Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / MouthCam

Go To

1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1416107866086306500
2%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
3%%
4
5%%
6%% Examples have been alphabetized. Please place new examples in their respective location.
7%%
8
9[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/MyNeighborTotoro https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/my-neighbor-totoro_6170.png]]]]
10
11More a framing device than an actual camera technique, the "Mouth Cam" is a shot taken from a position that appears to be inside the mouth of one character as he, she or it faces or approaches another character. Most of the time, it is used when someone or something is about to or even is in the process of [[JustEatHim being eaten]]. It can be used for real horror if handled well enough. Or, a character could just be at a dentist getting their teeth checked.
12
13Almost a DiscreditedTrope these days, although it continues to be used in all seriousness.
14
15Compare JawsFirstPersonPerspective and CompartmentShot. Contrast with {{Mouthscreen}} and technical opposite EatTheCamera.
16
17----
18!!Examples:
19
20[[foldercontrol]]
21
22[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
23* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': This trope is used sometimes, usually inside the Hollows' mouths. It was also used with Nel when she pulls her uvula.
24* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistBrotherhood'': Used at one point within Gluttony's mouth.
25* ''Anime/{{Gigantor}}'': Shown in one scene in an episode from inside Dr. Katzmeow's mouth.
26* ''Anime/KujibikiUnbalance'': Episode 1 has a Mouth Cam shot with a bit of InnocentInnuendo as one characters waits expectantly for another to feed her a mushroom, stem-first.
27* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
28** Done with a Swalot when Corphish used Bubble Beam inside of it in "From Brags to Riches" from the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire Advanced Generation]]'' series.
29** Done from the inside of a Victreebel in the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite Best Wishes]]'' episode "Danger, Sweet as Honey!"
30* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Used in episode 3 as part of the famous sequence where Mami dies.
31%%* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'': Inside the jaws of a lizardman.
32* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': Happens in episode 14 when Whamon saves the group by storing them in his mouth due to the cave rushing in with water, causing it to collapse. When Whamon opens his mouth, it reveals the ocean and he carries them to an island as in a way of saying thanks.
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder:Asian Animation]]
36* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': In the first episode of ''Happy Formula'', we see a shot from inside Paddi's mouth a few seconds before the alien eggs fall near him, as one of them falls directly into his mouth.
37* ''Animation/BabySharksBigShow'':
38** A shot from inside Baby Shark's mouth was seen in:
39*** "Baby Tooth" twice, when Daddy Shark takes a look at Baby Shark's loose tooth and when the Tooth Fish-Fairy takes a look in Baby Shark's mouth to see that he is missing a tooth.
40*** "Shark-Off", when William opens Baby Shark's mouth to show his sharp teeth as a way to prove to Shadow that Baby is a real shark.
41*** "Extreme Dodge Bubble", when Vola looks in Baby Shark's mouth to see if he was Bobbie Gills in disguise.
42** In "Daddyshack", there is a shot from inside Mommy Shark's mouth when Daddy Shark finished cleaning her teeth.
43[[/folder]]
44
45[[folder:Card Games]]
46* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': The art of [[https://scryfall.com/card/rix/133/hunt-the-weak Hunt the Weak]] is set within a dinosaur's mouth, framed top and bottom by rows of sharp, drool-covered fangs, and showing a view through the gap of a goblin about to become the beast's next meal.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Comic Books]]
50* ''ComicBook/{{Action}}'': In ''Hook Jaw'' there are many panels shown from inside the eponymous [[ThreateningShark man-eating great white shark]]'s mouth before he sinks his teeth into another human.
51* ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'': There's such a shot in the first album of the comic adaptation, when Karadoc and Perceval are pursued by a big, ''undead skeleton sabertooth tiger''.
52* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': One early 2000's story has Frank corner a mobster at a dental appointment. The entire book is drawn from the point of view looking out through the mobster's open mouth.... as Frank graphically [[NauseaFuel breaks, drills holes into, and rips out the mobster's teeth]]. By the time it gets to the last shot of the gun barrel jammed into the open mouth, it's a mercy to both the mobster and the reader.
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder: Fan Works]]
56* [[https://www.deviantart.com/hero-girl/art/Goodbye-Cruel-World-935155807 This fan art]] by [[https://www.deviantart.com/hero-girl HeroGirlBringerofWeirdcorePrincessoftheUproar]] features [[VideoGame/SackboyABigAdventure Vex]] [[AccidentalTickleTorture getting tickled]] due to [[VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet Sackboy]] trying to escape by [[UvulaEscapeRoute grabbing hold of his uvula]].
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
60* ''WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTail'': This does happen in the movies but only because Fievel is actually ''inside'' the mouth at the time.
61* ''WesternAnimation/Madagascar1'' has a sequence where a clueless lion is trying to be friendly with a tiny primate, with a mouth cam shot used to show just how threatening he is unintentionally being.
62* ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'': When Totoro roars at Mei, the camera is placed inside his mouth.
63* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'': The where Monstro swallows the raft with Pinocchio and Geppetto is shot through the whale's mouth.
64* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' has a mouth cam shot of Homer eating a burger.
65* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'': Briefly happens with Grimlock menacing a Sharkticon. Doubly amusing because the Sharkticon is basically a walking metal ball comprised largely of spikes and teeth that had previously been set up with piranha --like aggressiveness in swarms.
66* ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'': This is used when Ralph interrogates Sour Bill, a minion of the film's main antagonist, by threatening to eat him.
67* ''WesternAnimation/WolvesWitchesAndGiants'': Used whenever the wolf eats someone.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
71* Towards the end of ''Film/Alien2OnEarth'', as one of the alien monsters attacks the protagonist, the camera is placed inside its mouth.
72* In ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'' we get a mouth shot of the villain being swallowed by the titular creature.
73* In ''Film/Annihilation2018'', after the mutant alligator is shot dead, Lena holds its head up so the mouth can hang open and Lena can examine its strange teeth. During this scene, there are two scenes shot from directly inside its mouth looking out showing Lena, Ventress, and Shepherd looking in.
74* Used in the 2005 film ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' during [[spoiler: Willy Wonka's climactic visit to a dentist/his estranged father]].
75* In the ''Film/DennisTheMenace'' film, there's a shot from inside Mr. Wilson's mouth as Dennis is about to slingshot an aspirin in there while Mr. Wilson is asleep.
76* In ''Film/DetroitRockCity'', the camera appears inside Gene Simmons' mouth as he's doing the tongue-wriggling during the Music/{{KISS}} concert.
77* ''Film/DrGiggles'' has one when he "checks" Elaine's throat...before stabbing her through her nose.
78* The very bad film ''Film/IceGrill'' does a particularly unsavory variation, with a shot meant to appear as if it had been filmed through a character's fly.
79* The ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' films, as noted above. Averted in the first one, but it was however used in the trailer.
80* The "Dentist!" musical number from ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' includes a sequence shot from inside a dental patient's mouth.
81* ''Film/OneCrazySummer'' parodies the ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' angle with a view from the mouth of the "rabid killer dolphin" submarine as it attacks the villain.
82* This trope is used in a rather squicky way in the low budget film ''Scar 3D''. The shot is within a teen girl's mouth as the killer holds a knife in her mouth.
83* Used in ''Film/{{Shorts}}'', when Toe asks his alien friends to clean his teeth for him.
84* One appears in ''Film/StrangerThanFiction'' from Harold's mouth into the bathroom mirror as he brushes his teeth.
85[[/folder]]
86
87[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
88* Edina's liposuction nightmare in ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous''.
89* Used in ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' during the episode "Recycling", used when the victim is tasting the liquid in her dog's water-filled baby bottle.
90* Used in the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' TV episode for "The Blob That Ate Everyone" before the blob eats [[spoiler:Adam]].
91* ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Series/TheBookOfBobaFett'': When Boba returns to the Sarlacc Pit aboard his ship ''Slave I'', we get a shot from the inside of the pit, framed by the jagged "teeth" of the sarlacc.
92[[/folder]]
93
94
95[[folder:Music]]
96* Music/{{Bjork}}'s music video for her song "Mouth Mantra" provides a rather...unique twist on this trope. Not only does a large part of the video consist of the inside of her mouth, but it was shot using a 360-degree camera. The result is a bizarre, distorted motion of the camera constantly panning around her mouth.
97* The music video for Music/FranzFerdinand's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgo0TB08Tn0 "Darts of Pleasure"]] is shot largely from the perspective of singer Alex Kapranos' mouth. It features a variety of different shots including Alex brushing his teeth, drinking, and making out with countless women.
98* In Music/SleaterKinney's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc1htX3q-F0 "A New Wave"]], an AnimatedMusicVideo featuring the ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' characters, Tina Belcher is at one point framed by Carrie Brownstein's teeth.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Video Games]]
102* If you're playing as an Franchise/{{Alien}} in the ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator'' video games, teeth will appear on the top and bottom of the screen if you've lined up a [[BoomHeadshot headbite]] on an unlucky victim.
103* In ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'', Kelvin's POV is actually a view from inside his mouth, odd considering he clearly has eyes in the normal human position.
104* ''VideoGame/Doom2016'''s multiplayer features the iconic cacodemon as one of the playable demons. The first-person view, instead of showing the cacodemon's cyclopic eye, instead shows the perspective from inside its mouth, as one gets to spit plasma bombs at victims or even tongue-snare them before devouring them.
105* Present in some video games with playable toothy monsters, such as skulks in ''Natural Selection'' and the Kabuto in ''Giants: Citizen Kabuto''. Ostensibly being first-person views, it does seem to imply that their eyes actually are within their mouths.
106* Also pops up in ''VideoGame/GhoulsVsHumans'' for most of the Ghoul classes (they're huge floating heads who usually attack by biting/screaming/breathing something out of their mouths).
107* PlayedForLaughs in ''VideoGame/KillerIsDead''. Brian [[spoiler: gets hit by a train and horribly injured]] and winds up spending the money for repairs on ''way'' more than just keeping himself in good condition, getting himself entirely plated in gold. At the end of the cutscene we get a mouth cam of his laugh to show that he's also replaced off of his (formerly normal) teeth with gold as well.
108* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankUpYourArsenal'', during the boss fight against the Mother Tyrrhanoid, there is a sequence where the camera takes up residence inside her head. It's very definitely not her POV, because all her eyes are on eyestalks. It's not a typical Mouth Cam either, as no teeth or lips are visible at the edge of the screen. On the other hand, her mouth is probably big enough that you wouldn't see them... Unusual also in that she's not trying to eat Ratchet, she's trying to shoot him.
109* ''The Cave Of Bad Dreams'' level in ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'' uses this when the Guardian of the Cave catches up to Rayman and chases him down a slippery slide, with the camera switched to a POV shot of the Guardian's mouth, sharp teeth dripping with saliva and all. It's very effective.
110* A [[PlayedForLaughs hilarious]] part of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVTYFJZgdUE the gimmick]] of ''VideoGame/TableForOne'', along with a... shall we say, challenging case of MindOverMatter.
111* The Rockgagan in ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' gets one as it lunges towards the party in a successful attempt to devour them.
112* Two of them (in the mouths of manatees), both in ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan'': one when Guybrush is approaching the cave guarded by a female manatee, and one near the end of the chapter, [[spoiler:as the Giant Manatee approaches to swallow De Cava and his crew in the Howler Monkey]].
113* ''[[https://papercookies.itch.io/tonsil-terror Tonsil Terror]]'' is a game that is basically just this trope. [[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Vinny and Joel]] had a lot of fun with it.
114* In ''VideoGame/MarvelsSpiderMan2'' has a shot inside the mouth of Sandman in a giant form as he attempts eat Miles Morales.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder:Web Animation]]
118* Played with in the ''WebAnimation/BattleForBFDI'' episode "Don't Dig Straight Down"; when Team Ice Cube first reaches the Inverted Planet, a view of its sun and the trees is seen through Donut's hole, which acts as his mouth by rapidly contracting and expanding into different shapes.
119* ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'' has an example with Uzi nearly eating Nori 's heart in the episode "Mass Destruction".
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder:Web Originals]]
123* ''WebVideo/TuckerBudzyn'' has an accidental example on the video in which Tucker [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ovyQ1V13BQ steals]] Linda's new [=GoPro=] camera.
124* ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'': [[https://youtu.be/geC4HKqhmhk?t=274 Done in]] the ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible'' review where an ambassador is tricked into swallowing a camera an inch across to record an access code (which turns out to be 0-0-0-0). The crew actually bought giant novelty teeth to make this shot, but as they didn't arrive in time due to the COVID pandemic the teeth were added as CGI instead.
125* The ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'' video "Mario Goes to the Dentist" has one with Tari as Mario stares into her mouth posing as a dentist. Since the video is made in ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'', it's odd to think about how that was done.
126* Jake Roper of ''{{WebVideo/Vsauce}}'' does this in his video ''How Much Can You Eat?'' as Jake is about to take a bite out of a talking taco, the shot going as far as including Jake's tongue piercing.
127[[/folder]]
128
129[[folder:Western Animation]]
130* ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'':
131** Happens a couple times in the original series, specifically in the shorts "Nothing But the Tooth", "Hiccup", and "We're No Pigeons".
132** ''WesternAnimation/Animaniacs2020'' has a couple:
133*** "Close Encounters of the Unwanted Kind" has two: the first is of a customer disgustingly eating a hot dog and the second is of the alien roaring at a crowd of people at a night club.
134*** "[=WhoDonut=]" has one of Ralph the Guard when Dot accuses him of eating Wakko's sandwich.
135* There are a few in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', usually of Appa's mouth. There also some within Sokka's mouth, once where a spider has made its web while he was asleep and another when he insists that there was a wart on his "throat flap."
136* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', "Op TEETH", has a Mouth Cam shot of Numbuh Three licking a lollipop within a [[NauseaFuel plaque filled mouth]].
137* ''WesternAnimation/DadX'': One scene abruptly transitions to another while Foudror is doing an EvilLaugh, in which the camera goes from a close-up of his mug to the inside of his cackling mouth.
138* ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'': The dentist episode features shots inside Dan's mouth, allowing both his unkempth teeth and the other characters to be seen at the same time.
139* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'':
140** Happens with Ed in "Floss Yer Ed" as Edd looks in Ed's mouth to see that his last baby tooth is about to fall out.
141** In "An Ed Is Born", when the Eds are filming a video, Ed randomly [[EatTheCamera swallows the camera]] (shouting "Man the helms! DIVE, DIVE!"), ending up in a shot from inside his stomach as Edd digs it back out.
142* ''WesternAnimation/GreenEggsAndHam2019'': The camera shows the inside of [[spoiler: Pam's mouth when she eats Sam's green eggs and ham for the first time.]]
143* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' has a couple instances:
144** "Recipe for Disaster" has one on the scout troop leader's mouth after eating Grim's Aunt Kali's cookies.
145** "Anger Mismanagment" has Billy opening his mouth before he flosses.
146*** The Mandy intro to that episode features her staring into the mouth of the viewer holding a dental drill saying that it'll only hurt for 22 minutes.
147* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' in "The Once and Future Thing" part two -- we get a nice shot of the inside of the hyena-man's toothy maw.
148* Perhaps the earliest example of this trope is in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short “WesternAnimation/PageMissGlory” showing a customer drinking a martini that was just prepared.
149* Done in the ''WesternAnimation/MaoMaoHeroesOfPureHeart'' episode "Captured Clops", when Orangusnake uses Rammaraffe as a telescope to spy on Badgerclops.
150* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
151** The Ursa Minor in "Boast Busters" exhibits this shot.
152** Big Macintosh gets one in "Filli Vanilli".
153** The camera positions itself inside Zecora's mouth briefly during her trip to the doctor's office in "A Health of Information".
154* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
155** "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbIScreamYouScream I Scream, You Scream]]" starts on one from the inside of Isabella's mouth following a tonsillectomy.
156** "[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbKnotMyProblem Knot My Problem]]" has a shot of Candace eating the giant licorice knot.
157* One Creator/BillPlympton short or another sees a date progress, from the viewpoint of the back of the mouth. It ends well.
158* Almost every episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' would use this trope. Sometimes a shot would be used when characters are crying, eating or simply talking.
159** A scene from the pilot "Tommy Pickles and the Great White Thing" has a shot from inside Phil's mouth. Co-creator Paul Germain credited director/animator Peter Chung as the TropeMaker because of that scene.
160** The episode "Dummi Bear Dinner Disaster" has a scene where Susie first [[EatTheCamera eats the camera]] and then the camera swerves behind her uvula turning the shot into this trope.
161** It's also prominent in [[WesternAnimation/Rugrats2021 the CGI revival series]].
162* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StreetFighter'', Blanka attacks Guile with his biting attack. At this moment, we see a shot from inside Blanka's mouth as he comes closer.
163* Done in "The Demon Within" episode of ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' from inside the mouth of an alligator mutraddi Ilana fights.
164[[/folder]]
165
166[[folder:RealLife]]
167* There's a (discredited) hypothesis that some ambush-hunting labyrinthodonts could rotate their eyeballs to look out through holes in their upper palate, in the manner of this trope, to judge when prey had come close enough to bite.
168[[/folder]]

Top