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 the Trope Launch Pad.
Find a Trope:
openA short time before disaster strikes Film
What's that trope called where there's some sort of catalyst that sets the plot off in an action or disaster movie, but the beginning of the movie is set shortly before the catalyst happens?
resolved Trope for what I call "Contextual Acting" Film
I REALLY suck at explaining so I hope this makes some sort of sense. This is the trope for when a characters ability to emote isnt thanks to the actor but rather the context. If a neutral character isnt really making a face or reacting to anything, but audiences are able to catch the "meaning" the director intended because the context, A Hero witnessing war crimes and is appalled at the senseless loss of life... But this is because the actor's neutrality is used to convoy meaning via means outside the actor.
open“Someone should make a trope about this” Film
So there’s this trope I’ve seen a lot where at the end of the film one of the characters cheekily says “someone should make a movie about this” not knowing they are in a movie Pretty basic trope but I want to know if it has a name because I’m genuinely curious
openPanning near the end of a next shot before the character goes back to more or less the same spot Film
Something I've seen plenty of times in some films, indie animation and recently anime. Tried looking into Camera Tricks but didn't really get me anywhere.
resolved Stories About Rebellion Affirming the Status Quo Film
Is there a trope for movies that start off with people who are rebelling against society or have been disenfranchised in some way as the heroes, but then the movie ends with what comes across as a tacit endorsement of the status quo? Either the rebels get killed as a result of their actions or simply just give up trying to go against the grain.
resolved Resurrection undoes Character Developemnt Film
I'm looking for a trope where a character dying and resurrecting undoes any Character Development and essentially resets their personality.
It shows up in the Wreck-it Ralph fanfic Filling in the Empty Spots
where Vanellope is killed in a racing accident. Despite saying outside her game she does regenerate, but the but the process essentially performed a personality factory reset on her that erased her memories of the other characters and her Character Development from her rejection at the others' hands.
resolved big dumb object Film
"big dumb object" - there's probably already a trope for this. Described in scientific and science fiction circles, objects such as Dyson Spheres, the Monolith in "2001: A Space Odyssey", the "whale caller" in Star Trek IV, etc. There is an article on Wikipedia covering this topic.
Edited by mentummikeopenDifferent language dub changes an aspect that's changed back in the local release of that dub? Film
Title may be wordy but let me explain (I'm making this page in More Ani MY Films).
In Mechamato Movie, there's a scene where someone says "Bismillah" (In the name of Allah) before engaging in a fight. In the Japanese dub, this invocation was replaced with "Kakugo Shiro" which means "Prepare yourself".
Animonsta worked to revert that line, but it wouldn't be in time for said Japanese version's release in Malaysian cinemas on Jan 25th.
The social
media post
, translated:
We only just knew about this a few days before the premiere's release date. Nothing could be done because the recording process takes a long time to be arranged.
When asked why the line couldn't be kept intact, the Japanese dub team said it would be more appropriate to use "Kakugo Shiro" so that the audience in Japan would understand the context better.
I understand their decision but I also understand that this scene is a highlight in Mechamato Movie.
After being told about this matter, we contacted our recording studio and voice actor. Insya Allah (if God wills) it will be reverted to "Bismillah", but it won't be in time for the cinematic release this upcoming 25th January.
It will be restored to "Bismillah" in releases on other platforms.
openCharacter Needs To Get Cellphone, but his actor has one in his pocket Film
A subplot at a certain point in the film is that a character left his cellphone somewhere and needs to retrieve it. The problem? You can make out the outline of what is clearly a cellphone in the actor's front pants pocket throughout the entire scene.
resolved Everything Was Old in the Past Film
A Period Piece will feature props and sets appropriate to the time period, except the props already look old - the prop designer forgot that something that looks old now was once brand new.
Usually that means movies taking place in Ancient Greece assuming those temples were already ruins back in III B.C., broken statues, unpainted columns and walls, dirt everywhere, not a pillow or sheet in sight. More recent fare will feature newly-released silent movies looking damaged, phonograph cylinders sounding scratched, and newly-developed pictures looking yellowed and brittle.
resolved Takes Place In Present Day, But Lots of Anachronisms For Flavor Film
What trope is this?
SUMMARY: A horror film clearly takes place in present day, but it is peppered with anachronisms (vintage cars, paper maps) only going as far back as 1968, plays 80's-style (esp. The Thing-style) background music, and only uses practical effects (no CGI or green rooms) This is done purely for the sake of aesthetics/feel and as a form of shout-outs to other horror movies that heavily inspired it. It doesn't take place in an alternate timeline or universe, either.
LONG EXPLANATION: The setting clearly takes place in the present, because everyone has a cellphone, but there are many anachronisms, such as vintage cars (though most are modern ones), faux-vintage attire (one character has yellow-tinted aviator sunglasses, sideburns, and a fedora, but thankfully it's not a 70's-style fedora, and he doesn't wear 70's era jeans) Everyone uses the radio for news (this example is a shoutout), and several characters use paper maps or 1980's and/or 90's AM/FM radios. One character drives across a wooden covered bridge. Also uses lots of "The Thing"-like drones of dread and exclusively uses practical effects (animatronic models and makeup, no CGI or green rooms) It's a horror movie and this is clearly done intentionally for aesthetic appeal and shout-outs. The Anachronisms doesn't go back further than 1968, with the possible exception of a silent movie playing on a flatscreen TV in the background (the TV has no audio or is on mute)
I assumed it was Anachronism Stew, but that trope is about historical inaccuracy or time crash. Ambiguous Time Period doesn't work, because it's clearly the present day. I looked at Purely Aesthetic Era, but this doesn't seem to work, either, because from the sound of it, this can't take place in the present day unless it's schizo tech.
openSneaky truck / car crash jumpscare Film
Hi, do we have a trope about that (arguably annoying) type of jumpscare where protagonists are in a car (usually in the middle of a heated argument), then a car or truck (but more often a truck, because its inherent larger size and mass makes it a better danger) comes out of nowhere as if it was 100% silent and invisible before that, and crashes loudly into the characters' vehicle?
I see it often in movies but I only got aware of it a couple of years ago and maybe I wondered if I could add it if we don't have it already?
Thanks!
openWhen the screenplay for a movie explains something the movie doesn't. Film
So there's a tiny inconsistency in a movie where an explanation of how a character knew something is left out. It turns out this is explained in the screenplay, but for some reason, it was left out of the movie proper. Does this count as Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole? I took that as referring to when a book or comic is turned into a movie, not simply the translation from a movie's screenplay to the movie itself. Does Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole still count, or is there a different trope for this?
openThrowing glass into fireplace Film
A character's talking near a fireplace, and drinking something - usually whisky, cause fireplaces are fancy. Something will cause him to, either in anger or excitement, throw the not-yet-empty glass into the fireplace, igniting a stronger fire for a brief moment.
It's usually a metaphor for something.
resolved fourth act Film
Many films follow a Three-Act Structure. But sometimes, after what seems to be a resolution, it looks like the protagonists are safe and can go home, and the film should be almost over.
But something new happens: a threat comes up or the protagonists remember they still have an important thing to do, causing new action scenes to follow.
openViolent Man's Lascivious Wife (or Daughter) Film
A woman who flirts with a lot of guys and is eager for sex with them, but they're are aware that the woman's husband, a powerful and violent man, will snuff them if they go that far.
Some still think it's worth it. Or, even worse, the woman demands sex from them by threatening to tell a lie to her husband that'd get them killed.
Might be a father/daughter situation instead, where the father is protective of the daughter as opposed to getting mad at being cuckolded. Or it might be downplayed as something less lethal, but still undesirable.
openNext-Scene-Audio Transition Film
A type of transition common in audiovisual media, especially film: just before a work cuts from scene A to scene B, a little bit of audio, like background noise, from scene B plays. This is more likely to happen if the two scenes take place in clearly distinct places/time periods.
openI’ve been trying to find a movie or possibly and episode from a tv show. Film
A guy drowns and his body is found floating up to the top of the lake.
There is an investigation about it because he was a very good sailor and his mother didn’t believe he had drowned by accident.
Also blood was found on the boat, and the sail wasn’t tied right. Since he went boating a lot it didn’t make any sense that it was tied wrong.
It is later found out the guy was on his boat on the lake with a girl.
They start to argue because he doesn’t want to be with her.
I remember him saying “it was a mistake that I slept with you.”
She got angry and hit him over the head with something and thought she had killed him. She panicked and threw his body overboard.
His mother got her to confess, and the girl screamed “I loved him!”
She tired to run away but the police were there waiting and listening to her confess.

Which trope is this? Character A has a clearly visible red hand, bleeding zombie bite, or other foreboding feature on the side of his body opposite to the one which Character B is facing. Character A is not trying to hide this feature; it's just a convenient or contrived coincidence that Character B just so happens to have only seen his "normal" side thus far. In addition, in this particular instance, it is not a reveal, because the audience already knows about it; it's just the character(s) that are unaware.
It's possible that the trope in question is more or less restricted in definition (e.g. may apply to objects, or may be restricted to a danger/hazard on the side of Character A on the opposite side from the one facing Character B)