Line #21 Main/PreviewsPulse


1	[[AC:For added atmosphere, play the music from [[https://youtu.be/YAbI4w95cTE this trailer]] while reading on.]]
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3	Trailers love to play up excitement and mystery, and as of TheNewTens, one favorite way to do this by tickling the ears with an unusual sound. One of these sounds is the Previews Pulse. It is often created by an instrument known as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaster_Beam blaster beam]] which creates a single chord which ends up sounding technological and mysterious. Other methods are through mixing several instruments, usually bass, or altering the sound of a horn.
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5	These "pulses" are used in trailers to create a feeling of sudden tension, similar to a ScareChord, but are rarely used in the movie itself, as it may be distracting. A trailer that uses them is often made up of rapidly cut snippets, with the chord announcing with each new scene.
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7	Not to be confused with HeartbeatSoundtrack, another common trailer trope.
8	----
9	!!Examples
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11	[[foldercontrol]]
12
13	[[folder: Anime ]]
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15	* The score of ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' begins with two reverb-heavy pulses from a massive taiko drum.
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17	[[/folder]]
18
19	[[folder: Film ]]
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21	* ''{{Film/Alien}}'': The {{Unbuilt\|Trope}} UrExample is [[http://youtu.be/DGAHtWV7Ua8 likely the trailer]]. Here, it is a remixed and drawn out sonar ping, and is much more high pitched and unnerving. Bonus points for the HeartbeatSoundtrack mixed with this in the trailer. The combined effect of the sonic ping sounding like a surreal warning alarm, the varying heartbeat and additional sound layering is astonishingly effective at creating a sense of terror even today.
22	* The second ''Film/{{The Avengers\|2012}}'' trailer [[https://youtu.be/eOrNdBpGMv8 had some instances of this]], coupled with Loki's HannibalLecture. [[https://youtu.be/B8PVqw2jfrI So did its third trailer]].
23	* [[https://youtu.be/Yt7ofokzn04 So does]] ''Film/BattleLosAngeles''.
24	* ''{{Film/Battleship}}'''s trailer used these upon reveal of the aliens.
25	* This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GTI0MHj3dM TV spot]] for ''Film/BlackPanther2018'' uses these to emphasize the action-packed conflict between T'Challa and Erik Killmonger.
26	* This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCoPycawxUk TV spot]] for ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'' features these interspersed with repetitions of Carol Danvers' "Higher, further, faster" mantra.
27	* The [[https://youtu.be/nbTgbusuNmM Russian trailer]] for ''Film/TheCounselor''.
28	* ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'''s is fairly muted, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV-mii_IrKc but it culminates at 2:07]].
29	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Note The Deep Note]] is the Ur-ominous sound before nearly every movie. You may know it better as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWkJ86JqlPA the THX sound effect.]] Its ominousness comes from the fact that it sounds louder than it actually is, since it's made of a spectrum of frequencies that grow from small to large.
30	* ''{{Film/District 9}}'''s [[https://youtu.be/d6PDlMggROA second trailer]] featured pulses of many sizes. They're in-universe, to boot - they're the sounds the ship makes. [[spoiler:One shatters every window in Johannesburg.]]
31	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbw9hlBnG74 trailer]] for ''Film/EuropaReport'' has it (second half).
32	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjKO10hKtYw The second trailer]] for ''{{Film/Godzilla 2014}}'' has them, during the scene where Franchise/{{Godzilla}} is revealed from within an enormous smoke cloud. By contrast, [[http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=10z69o0&s=5#.Utb7v-ChBFL the first trailer]] played the same scene without any pulses, instead playing Ligeti's ''Requiem'' during then.
33	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VdONYkKFmQ Many also]] in ''{{Film/Immortals}}''.
34	* The teaser trailer for ''Film/KindsOfKindness'' uses the synth bass instrumental from Music/{{Eurythmics}}' "Sweet Dreams Are Made of This", which plays over the trailer, as its pulse.
35	* The [[https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1553137945/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_8_nm_0_q_Little%20Children trailer]] for ''Film/LittleChildren'' famously uses the sound of an incoming train pulling into a station to create a sort of pulse effect, serving as an effective way to bring tension to an otherwise relatively mundane suburban drama.
36	* ''{{Film/Inception}}'' is one of [[TropeCodifier the most famous examples]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hP9D6kZseM featuring a distinctive sound in the trailers]] that [[MemeticMutation became memetic]]. [[http://inception.davepedu.com/ Buttons for it exist]].
37	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRbsmbr4HFM teaser trailer]] for ''{{Film/Moonfall}}'' contains these, highlighting the impending doom from the Moon's imminent collision course with Earth.
38	* ''Film/PacificRim'' has one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vKz7WnU83E in its first trailer]], though it's much less loud and more high than most examples.
39	* ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' used these, coupled with a strange howl taken from the original trailer for ''Film/{{Alien}}''.
40	* ''Film/RedRidingHood'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM8V3cHdSC4 goes for the horn]].
41	* ''Film/RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3tidwW1gGM&t=1m13s Sound familiar]]? The chord does show up in the film once, as spear-wielding apes appear on a roof.
42	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBCSASJrB6I A trailer for]] ''Film/Saw3D''
43	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDmLLGTQlXY It's not just the shark that attacks]] in ''Film/SharkNight 3D''.
44	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxVIhsLdcC8 trailer ]] for ''Film/{{Snowpiercer}}''.
45	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1OpwEu7luk This trailer for]] ''Film/TheThing2011'' has two different ones, a low one for suspense and a loud one for attack.
46	* The ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'', particularly the trailers for ''[[Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen Revenge of]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi1rMw-2hx4 the Fallen]]'' and ''[[Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon Dark of]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY_nPE2EQ80 the Moon]]''.
47	* ''Film/TRONLegacy'' plays one [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiRPWfz3HZw as Sam first enters the Grid and sees a Recognizer]]. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=40jX-9zc7Ec Its trailer isn't free of them either.]]
48	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U9KmAlrEXU#t=50 trailer]] for ''Film/UpstreamColor'' has it.
49	* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
50	** ''Film/TheWolverine'''s first trailer features one, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toLpchTUYk8 1:20 minutes in.]]
51	** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': There are several of these in the SDCC and the teaser trailers.
52	* ''Film/TwelveYearsASlave'': Pops up around [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIqodUJ-UfM thirty seconds in]].
53	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZhYjRHllxk trailer]] for ''Disconnect (2012)'' has it.
54	* ''Film/WorldWarZ'' has a distinctly electric variant in its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk first trailer.]]
55	** ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' lampshades them as "Obligatory ''Film/{{Inception}}'' Bwaaahhs".
56	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEDyFwn_HnY This TV spot]] for ''Film/SteveJobs'' uses the Macintosh start-up chime as its pulse.
57	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmRqV8_w2Ec title song]] of ''Film/KungFury'' has a synth bass pulse repeating throughout. Likewise, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES9vRfs2rbA "True Survivor"]] begins with a gong-style blaster beam note.
58	* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesOutOfTheShadows'' uses the classic blaster beam pulses in the beginning of its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeaugHGd1Kw trailer]].
59	* The [[https://youtu.be/xq9mAa1Dhkg?t=80 trailer]] for ''Mojave'' (2015) has this.
60	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MBjAN7jqsQ trailer]] to Michael Bay's ''Film/ThirteenHoursTheSecretSoldiersOfBenghazi'' (2016) has it.
61	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAbI4w95cTE This]] trailer for ''Film/KongSkullIsland''.
62	* Creator/DingoPictures movies sporadically throw in blaster beam-sounding chords [[SoundtrackDissonance at the most unexpected moments]], such as Mii and Wabuu giggling in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCxWXm_b8-k The Countryside Bears]]'' after Teddy falls from the tree, or Lucy [[TheGlomp glomping]] Wabuu in ''Pocahontas''. No, these were not inserted by WebVideo/{{Phelous}} during his riffs, they're actually part of the soundtrack.
63	* Played with a bit, in that this is not quite the "laser" type of pulse; the use of Steely Dan's "Dirty Work", in the promotion of ''[[Film/TheSuicideSquad The Suicide Squad (2021)]]'', trailers ''and'' commercials, were punctuated by pulsing guitar riffs for each new clip, as well as Dan shouting "YEAH!".
64	[[/folder]]
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66	[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
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68	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6aNEIZwPFc The pulses signal]] the end of the peacefulness in ''Series/TerraNova''.
69	* In a ''Series/TenOClockLive'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVWhZ_qGD7g segment]] on the media's treatment of the Japan earthquake in 2011 showed Sky News doing this with a preview for its upcoming coverage, accidentally underlining their own tastelessness in dramatizing a real disaster in such a way when it was immediately followed by a trailer for ''Series/GameOfThrones'' that used exactly the same style.
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71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder: Music ]]
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75	* Music/DiabloSwingOrchestra's "Justice for Saint Mary" (the final track off ''Pandora's Piñata''). [[http://youtu.be/3UIJmJB0GEU?t=5m45s At 5:45 into the song]], just after the final chorus, there are two low-pitched trombone notes, signaling to the listener that the song is about to kick it up a notch.
76	* "Pound the Alarm" by Music/NickiMinaj uses a blaster beam as the eponymous "alarm" that signals the end of the chorus and starts the beat break.
77	** Inna's [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong similar song]] "Be My Lover" uses the same or a similar blaster beam sound during its dance break.
78	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8OICbb0lpQ "Destroid 2: Wasteland"]], by Excision, Downlink and Space Laces, samples the ''Inception'' horn and possibly the ''Mass Effect'' Reaper horns.
79	* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsy1URDYK88 "Language"]] by Porter Robinson uses a klaxon and space blaster-style pulse in its bass drop.
80	* Music/MichaelJackson's "Beat It" used a blaster beam for the intro chimes.
81	* Music/VNVNation's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVV8sxWUJ7o "Art of Conflict"]] is built around an [[SensoryAbuse increasingly harsh]] distorted horn pulse.
82	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zts54fT7w0U "Rancor"]] by Radiarc uses the ''Inception'' peulse to excess.
83	* Music/JeanMichelJarre uses a THX Deep Note-style organ glissando at the beginning of "Music/{{Oxygene}} [[https://youtu.be/MIT2vpYT9Ew Part 20]]", and a more traditional pulse in "[[https://youtu.be/iFcmxcO7AFg First Rendez-Vous]]" and [[https://youtu.be/d_RsdauwljE "The Watchers"]], the intro track of ''Equinoxe Infinity''.
84	* Raging Silence's ''Rise of the Robots'' album features a blaster beam bass drop in its eponymous [[https://youtu.be/mhRZ4o3hfU8 intro track]] and several others.
85	* Color Theory's "In Space, No One Can Hear You Cry" [[ShoutOut references]] the aforementioned ''Film/{{Alien}}'' trailer with its introductory sonar pulse.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder: Video Games ]]
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90	* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''.
91	** In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', a blaster beam hit is heard when the Covenant blow up the Malta and Athens space stations. There's also the bass pulse in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVsn4BjK6Jk "Impend"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5jPy-GmyUc "Heretic, Hero"]], and the Arbiter's InvisibilityCloak sound.
92	** In ''{{VideoGame/Halo 4}}'', the orange pulses used to scan the UNSC ''Forward Unto Dawn'' create a noticeable rumble, possibly from the ship shaking from the scans.
93	** ''Spartan Ops'': The recovered Forerunner artifact in Episode 5 gives ominous pulses as the crew approaches to study it.
94	* Endgame areas of ''{{VideoGame/Borderlands 2}}'' use this liberally, especially in areas with volcanic activity or severe industrialization, as well as transitions into and out of combat.
95	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=CZ5xW-Yo720#! This trailer for]] ''{{VideoGame/Prototype}}''.
96	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: VideoGame/ModernWarfare 3'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uAEn8zKpMg Another chord]] from Music/HansZimmer himself.
97	* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' also had one during the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf6JkX0_S84 "No Russian"]] mission.
98	* ''{{VideoGame/Mass Effect 3}}'''s trailers had them. The "pulse" is actually in-universe: it's the sound the [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]] generate when charging their [[WaveMotionGun massive beam cannons.]] It also is apparently a pitched-down version of the ''Inception'' sound.
99	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}: Mothership Zeta'''s DeathRay uses a sound similar to the later ''Inception'' pulse. Oddly, the laser weapons in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' sound like this as well.
100	* The alarms in ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' have this type of sound.
101	* The [[http://youtu.be/7q4U_QRcg84?t=1m12s "Evening the Odds"]] trailer for ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Batman: Arkham Knight]]''.
102	* Appears in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTKakINXjl8 Turanic Battle]] music in ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'', which plays the first time your fleet enters actual combat.
103	* The E3 announcement [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E_-2wIJIzQ trailer]] for ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' also has it.
104	* The ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider: 20 Year Celebration'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hymwyr-f5KY trailer]].
105	* ''VideoGame/AxiomVerge'' features pulses in its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKK20M2cUyI title theme]], also used in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U04mprotZU PS4/PSVita announce trailer]], and the intro of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHmvJC29O3w "Apocalypse"]].
106	* ''VideoGame/ForzaMotorsport 6'''s soundtrack has pulses obviously cribbed from ''Inception'' in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6pmOj-Va5Y "Starting Grid"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ2QRKWg8c0 "From Flag to Flag"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p377MY_P408&index=24 "Blow the Lid Off"]], though no pulses were used in the actual trailers.
107	* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sweKHykw8bc Debut Trailer]] of ''[[VideoGame/ArmoredCore Armored Core: Verdict Day]]'' along with the soundtrack [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amCab72-6zE "Year of the Verdict War"]] have pulses incorporated with the music beat.
108	* ''VideoGame/ForzaHorizon 4'' has a [[Film/{{Inception}} "BWAAAAH!"]] car horn and a [[Franchise/MassEffect Reaper horn]] soundalike named "The Kraken".
109	[[/folder]]
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111	[[folder: Web Animation ]]
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113	* ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'': Franchise/{{Superman}} [[ConversationalTroping brings up]] this trope in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLimhOT0Avg-Q1zzIFxw0DOcBmDcat4bnK&v=WeWpCJruFlw&feature=player_detailpage#t=56 this]] episode of Super Cafe, about the then-recent Film/ManOfSteel trailer.
114	* Creator/AdultSwim's now-retired [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FB2aXN85A "The Dawn is Your Enemy"]] sign-out bumper.
115	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PreviewsPulse