History Main / CacophonyCoverUp

* ''VideoGame/{{Payday2}}'': "The Alesso Heist" has a section where you have to time explosions to go off at the same time as the pyrotechnics at a nearby concert as to not alert the crowd.

* Overlaps with WeNeedADistraction in ''[[Literature/CiaphasCain Death or Glory]]''. To cover up the sound of most of their team cutting into an ork encampment with a laser torch, they make a huge ruckus at the main gate -- ''with a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill rocket launcher]]''.

* In the [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Dr. Watson]] at War series by Robert Ryan, a fake air raid is used to get everyone into the shelters so a robbery can occur. The criminals build an acoustic device to simulate the "Gotha hum" of the German bombers and set off explosive charges as fake bomb blasts--the latter destroy a truckload of soldiers rushing to stop them and cover for the sound of them blasting their way into the building.

* In ''Film/GrandSlam'', Gregg uses the sound of the fireworks going off for Carnival to cover the noise of him using nitroglycerine to blow the door on the safe.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The aliens in ''Film/AQuietPlace'' attack any unnatural sound, so to talk verbally Lee takes Beau to the waterfall where the falling and crashing water drowns out their voices. It serves as a ChekhovsGun for when Evelyn, holding a crying baby, hides behind an overflow of water gushing down from the floor above.

* ''Film/AQuietPlace'': To talk verbally without the aliens hearing them, Lee takes Beau to the waterfall where the falling and crashing water drowns out their voices.

* ''[[Film/TheSilence2019 The Silence]]'' (2019). While trapped in the pharmacy with the vesps who swarm and attack anything that makes noise, Hugh and his daughter set off the fire sprinkler system and flee as the vesps flap about screeching. This serves as a ChekhovsGun for the BattleInTheRain when the cultists kidnap his daughter; Hugh is able to chase after them and get her back because the thunder and rain only confuse the vesps.

** In the prisoner of war camp run by Angel Eyes, he has a band of captured Confederate soldiers play to cover the sound of his men torturing Tuco. Though all the prisoners know what's happening anyway.

* In ''Film/TheTripAcrossParis'', which is set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII during the Occupation of Paris, main protagonist Marcel has to play accordion to cover the screams of the pig being slaughtered by Jambier, since Jambier is a BlackMarket butcher and grocer who wants to avoid attracting attention either from patrolling German soldiers or LesCollaborateurs.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': In "The Malay Penguin", the Penguin rents the theatre next to a museum and hires a lot of tap dancers to stage a rehearsal so the sound and vibration will constantly trip the alarms in the museum.

* ''VideoGame/{{Payday2}}'': "The Alesso Heist" has a section where you have to time explosions to a concert.

* Subverted in one ''Manga/CaseClosed'' 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; [[KansasCityShuffle it was an elaborate ruse to confuse people as to when exactly the murder happened]].

* The Wiki/SCPFoundation has [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-539 SCP-539 - The Perfect Distraction,]] which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin performs this trope to a T.]] Every test of 539 (shaped like a gray Frisbee) happens as such: 539 is thrown, [[OutsideContextProblem something weird happens,]] and everyone looks away from 539. Repeated testing has shown that the “something weird” part usually involves [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere predatory animals appearing out of thin air.]]

* ''Film/TheGrayMan2022''. The assassination of Sierra Four takes place during a fireworks display in Bangkok, though the protagonist [[WouldNotHurtAChild elects not to fire]] and instead takes out his target and bodyguards hand-to-hand, concluding with a [[RuleOfCool visually spectacular]] fight on a fireworks barge.

* ''Film/TheGrayMan2022''. The assassination of Sierra Four takes place during a fireworks display in Bangkok, though the protagonist [[WouldNotHurtAChild elects not to fire]] and take out his target and bodyguards hand-to-hand instead, concluding with a [[RuleOfCool visually spectacular]] fight on a fireworks barge.

* Subverted in one ''Manga/CaseClosed'' 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.

* A variation in ''Film/Daredevil2003''. The title character [[BlessedWithSuck has to sleep in a sensory deprivation tank]] due to his SuperHearing. On waking up, he then turns on his stereo so he can focus on his MorningRoutine.

* Played with in one episode of ''Series/{{Columbo}}'', where the murderer used a RubeGoldbergDevice to create a loud bang - not to cover the sound of the fatal gunshot, but to make it sound like there were two gunshots instead of one. When Colombo demonstrates an incorrect replica of the Rube Goldberg device, the murderer corrects it at the last second, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain incriminating himself]] and leading to his arrest.

* In the episode "The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim" of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' [[spoiler: Davenheim]] broke open a safe by timing the blows of a hammer with the cannon shots in a record of Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky's ''[[StandardSnippet 1812 Overture]]''.