The TVTropes Trope Finder is where you can come to ask questions like "Do we have this one?" and "What's the trope about...?" Trying to rediscover a long lost show or other medium but need a little help? Head to Media Finder and try your luck there. Want to propose a new trope? You should be over at You Know, That Thing Where.
How about Flash Step? It looks like The Ring is listed as an example under this, actually.
Ghosts aren't always villains...
I'm thinking this is something only a ghost can do,it's chiefly a supernatural ability.
New theme music also a box
How about Ominous Visual Glitch?
^ The purpose of that is to tell a viewer, including in universe ones, that something supernatural is occurring or that a character's mind is breaking down. Has nothing to do with methods of ghostly locomotion.
I think we're discussing a few different things, here. To cite the OP in this discussion:
Assuming this question is in relation to the linked video
around 5:01, I'd say what she does qualifies as Flash Step.
Now in the next part:
I'd say this is separate from the first question; we're no longer talking exclusively about transportation, but more generally about a kind of movement, like a dance. So I agree that the purpose of this is to indicate to the viewer (audience or characters) that something supernatural is afoot and/or the character's mind is breaking down.
I know exactly what's being described with this, where there's a time-lapsed seizure moment, but I can't for the life of me think of a specific scene that exemplifies it. I feel like it's something James Wan likes a lot, and is very common in movies centering around possession like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Conjuring. I bring up possession because this arguably expands the application from only ghosts to anything paranormal or supernatural.
I also think there might have been a instance of it in Thir13en Ghosts, so I might rewatch it and see what I can find.
Edited by mephistos
I think you might have one here. Thir13en Ghosts is the one that I always think of first for this idea. Think its actually one of the Trope Codifiers, if not the Trope Maker, for the connection between it and ghosts. (and now I want to watch that movie again... X3)
My mental name for it is stutter-stepping, because while its usually part of a Madness Montage or a ghost, you occasionally also see it in other situations. Say, a character mixing Random Transportation and Teleport Spam, or when someone is Just One Second Out of Sync or trapped in a Place Beyond Time.
Edited by Scorpion451
I know we have a trope for when ghosts float (Ghostly Glide) but about when ghosts are able to teleport instead?I was watching a youtube video when I saw someone mention how it was a common trope"
" The teleporting thing occupies the same part of American elements as what I call "The Ghost Shimmy": That thing where a ghost will slowly walk towards the camera, stop, and then seemingly have a seizure in ridiculous fast forward before resuming their walk"
the comments section where I saw it being mentioned