchise}}'': Most of the main characters get a line or two of description when they're introduced, but rooms are completely bare of details unless a character interacts with the furniture.
92	** "Literature/TheGentleVultures": Captain Devi-en receives the most description, aimed mostly at giving a sense of the Hurrian appearance. The other two main characters have even less description and the [[SpaceBase Hurrian Moon base]] has absolutely nothing described about its appearance. The story focuses instead on the idea of [[AlienNonInterferenceClause aliens who wait]] until [[WorldWarIII nuclear war]] and then swoop in to fix everything afterwards, [[PlanetLooters for a price]].
93	** "Literature/GimmicksThree": The two main characters, Shapur and Isidore Welby, don't get much description aside from Shapur's [[EvilSmellsBad sulfuric stench]] and tail. The room itself is actually a [[WhiteVoidRoom blank bronze cubicle]].
94	** "Literature/GreenPatches": While the human characters are given some reasonable descriptions, the ship itself could be any shape, colour, or size, and this problem extends to the interior as well.
95	** "Literature/HellFire1956": No descriptors for the main characters are used, or for the room itself. They don't matter; the description is reserved for the [[{{Overcrank}} slow-motion film]] of an atomic bomb.
96	** "Literature/HomoSol": While the aliens are described with unusually coloured/shaped appendages, almost none of the setting itself is, taking place in rooms of the audience's imagination only.
97	** "Literature/TheHazing": While the HumanoidAliens are given some basic descriptors, none of the humans are given physical distinguishing traits.
98	** "Literature/IJustMakeThemUpSee": None of Creator/IsaacAsimov, [[NoNameGiven the fan]], nor the setting are described because none of it is relevant to asking the DrivingQuestion; "How on earth [does Dr Asimov] give birth to those crazy and impossible ideas?"
99	** "Literature/TheImaginary": HumanoidAliens from the same planet are given consistent descriptors and aliens from different planets can almost be told apart without their names, but buildings and rooms get less than minimal description. Notably, the [[SwirlyEnergyThingy strange glow]] from the squid is never given a colour, perhaps to support the assertion that it isn't electromagnetic in nature (light and colour are part of the electromagnetic spectrum).
100	** "Literature/TheImmortalBard": This particular story shows quite a bit of physical activity from Dr Welch, seeking out glasses of alcohol and checking his pockets for [[ItWasAGift Shakespeare's signature]]. Despite this, the supposedly crowded room may as well have been taking place in an empty parking lot due to the lack of interaction. Nor do we get a physical description of either character aside from the clothes worn by Dr Welch.
101	** "Literature/InsertKnobAInHoleB": The characters and setting are [[BeigeProse barely given any description]], Dr Asimov relies on the StudioAudience being able to see his fellow panelists and the context of the panel itself to paint the scene. The only room mentioned in the entire space station is the airlock.
102	** "{{Literature/Jokester}}": Most of the story takes place within the rooms of [[MasterComputer Multivac, the massive computer system]], and is sparsely described to minimize the potential for [[{{Zeerust}} getting future computer design obviously wrong]]. The characters themselves have even less description, as Dr Asimov focuses on character dynamics instead.
103	** "Literature/KidStuff": The [[TheAntagonist elf]] and [[TheProtagonist Jan Prentiss]] are described in detail, but the office where the story takes place only has a desk and typewriter, and the wife and son are only given short descriptors.
104	** "Literature/TheLastTrump": After TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and [[MassResurrection everyone starts waking from death]], the buildings disintegrate, nobody pays much attention to people's bodies, and even the landscape itself starts to level out.
105	** "Literature/TheMessage": This story is written with very clear imagery for the setting and emotion, but the character descriptions are, as usual, treated as sparse and unnecessary.
106	** "Literature/TrueLove": (JustifiedTrope) The story is told [[FirstPersonPerspective from Joe's perspective]], a computer program that has limited sensory input. Joe doesn't describe anyone's appearance, considering them pointless in comparison to personality and temperament.
107	** "Literature/TheWateryPlace": The aliens are described as [[SharpDressedMan wearing expensive suits]], but the two human characters aren't described. The setting is barely mentioned either, aside from a desk and window.
108	* Thomas Harris employs this in ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' when FBI trainee Clarice Starling is ConsultingAConvictedKiller, Dr Hannibal Lecter. The two are in the basement of an insane asylum with no other (important) characters paying attention or even present, making the use of this trope more palatable; additionally, Harris gives the characters such prominent voices and motivations that telling them apart becomes easy, even after pages of unattributed dialogue. Tellingly, TheFilmOfTheBook renders the corresponding scenes primarily in alternating close-ups, allowing the conversation to dominate.
109	* A key feature of the novel ''J R'' by Creator/WilliamGaddis. Most of the novel consists of dialogue ''with no attribution'' and very rare and minimal descriptions. The reader often has to use the dialogue to figure out what is going on. This is done deliberately to create a feeling of chaos and "noise".
110	* Tends to crop up in Creator/AgathaChristie during courtroom scenes and TheSummation. Especially prominent in ''Literature/FiveLittlePigs'', which is told almost entirely through a series of dialogues [[Literature/HerculePoirot Poirot]] has with the witnesses to a crime.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Theatre]]
114	* The opening scene of ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'' is set in a deliberately featureless area, with the characters musing on how they don't know how long they've been travelling, or why they're travelling -- merely that [[WorldLimitedToThePlot they know they have a cue to show up for]].
115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Roleplay]]
118	* ''Roleplay/AGameOfGodsInfinities'': Dubix and Shotaro's mental world.
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
122	* ''VisualNovel/NoCaseShouldRemainUnsolved'': The visuals are few and far in-between and the gameplay revolves around piecing together scattered fragments of dialogue, figuring out where they fit on the timeline and who exactly was talking.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:WebComics]]
126	* ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'', as shown in the page image, combines the WallOfText with very limited backgrounds to this effect.
127	* ''WebComic/WhiteDarkLife'', being an amateur work, occasionally falls into this in the roleplays. (It can generally be assumed that the roleplays start out in the same location as the comic they're attached to. However, if the location changes, good luck keeping up.)
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:WebAnimation]]
131	* ''WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice'':Discussed in "Scene Writing" episode. JP states that writers, especially book writers, should not waste their time setting the scene before or during the characters talk to each other as according to him, readers can imagine the scene as well as writers.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:WebOriginal]]
135	* ''Literature/CirnoAndPurpleSteve'': Justified in chapter 11 because it actually takes place in a featureless plane.
136	* ''Project Banzai'' uses this deliberately when anything is happening in Heaven.
137	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'' uses this in a lot of its interviews, adding to the chilling effect most of them get. Granted, the reason why they're featureless is they're written as actual interview transcripts instead of any sort of narrative.
138	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FeaturelessPlaneOfDisembodiedDialogue