Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / SeamlessScenery

Go To

1[[quoteright:350:[[Film/SawII https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/44b7f102_7a4f_410f_93ed_5e39a10e733b.jpeg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:350: [[https://youtu.be/6Jz0jvFikWY?t=26s He came straight over.]] [[NotHyperbole Literally]].]]
3
4Basically, this trope is where the scene transitions between, or characters/objects move between, two or more ''completely different'' locations in a seamless, fluid, or even surreal manner, as if the two locations are inexplicably connected. Like a visual TruckDriversGearChange, if you will.
5
6This can either be used as a SceneTransition, or as a serious MindScrew, especially if the characters themselves are ''aware'' of this jump.
7
8Variants include:
9
10* '''Transition-based''': The ''camera'' moves fluidly between locations, basically TheOner used as a transition.
11* '''Movement-based''': A ''character'' or ''object'' moves fluidly between locations. This can be achieved in [[MatchCut more than one shot]], but the character/object's movements have to carry over between shots.
12
13For obvious reasons, any literary examples will be rather limited, but not entirely impossible.
14
15If they really ''are'' part of the same location, or the location ''transforms'' into another, or the location is [[AllJustADream in a dream or hallucination]], it's an EldritchLocation. If the transition is seamless for the characters, but not for the viewer, then it's just {{Teleportation}}. If the two locations are ''consistently'' [[OurWormholesAreDifferent bridged]] [[PortalDoor by]] [[CoolGate some]] [[PortalNetwork phenomena]], then this trope does not apply, unless the transition is made in [[TheOner a single shot]], or in a particularly fluid or surreal manner. If they are just SeparatedByTheWall, this doesn't apply, unless the rooms are ''not'' neighboring each other. If this trope is the whole point of something, then it's probably a ConveyorBeltVideo (the camera continuously tracks to one side, creating the illusion of filming on a conveyor belt).
16
17Compare MatchCut, which this trope can be a more dynamic variant of. Compare WhipPan, which can be used to disguise a cut to achieve this trope. Compare GilliganCut, which can sometimes use this trope PlayedForLaughs. Can also be used as a more creative FlashbackEcho, or as a transition into/out of dreams or {{Hallucinations}}, provided they both take place in different environments.
18
19While it can be used as a form of SequencingDeception, Seamless Scenery is usually, by nature, very noticeable.
20
21[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with]] ChewingTheScenery, SceneryPorn (normally), SceneryGorn (again, normally), or SceneryCensor.
22
23'''Please note;''' this trope does not apply when multiple RealLife locations are ''actually'' presented as one location InUniverse, [[Film/AGoodDayToDieHard no matter how obvious it is to the viewer that they are not]].
24
25----
26!!Examples:
27
28[[foldercontrol]]
29
30[[folder:Advertising]]
31* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqRC-bKM14U this Berocca advertisement,]] a man goes from a kitchen, to a court room, to a soccer game, to aa lab, then back to the kitchen.
32[[/folder]]
33
34[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
35* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', after leaving the witch's shop, Merida turns to ask the witch a question and suddenly finds herself in another part of the forest.
36* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', the moment Miguel tries to steal de la Cruz' guitar ''[[TemptingFate again]]'', he ends up running right back into the Land of the Dead.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
40* ''Film/AtHomeAmongStrangers'': Sarichev has just received word that Shilov's brother, who has been fighting for the Whites, has been killed in combat. He absorbs this while checking himself in a mirror in a dark hallway, then turns--and now he's in the banquet room next to that hallway obviously much later, as the attendees are debating what to do about Shilov.
41* ''Film/TheSwimmer'': Ned takes a dive into Betty and Howard's pool--and when he emerges he's getting out of a completely different pool, at Mrs. Hammar's house.
42* In ''Film/HappyDeathDay'', Tree gets clocked with a baseball bat and falls into her bed... in [[TheOner the same shot]].
43** This kind of shot is repeated in ''Film/HappyDeathDay2U''; [[spoiler: Tree jumps off the bell tower and lands in Alternate!Carter's bed]].
44* There are so ''many'' examples of this in the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' series, mostly in the films Darren Lynn Bousman directed.
45** In ''Film/SawII'':
46*** Eric Matthews walks out of his bedroom... and right into the crime scene where the opening trap took place (pictured above).
47*** And that scene also ends this way, with the camera panning over the message left for Eric, over a beam, and then down into the precinct, where Kerry is analyzing Jigsaw's tape.
48*** After Xavier discovers the number on the back of Gus' neck, the camera pans from that... to Daniel and Amanda running down a hallway, as if the floor was part of the wall they're running past.
49** In ''Film/SawIII'':
50*** The camera follows [[{{Gorn}} Troy's body]] before panning to a rug in Kerry's apartment.
51*** And after Kerry is killed in a trap, the camera pans from that to Lynn's bedroom.
52*** In another scene, Amanda walks through the factory floor, passing the crate Jeff is trapped in... which is actually in another part of the building.
53** In ''Film/SawIV'':
54*** Rigg literally throws Brenda [[DestinationDefenestration through a mirror]] and into the next scene.
55*** In another scene, Hoffman turns to leave the precinct... and then Rigg walks right past him, putting a shirt on, which leads into the next scene.
56** Surprisingly enough, it happens throughout ''Film/Saw3D'' (which wasn't directed by Bousman) as well.
57*** [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]] when the camera constantly pans between Bobby pulling his teeth and Gibson's squad raiding the asylum where Bobby's game is taking place.
58*** It also happens when Gibson finds the back room of the garage, which pans to Bobby finally reaching Joyce.
59* Both [[TheOner one shot]] and MatchCut variants in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2010'', where Nancy is having micronaps in the pharmacy and the scene constantly shifts between the pharmacy and the industrialized DreamLand, with the latter also shown affecting RealLife.
60** Earlier in the film, when Quentin is pulled under the water during swim practice, he breaks free, and swims to the surface... of a pool in the industrial complex where [[spoiler: Freddy was burned alive]].
61** This is even present in the [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984 original]], where Nancy inexplicably steps outside... from her mother's bedroom.
62* After Det. Riley is hospitalized in ''Film/FearDotCom'', Terry is walking through the hospital and begins to hallucinate, her hallucination begins in this manner.
63* In ''Film/TheBabadook'', Amelia's opening nightmare ends with her falling onto her bed and waking up.
64* A MatchCut variant in ''Boogeyman''. Tim looks in the closet at the hotel... and suddenly bursts out of the closet at his house in the very next shot. Needless to say, [[MindScrew he's very confused by this]].
65* In ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld''. Dream!Scott sees Ramona at his doorstep and calls out to her, and then Real!Scott sits up right next to him and calls out to her as well, this happens [[TheOner in the same shot]].
66* While most of the [[SceneTransition scene transitions]] in ''Film/BirdmanOrTheUnexpectedVirtueOfIgnorance'' are essentially [[TimeSkip time skips]], one transition is from Riggan watching the news on Sam's phone at the theater, which seamlessly transitions to the same report playing on a [=TV=] at the bar, where he's now talking to Tabitha.
67* Some of the transitions between RealLife and The Further in the ''Film/{{Insidious}}'' franchise are this.
68* In ''Film/GraveEncounters2'', Alex and his crew go to their hotel, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere pack up all their things]] and take the elevator... which drops them right back at the asylum. Hotel security footage suggests that they really ''did'' leave the asylum, even if the asylum itself is an EldritchLocation.
69* While David and Griffin are fighting in ''Film/{{Jumper}}'', there are multiple shots of them teleporting seamlessly between locations.
70* Occurs a couple of times in ''Film/EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind'' as Joel jumps randomly between memories while undergoing a memory erasure procedure. Watch one example [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ12xtFzYVE here]].
71* While India is brushing her mother's hair in ''Film/{{Stoker}}'', there's a close up of her hair... which turns into wheat, leading into a {{Flashback}}.
72* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/{{Tomorrowland}}''; whenever Casey grabs the pin, her environment will ''instantly'' change to wherever she'd be in the Tomorrowland dimension.
73* ''Film/HudsonHawk''. The audience first realizes that TheSeriesHasLeftReality when Eddie and Tommy Five-Tone jump off the top of a tall building. Eddie suddenly falls into a chair in Gates's apartment and Tommy disappears (Eddie finds him back at the bar later), all with no explanation whatsoever. The movie only gets weirder from there.
74* Happens twice in ''Film/LightsOut2016'';
75** The camera pans in on a family picture in Rebecca's apartment, before panning away from the same picture in Sophie's house.
76** When Rebecca finds [[BigBad Diana's]] name carved into her floor, the environment around her goes dark and fades into her [[{{Flashback}} old bedroom]].
77* In ''Film/{{Help}}'', the Beatles escape a temple by diving into an underground pool, and somehow surfacing in a hotel pool in the Bahamas.
78* In ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'', during the {{Montage}} of Peter's classes, whenever he checks the time, it cuts to the clock in his ''next'' class, before finally cutting to the clock in the cafeteria.
79* In ''Film/HellraiserJudgement'', Watkins reads the letter from the Stygian Inquisition, he puts it down... revealing the address the letter gives him, and then he walks into frame from a completely different direction.
80* In ''[[Film/PitchPerfect Pitch Perfect 3]]'', while the rest of the Bellas are singing [[spoiler: to distract Fergus]], they are eclipsed by the glare of Fat Amy's flashlight, [[spoiler: as she navigates the lower levels of the ship.]]
81* In ''Deidra & Laney Rob a Train'', Marigold is sitting on a couch, before a seatbelt wraps around her, leading into [[spoiler: a {{Flashback}} of her crashing her car]].
82* In ''[[Film/TheConjuring The Conjuring 2]]'', [[spoiler: Valak]] runs at Lorraine, who falls back into some boxes from a completely different scene.
83* ''Film/{{Daisies}}'':
84** The Maries are sitting around in bikinis in the opening scene. Marie I slaps Marie II, who falls over--and falls into a completely different scene, outdoors in a grassy field, wearing a dress. The film also shifts from black and white to color at that point.
85** Marie I is on the floor of a restaurant. Marie II stands up from a chair. Marie I grabs her calf and yanks, and Marie II slips back down--onto a bench in a women's restroom, where she starts putting on makeup.
86[[/folder]]
87
88[[folder:Literature]]
89* {{Teleportation}} in ''Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant'' is usually depicted as especially abrupt, especially during action scenes, to the point where some instances fall right into this.
90[[/folder]]
91
92[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
93* Used frequently in ''Series/TheCloser'' and its spin-off, ''Series/MajorCrimes''. One particularly extensive example is "Risk Assessment", where this is used to move between suspects in three separate interviews.
94* ''Series/JessicaJones2015''. At the start of "AKA Pork Chop", the camera pans from [[spoiler: Alisa in prison]] to Trish auditioning for a TV show.
95* ''Series/{{Bones}}''. In "Judas on a Pole", the camera [[WhipPan whip pans]] from Booth in his car to [[spoiler: Bones meeting with her father]].
96* In the ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' episode "Five O", the scene transitions fluently from a flashback of Mike at the vet, behind a character's back, to him being interrogated by police in the present.
97* ''Series/TheNakedDirector'': In episode 2.2 a porn star tells Toru, her director, via {{Flashback}}, about how she had sex with a Japanese pop star in a hotel. The camera zooms in on the actress pinching the pop star's nipples, then zooms back out--to Toru, in the same hotel room, filming the actress's story for one of his pornos.
98* ''Series/NewGirl''. In the episode "About Three Years Later", the elevator closes on [[spoiler: Jess and Nick kissing]], then reopens as Jess and a friend step out into a completely different building... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin three years later]].
99* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "[[Recap/SherlockS02E01AScandalInBelgravia A Scandal In Belgravia]]", the scene transitions fluidly from Irene Adler's apartment to some remote outdoor location as part of Sherlock's recap of how the crime was committed. Watch the scene [[https://youtu.be/MZ6OpGGnjkM?t=5 here]].
100* The trailer for season three of ''Series/ThirteenReasonsWhy'' is full of these transitions.
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Music Videos]]
104* In the video for "Comeback Kid" by Music/SleighBells, one of the vignettes is Alexis dancing around seamlessly in multiple environments that cycle rapidly.
105* The video for "[[Music/MyChemicalRomance Welcome to the Black Parade]]" starts with The Patient dying, the room around him then drops like a curtain to reveal a desolate landscape, and the titular Black Parade advancing towards him.
106* There are a couple of points in the "[[Music/BabyMetal Doki Doki Morning]]" video where the girls are shown dancing around seamlessly between a bedroom, and the dilapidated room where the rest of the band is performing.
107* In the "[[Music/DuaLipa New Rules]]'' video, Lipa rips open the curtains in her room, the next shot is Lipa opening the curtains to a booth at the pool outside.
108* Most of the "[[Music/AsapRocky A$AP Forever]]" video is a ''vertical'' OrbitalShot; the camera looping over each vignette before panning through the ground and [[TheOner into the next]].
109* In the "[[Music/NickiMinaj Chun-Li]]" video. The camera pans above a man in a hallway, to Minaj staring at the camera in a close up.
110%%* The "[[Creator/AnnaAkana Intervention]]" video is ''full'' of this.
111[[/folder]]
112
113[[folder:Video Games]]
114* This happens a few times across ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum,'' with Batman getting poisoned by Scarecrow's fear toxin and having vivid hallucinations. In ''Asylum'', a seemingly normal corridor gradually warps into a dirty alley way in a thunderstorm.
115** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight,'' one ends when he reads some writing on Barbara Gordon's living room, only for the player to turn Batman around and find himself in his Clocktower Batcave.
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Web Animation]]
119* In Creator/TomSka's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vrnJp5GcKQ Magical Dream Bed]]'', the scene changes seamlessly from Jimmy watching the [[ItMakesSenseInContext pillow shoot itself]] to Jimmy sitting in an interrogation room.
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder:Web Video]]
123* ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' has this down to an ''art form'', but one of the most extensive examples is "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb33j_DWu8Y Entry #83]]", where Tim and Hoody/[[spoiler: Brian]] are shifted seamlessly across ''multiple'' locations while chasing, and eventually fighting each other. One such shift is how Tim discovers [[spoiler: Jay's body]].
124* A lot of the [[TimeSkip time skips]] in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKXIKzH38_Y When I've Wanted to Die]]'' work this way, with Anna's actions lining up perfectly between different scenes.
125[[/folder]]
126
127[[folder:Western Animation]]
128* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsOfHarmony Elements of Harmony]]" uses this to transport the main characters all the way across Ponyville in the middle of a line of dialogue.
129-->''[the Mane Six are inside the library]''\
130'''Twilight Sparkle:''' ''[reading aloud from a book]'' It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now--\
131''[{{whip pan}}; everyone is now standing on the edge of a dark forest]''\
132'''Everypony simultaneously:''' The Everfree Forest!
133* In "WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck", the backgrounds keep changing behind Daffy, as part of the animator screwing with him. As soon as Daffy changes costumes to adapt to the new setting, he finds himself somewhere else and has to change again.
134* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter and Meg are walking down a New York street and suddenly find themselves in [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Bedrock]]. They look confused for a moment and then backtrack.
135[[/folder]]

Top