"Down Here!" Shot

"Once I acquire the power of the sun, I — [to the cameraman] Down here, you fool."

— Wannabe Evil Genius, ad for Sunny Delight

In a show with a comparatively small character, whether they be a gnome, a dwarf, a hobbit, or just very small, a common gag is to have the camera show some nice scenery, and then Tilt down to reveal the character standing there, possibly giving the camera a weary look.

It can also be done through not directly involving the camera (or other spectator viewpoint), but by having a character missing said little person and having to look down, usually when hearing "Down Here!" Or sometimes, by mixing the two. This can happen if a character was Expecting Someone Taller and they have to look again and actually notice the short person.

Expect Forced Perspective when these characters aren't actually played by actors with dwarfism.

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Examples:

Advertising

• One commercial for Barq's Root Beer has a hot dog vendor challenged, "Whaddaya mean 'Barq's has bite'?" The challenger has to query this three times before the vendor locates him. He's shorter than the vendor's cart, though he's accompanied by a statuesque blonde of normal size.
• Used in a Sunny Delight ad involving a wannabe Evil Overlord trying to gain the power of the sun. Or something.

Anime & Manga

• Done constantly in Seitokai Yakuindomo with Suzu. Often lampshaded with an arrow labeled "Suzu is down here."

Comic Books

• Watchmen. The introduction of crime boss Big Figure. At first we only see his two Giant Mook bodyguards, before the Reveal Shot.

Fan Works

• Inverted in Plan 7 of 9 from Outer Space when the Big Bad's bumbling henchman has the camera pointed too low so it only films the Right-Hand Cat sitting on his lap.

Films — Animation

• In Turning Red, when Tyler goes to open his door and let Mei in, the camera initially points up to where her face would be if she was in her giant red panda form then pans down to show she's in human form wearing her red panda costume.
• Briefly in Wreck-It Ralph: when Fix-It Felix Jr. knocks at the door of King Candy's castle and Sour Bill opens it, Felix doesn't see him at first until he looks down, along with the camera's viewpoint.
• Zootopia: Officer Clawhauser of the Zootopia Police Department hears someone say "Excuse Me", but sees no one. Rookie Officer Judy Hopps, a small bunny, actually has to say "Down here" for Clawhauser to peer over the reception desk to see her. He squees at the sight.
  Clawhauser: O-M-Goodness! They really did hire a bunny!

Films — Live-Action

• Done in The Mystery Of The Dragon Seal (a.k.a. Viy 2: Journey to China). The protagonist sneaks aboard a Russian ship and demands to see the captain — to which the crewmembers respond he's already facing him. When the protagonist asks where, as he can't see him, the captain (a dwarf) stomps on his foot to get his attention. Justified in this case, since the iron mask the protagonist is wearing is certainly reducing his vision field.
• The introduction of Tortuga's best and brightest in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl features one such shot, with the camera stopping on a barrel seen behind two pirates, before tilting down to show the dwarf crewmember who's half their size.
• When Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker reintroduces Maz Kanata (who only appeared as a hologram in the previous movie), the camera at first cuts to a couple of random Resistance members, then pans down to Maz standing in the foreground because she's shorter than everybody else.
• Inverted for comic effect in Terminator Genisys. After our heroes get arrested we have the classic police mugshots of the towering male heroes, whereas Sarah Connor is so short she barely appears in the frame.

Literature

• In Castle Hangnail, the literary equivalent occurs when the head minion opens the door to welcome the new Mistress of the castle, who is younger and shorter than he is expecting:
  He looked out.
  He looked up.
  He looked left.
  He looked right.
  Finally he looked down.
• The Chronicles of Narnia: This tends to happen to Reepicheep and other Talking Mice. The Mice use this to their advantage, though; the Telmarine soldiers never think to look for enemies so close to the ground, allowing the Mice to stab their legs.
• Discworld:
  • The six-inch-tall Wee Mad Arthur introduces himself with "Down here, bigjobs."
  • Dwarfs such as Cheery Littlebottom have also been known to utter the words.
• In Fengshen Yanyi, a Running Gag has the character Tuxingsun (a four-foot tall dwarf with an earth-colored face) challenging other taoists and generals, only for the opponent to fail to see him at a first glance, much to his ire. However he can usually pay them back by showing them how he can get an advantage from his short stature to attack them from below.
• When Poplock (toad) and Tobimar (human) first meet in Phoenix Rising, Poplock had gone through a number of opponents of Tobimar like a whirlwind, but Tobimar never manages to see him.
  "Wh-what are you? Where are you? Show yourself!"
  "No need to shout." The voice from down near his feet was the same, but somehow less frightening, almost comical.
  Nonetheless, he jumped back, startled, and looked down.
  A small brown Toad — with, admittedly, a fair overlayer of red gore — looked up at him and waved. "Hello!"
• VeggieTales. A chapter book based on Larry-Boy: The Cartoon Adventures features an evil emperor who is a cherry tomato. A Running Gag in this particular book is that nobody can see him when he talks, so he has to tell everyone "I'm down here!"
• In the Warrior Cats novella Mistystar's Omen, Mistystar is about to receive her ninth leader's life. She looks around and doesn't see anyone, and is confused because she knows she has one more life to get yet. She hears a squeak, looks down, and sees that the ninth cat is her son who died as a young kit.

Live-Action TV

• Done in the credits for the one-season Nancy Walker vehicle Blansky's Beauties. These include a pan over the faces of a line of statuesque showgirls that completely misses their manager, the 4'11" Ms. Walker, who has to stick her hand into shot and point downward at herself to get the camera to find her.
• Recurring character Attorney Bethany Horowitz on Boston Legal is a dwarf (played by actress Meredith Eaton, who is 4 feet tall), and there are a few scenes where Denny Crane (who lusts after her) is talking about her, and then the camera tilts down and he discovers she's standing right next to him — and not pleased.
• The first episode of Kristin Chenoweth's short-lived sitcom Kristin opens with the camera panning across the feet of a line of chorus girls auditioning for a show. At the last girl on the line, the camera tilts up to her face and pans back, revealing a gap where the much shorter Kristin is standing.
• In a sketch on Monty Python's Flying Circus, a sports commentator is talking to a bunch of horse jockeys and all we can see are the tops of their caps. Then another even more famous jockey comes over and we can't see him at all until he climbs on a Scully Box, at which time we can see his hat too.
• Psych: One episode has Shawn and Gus being visited by a guy who used to bully them in school. When they open the door for him, they don't see anyone, until they look down. The guy isn't much bigger than when they were kids, but it makes him perfect for his current job as a horse-racing jockey.
• A variant was done in one episode of the Canadian TV show You Can't Do That on Television when they spoofed fashions. At the end, two boys (one around 8 and one teenaged) came on-set pretending to be naked as the ultimate fashion. The younger boy started asking for the camera to tilt down because it was only framing his head. The female host quickly calls out "run the credits" as she realizes that tilting down would expose a bit more of the older (taller) boy than would be "safe"...

Video Games

• After the prologue of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III, Rean arrives in Leeves, where he's to become a new instructor at the Thors Branch Campus. After standing around for a bit, taking and thinking over the sights, he hears a familiar female voice saying his name, but can't place where it's coming from. The camera pans left and right to show him looking in both directions before tilting down to show Towa. This is one of many times the series makes fun of her petite stature.

Web Animation

• MLP Analysis:
  • Very briefly in Silver Quill's review of "Scare Master", during a roll call the camera has to tilt down for Lightning Bliss (a midget alicorn), just as Baron Tall Tales calls her "short".
    Lightning Bliss: Hey!
  • In Josh Scorcher's "Taking Not Looking for Trouble Too Seriously", Commander Firebrand and Aramau congratulate themselves on setting up a Laser Hallway to defend FOB Equestria... only to hear a voice which they can't quite locate. After a "SHOW YOURSELF!" and "Down here, idiots," the camera tilt down to reveal Green Scorpion, who's a... green scorpion. He helpfully points out to them that their base's defenses aren't geared at all toward intruders the size of bugs.
• In RWBY, episode "Dead End", the camera shows an upwards shot of the two Atlesian gate guards standing proudly to attention as their commander's boots can be heard approaching from the distance. There's silence, and then the camera suddenly tilts downwards with a cranking sound to focus on the commander's diminutive height.

Web Videos

• A quick one in "Lord of the Rings by Wes Anderson Trailer | The Whimsical Fellowship", with the rapid pan over the characters only getting the top of Frodo's head and having to tilt down.

Western Animation

• Animaniacs: In the short "H.M.S. Yakko", the villain Cap'n Mel is introduced by having the door to his quarters open to reveal nothing; Mel holds up a sign with an arrow pointing down to get the camera to focus on him.
• In the Goofy short "Double Dribble", the camera holds on a shot of basketball players standing in line. As the line moves there is a gap, and the camera moves down to a ridiculously short player.
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey: In "Yesterday's Funny Monkey", Jake hears an insult from offscreen and looks back. The scene cuts to two elephant jocks, then one of them points down and the camera shifts to reveal Dickie Sugarjumper.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • At the start of "Crusaders of the Lost Mark", the shot moves to the empty doorframe of the CMC's treehouse... before tilting down to reveal Pipsqueak (which, as his name can hint, is the smallest pony around).
  • In "The Hooffields and McColts", "Big Daddy" McColt is introduced this way, the shot at first only showing his very tall hat, before moving down, very deliberately pointing out his Ironic Name in the process.
• The Powerpuff Girls episode "I See a Funny Cartoon in Your Future" has the villainous medium Madame Argentina being introduced this way.
• In an episode of The Simpsons, Moe is waiting for his computer-date to show up. She knocks and he opens the door to nothing and assumes he's been ding-dong-ditched, but she's a little person and has to get him to look down.
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil: After Star and Janna perform a summoning for "Hungry Larry", we hear repeated knocks with a very ominous music playing, building up the moment the door is finally opened... to show the empty night sky. Until the camera tilt down, revealing the eponymous character is a very tiny Bedsheet Ghost.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars, episode "Secret Weapons": Colonel Gascon's introduction: the door to the briefing room opens, and then the camera tilts down to reveal him standing in the entrance.
• Steven Universe: In "Now We're Only Falling Apart", the first time Pink Diamond turns into Rose Quartz, Pearl is talking to her, then closes her eyes for a second and then opens them back to see nothing. Then Pink waves her arms from the bottom of the screen and the camera tilts down to show the much shorter Rose. An interesting variant, since both Pink and Rose are huge by human standards, with Pink being close to twelve feet and Rose being a more reasonable 6-7.

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