%%%
%%
%% The examples section has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct place in accordance with Administrivia/HowToAlphabetizeThings.
%%
%%%

Lightning flashes and a scene is illuminated, it flashes again, and again, each moment a new frame in a story played out in silhouette. It may be a grisly murder, it may be a fight scene, but whatever it is we only see it in stills as a light flicks on and off.

Usually involves strobes or lightning but can be slower. Can be an artistic form of censorship, for example if a murder is taking place we might only see tiny fragments of it.

When the "flash" in question is a camera, the freeze effect might actually be photos.

Related to LightningReveal, DramaticThunder, LightFlickerTeleportation, and possibly ThunderShock. Can result in EpilepticFlashingLights.

Not to be confused with StopMotion animation, although this trope could certainly be used in stop motion.

----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Done beautifully in book three of ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' when Fone Bone, Thorn and Gran'ma Ben are on the run from the rat creatures in the middle of a storm. Lighting flashes light up the otherwise pitch-black backgrounds, giving brief glimpses of the rat creature horde closing in, as well as [[spoiler:when the Red Dragon appears and chases them away]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AnExtremelyGoofyMovie'', Silvia has a dance solo in front of a strobe light.
* One of the more famous scenes in ''Anime/MacrossDoYouRememberLove'' is the duel between Max and Miria, which eventually takes them inside the airlock of a Meltrandi warship. They shoot out all the interior lights through stray bullets, and the rest of the battle is only illuminated by brief flashes from BulletSparks or sparks caused by the two Mecha crashing into each other.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/{{Clownhouse}}'', one of the antagonists is shown passing by one of the protagonists while a lightbulb flickers.
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' features Batman jumping a {{Mook|s}} as gunshots illuminate his approach.
* The first fight scene in ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' is illuminated entirely by muzzle flashes from the protagonist's pistols.
* Father Malius' awakening from two decades of non-action in ''Film/HappyHellNight'' is show via continues flashes from a polaroid camera.
* ''Film/RevengeOfThePinkPanther'' has an attempted murder in a night club while the strobe light is on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In one scene of ''Coils'' by Creator/RogerZelazny and Creator/FredSaberhagen, an assassin is approaching a telepath while Donald, the protagonist, ends up [[SeeingThroughAnothersEyes observing the scene through the telepath's eyes]]. Donald tries to delay the assassin by making the household electronics run amok and flickering the lights while the telepath gives the assassin a heartache, but the flashes still show him staggering toward his victim.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/AgentsOfShield'': The episode "[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS4E3Uprising Uprising]]" features a climactic shootout in a blacked-out room lit by a flickering generator. Cue a delightful montage of {{Mooks}} getting their asses kicked.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]" does not show the [[CantMoveWhileBeingWatched Weeping Angels]] actually moving on-screen, so the scene where they attack Sally and Larry in the basement while draining power from the flickering light has this effect.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone Flesh and Stone]]", again featuring the Weeping Angels, has the [[MuzzleFlashlight gunshots-in-a-dark-room]] version.
* ''Series/DueSouth'' features a gunfight in a dark hallway during the series finale. The only time the characters can be seen is when they're illuminated by one of the ([[ATeamFiring many]]) gunshots.
* ''Series/TheMandalorian'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheMandalorianS1E6Chapter6ThePrisoner The Prisoner]]", Mando sneaks up behind Mayfeld down a long corridor with flickering lights, and with each flicker he gets closer... and ''[[MookHorrorShow closer]]''...
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', there is an epic one when Clark breaks down the doors of a chamber where Chloe is BoundAndGagged, beats up the agents and [[BulletCatch catches a bullet]] in front of Chloe's face while the scene flashes due to a power breach.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* At the conclusion of the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' module I10 adventure ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}} II The House on Gryphon Hill'', the {{Player Character}}s are desperately trying to stop the Creature from achieving his goal. They are forced to follow it through a thunderstorm, where the only illumination is from strokes of lightning. Each flash reveals a specific scene.
[[/folder]]
%%
%%[[folder:Theatre]]
%%* ''Caught'', by David Parson's Dance Company. This one counts as a crowning moment of awesome for this trope.
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Used in Day 2 of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation''. You have to restart the power in a tiny, cramped room with the Funtime Freddy animatronic, who will try and get close enough to [[DeadlyEuphemism give you a surprise]]. You have to periodically stop working and play a recorded message that will pacify Freddy, and the only source of light flickers constantly to add to the UncannyValley factor of Freddy's movements.
* [[DoubleSubversion Double-subverted]] in ''VideoGame/NinjaGaidenIITheDarkSwordOfChaos'' in stage 3-1; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I4_XNaYv_4#t=29s you can see the characters, and some of the background, continuously, but the level itself and the enemies are only visible during lightning strikes.]]
* One of the trailers for ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilOperationRaccoonCity'' has the [[VillainProtagonist operatives]] chasing a heavily bleeding survivor. They track him into a poorly lit building... and run into the horde of zombies feasting on dead bodies (presumably including the erstwhile survivor). Their confrontation is shown with close-ups of each operative being illuminated by flashes of gunfire as they pull a fighting retreat.
* Inverted with the [[BlackoutBasement "Flash Black Galaxy"]] level from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' where all of the enemies are completely visible, but the backgrounds constantly flash for a few seconds to the music.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In the fifth case of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', [[spoiler:Ema Skye witnesses a fight scene between Prosecutor Neil Marshall and serial killer Joe Darke during the SL-9 Incident]]. With the power out and the room pitch black, [[spoiler:a particular flash of lightning illuminates a scene that is burned into Ema's mind. After the fight (and the prosecutor's subsequent murder), she draws a picture of the scene]], which turns out to be instrumental in finding the true culprit two years later.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS3E15ReadyWillingAndDisabled Ready, Willing and Disabled]]", while fighting during the night over the money, Meg, Chris and Stewie are occasionally seen only while there's lightning. While most of the flashes show them fighting, one reveals them dressed and posing for an "old-timey" photo.
* Several episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', including "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E24Homerpalooza Homerpalooza]]", in which (in a flashback) we see teenagers installing a strobe into the back of their car. They turn it on and dance to music -- the rest of the scene is shown as a series of stills as the light comes on and off, spoofing a similar scene in ''Film/DazedAndConfused''.
* In one ''WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird'' short, Sylvester makes a formula for making a PersonalRaincloud to use on the dog guarding Tweety, but then he spills it and the room is darkened by the resulting cloud. Outside, the windows are dark, but the flashes of lightning occasionally show a fleeing Sylvester.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' has the Deadly Bulb attack in darkness; we only see several freeze-framed images when his lightbulb-head flashes in the darkness.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Fireflies.
* A strobe light easily demonstrates this. If you can't get one, blinking your eyes ''really'' fast while watching someone move is a reasonable simulation, but you shouldn't do it too long.
* This is how zoetropes work. They're basically rotating models of lines of subtly different figurines standing in for frames of animation. When spun and synced with the proper strobe frequency, the figures look like rows of animated objects, since the sporadic lighting "freezes" the spinning zoetrope at the right pattern to make it look like the objects are in motion, while constant lighting would just make it look like a rotating blur.
[[/folder]]
----