Line #22 Main/HalfemptyTwoShot


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4	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/Halloween1978 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/halloween_michael_laurie_twoshot.png]]]]
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6	->'''Mike Stoklasa''': [[ObfuscatingStupidity Ohmigosh, Rich? Rich? Rich?]] Why is there so much space on the right side of the frame? Rich, why--why is there a distracting amount of space on the right side of the frame?!\
7	'''Rich Evans''': [[BlatantLies I'm sure there's no reason.]]\
8	''[Jumpscare]''\
9	'''Mike & Rich ''': "[[BigOMG OH MY GAAAAAAWD!]]"
10	-->-- ''WebVideo/RedLetterMedia'', ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' commentary track
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12	The Half-Empty Two-Shot is a narrative framing technique usually found in [[PlayedForHorror horror]] and suspense films/shows, in which a shot of one character is composed asymmetrically as if the character is in a two-shot with an invisible second character. It creates narrative tension by making the viewer expect someone (or some ''thing'') to lunge into the frame and balance the composition. In this context, it is also known as the "Bogeyman Shot" (thanks, Creator/RogerEbert).
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14	It's also sometimes used in melancholy contexts: the person that should be on the other side of the frame isn't there because he's ''dead'', or missing, often with [[EmptyChairMemorial an empty chair]] or a deep impression left in a bed filling in.
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16	Compare JuxtaposedHalvesShot, when half of two characters' sides are juxtaposed to or beside each other; MediumTwoShot, a two-character shot that frames their heads and torsos; and LowAngleEmptyWorldShot, another shot in which emptiness of a portion of the frame is conspicuous--this time, to make a busy area look deserted. Contrast SplitScreen, two or more shots shown on-screen at the same time.
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18	It often overlaps with NothingIsScarier, when emptiness is used to invoke fear by leaving it to the audience's imagination.
19	----
20	!!Examples:
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22	[[AC:Fan Works]]
23	* ''Fanfic/DifferentTalesDifferentLessons'': In the 13th vignette, Xiulan's [[spoiler:dream of]] marriage with Zhuang ends with Xiulan waking up alone in her bed, no husband whatsoever.
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25	[[AC:Films -- Animation]]
26	* ''WesternAnimation/OneSmallStep'': Every time Luna comes home from college, her father is sitting at the dinner table to greet her. One day, she arrives to an empty table.
27	* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'': Shots like this are used twice to show how alone Shrek and Fiona feel after their big fight. Fiona is shown sitting at an otherwise unoccupied table, with the table in the center of the shot. This is immediately followed by Shrek sitting at his table, on the opposite side (from the camera's perspective). This shows that despite being apart and expecting to never see each other again, they are still very much on each other's minds. Fiona even begins to cry.
28	* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': During the 'panda hustle' montage, there's a brief shot of Ming in the temple, kneeling in front of Sun Yee's shrine. It's a direct echo of a shot from earlier in the movie that showed Ming and Mei kneeling and saying their devotions to Sun Yee -- but this time Ming is alone. Mei isn't there, and Ming is looking sadly at the empty cushion. It shows that Mei isn't spending time with her mother as she had been shown to do before, and Ming misses her.
29	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Whenever Carl sits in his recliner, positioned beside his late wife's coach; signifying his grieving and melancholy about her passing.
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31	[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
32	* ''Film/{{Clue}}'': There's a scene where Miss Scarlet, left alone in the ballroom, nervously checks to see if the mystery killer is [[CurtainCamouflage hiding behind the curtains]]. This is made even creepier by the brief tracking shot over her shoulder, which upon first viewing lends the sensation that we're about to see someone come up behind her.
33	* ''Film/Halloween1978'': Throughout the first half of the movie, [[Creator/JamieLeeCurtis Laurie]] is repeatedly framed in this fashion, to suggest to the viewer that someone is about to fill the empty space. Towards the end, the setup is finally paid off when Michael Myers emerges from the closet to attack her. The film popularized this concept when it comes to horror.
34	* ''Franchise/{{Jaws}}'':
35	** ''Film/{{Jaws}}'': When Brody is on the right side of the frame, flipping smelly chum into the water, mumbling irritably as he does it, the left side of the frame containing nothing but the gunwale of the boat and the ocean. This sets up one of the most famous {{Jump Scare}}s ever, as the shark comes leaping out of the water on the left side.
36	** ''Film/Jaws2'': When the shark attacks the helicopter, it is filmed from inside the cockpit, looking out past the pilot with the shark rising suddenly from the water in the background. (Not entirely unlike its use in the first film, actually.)
37	* ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1990'': {{Subverted}}. Something does lunge into the frame, but from the side that is already occupied by a character.
38	* ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'': In one scene, Nancy is exploring an empty house trying to prove Freddy's existence, as she's still reeling from the nightmares and thinks she can feel him stalking her now that she's awake. Most shots position Nancy very conspicuously in just one half of the frame, leaving in suspense just when will Freddy materialize.
39	* ''Film/{{Silkwood}}'': In the last shot, all we see in the left half of the frame are.... headlights.
40	* ''Film/{{Strike}}'': A spy is shown running down a sidewalk, with the left side of the screen simply blacked out, like an unfinished {{wipe}}. The wipe is finally completed, revealing the men who are chasing him on the left side of the frame.
41	* ''Film/SwimmingPool'': Used to creepy effect.
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43	[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
44	* ''Series/WhiteCollar'': In [[Recap/WhiteCollarS06E06AuRevoir "Au Revoir"]], when Peter imagines Neal’s reflection in the window one year after his death, Neal’s reflection takes up the left half of the frame.
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46	%%[[AC:Theatre]]
47	%%* ''Theatre/{{Harvey}}'': Used frequently to keep Harvey in-frame.
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49	[[AC:Web Video]]
50	* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'': In Act 3, there is a scene of Penny sitting in the laundromat with two frozen yogurts, waiting for Billy, who isn't showing up.
51	* ''WebVideo/RedLetterMedia'': During their commentary track for ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', Mike Stoklasa plays dumb and, in a fake panic, asks Rich Evans why there's a distracting amount of space on the right side of the screen, as if he doesn't know a jumpscare is about to happen.
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53	[[AC:Western Animation]]
54	* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'': The first season's credits feature an official art of each girl alongside a miniature of the boy they're going to be romantically paired. However, Flora only gets a pumpkin with eyes as if suggesting that either pumpkin is her LoveInterest or she won't get one this season. [[spoiler:The trope is ultimately {{subverted}} after Mirtha is turned into the exact same pumpkin as the credits' miniature. Initially, it was meant as foreshadowing for the romantic undertones of the two girls' friendship.]]

Context Main / HalfemptyTwoShot