History Main / CacophonyCoverUp

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty VideoGame/ModernWarfare 3'' requires you to synch an explosion with background thunder. If you don't, you have to fight your way through the horde of enemies who then arrive.
** At the beginning of the first Soviet level of ''World at War'', you have to snipe idle German soldiers as Luftwaffe flights pass overhead, in reference to ''Enemy at the Gates''.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebel''. In "Rebel Resolve", Chopper 'accidentally' overloads the internal comm on the ''Ghost''. The noise and the fact that Hera is busy shouting at the droid distracts her from the flashing light and buzzer indicating that the others have stolen the ''Phantom'' for a rescue mission that Hera hasn't authorized.

* Used with light instead of sound in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003''. As part of a test, Michelangelo has to steal an object from the test area without getting caught by Leonardo. Leo set up a bunch of moving spotlights in the darkened room so that it's almost impossible to stay in the shadows. Mikey circumvents this by blinding Leo with a metal plate and stealing the object while he's blinded.

* Frank Garcia's ''Marked Cards and Loaded Dice'' had a story attributed to John Philip Quinn, a 19th century crooked gambler. One day a man approached Quinn and asked to become a "bottom dealer" for him. As the man dealt out the cards Quinn listened for the distinctive sound of a poorly executed bottom deal. He then told the man that if he would give Quinn a signal when he was about to begin, Quinn would fire off a pistol and distract everyone else in the room from the horrible noise the man made.

* ''Film/NoTimeToDie''. Felix Leiter asks James Bond if they can go somewhere quiet to talk. GilliganCut to them in a Jamaican nightclub, where the noise would make it harder to be overheard.

* ''Film/QuantumOfSolace''. After chasing a man into a belltower, James Bond yanks on the bell rope so the noise of the church bell will cover him running up the stairs, preventing the man from plotting his exact position.

* In ''[[{{VideoGame/Desperados}} Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive]]'' gunshots can be masked by other loud noises such as a nearby roaring waterfall or thunder.

* In one of the most famous heists of the ''Film/OlsenBanden'' (Olsen's Gang) film series, Olsen and his gang performs a daring break-in of the Royal Opera during a performance of the danish classic, Elverhoj. They have to break through several sealed doors to get where they're going, and carefully time every action to coincide with appropriate musical cover. (Setting off dynamite charges during cymbal clashes, running concrete-drills during woodwind sections, etc.)

* ''Radio/TheShadow'': In ''Gangdom's Doom'', gangsters set up a fake riveting crew on a skyscraper under construction to cover up the sound of machine guns being fired at street level.

* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'':
** In ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom The Temple of Doom]]'' Wu Han tries to assist Indiana during a standoff, but one of Lao Che's goons shoots him when champagne bottles are being popped open.
** Played for Laughs in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'', when Indiana smashes a hole in the floor of a library in time with a librarian stamping books, glancing over at the librarian to make sure he times his blows right. Though RuleOfFunny is another interpretation of that scene, as the sound of stamping books isn't that loud. Indy is checking to see if anyone is coming to see what's going on, while the librarian is staring at his stamp, wondering why it made such a loud noise.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Defied in the episode "Shriek". Terry tries to sneak around Shriek by switching on the machinery in the factory they're fighting in. [[QuieterThanSilence Shriek uses his acoustic suit to silence all the sounds]] ''[[QuieterThanSilence except]]'' [[QuieterThanSilence Terry's footsteps]].

* ''Film/{{Colombiana}}''. A SWAT team is raiding the protagonist's apartment and makes an explosive entry; at the same time she uses an explosive charge to blow a hole through a wall to make her escape into the lift shaft.

* Used straight in the film of ''Film/EnemyAtTheGates'' in Vasily Zaytzev's EstablishingCharacterMoment where he dispatches five Germans with five shots purposefully timed to coincide with artillery explosions.
* In ''Film/{{Entrapment}}'' a clock's chimes are used to mask the sounds of breaking in.

** Played for Laughs in ''[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade The Last Crusade]]'', when Indiana smashes a hole in the floor of a library in time with a librarian stamping books, glancing over at the librarian to make sure he times his blows right. Though Rule of Funny is another interpretation of that scene, as the sound of stamping books isn't that loud. Indy is checking to see if anyone is coming to see what's going on, while the librarian is staring at his stamp, wondering why it made such a loud noise.

* Subverted in one ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' case. The murder happens at a Disneyland-esque theme park where a fireworks display happens after sundown. Nearby eyewitnesses (or ''ear''witnesses, rather) report hearing a whistling noise and then a bang right before the body was discovered with gun wounds. However, it turns out that the killer had whistled through the hole of a yen coin and then shot the victim in order make it ''seem'' like an attempt to mask the gunshot with fireworks; it was an elaborate ruse to confuse people as to when exactly the murder happened.

* At the [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust extermination camp of Auschwitz]], the Nazis attempted to muffle the screams of the gaz chambers' victims, using two motorcycle engines that were revved up to full throttle nearby. Despite this, the sounds of yelling could still be heard over the engines.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Olenna Tyrell is trying to coax some treasonable details about [[TheCaligula King Joffrey]] from Sansa Stark. Given the ever-present threat of spies in the DecadentCourt, she has TheJester Butterbumps sing loudly to prevent anyone overhearing.

* ''Series/ShadowAndBone''. Inej and Jesper are stealing the plans for the Little Palace but end up locked inside, so Jesper proceeds to ShootOutTheLock by waiting until the clock strikes on the hour.