<blockquote>
<p>TV trope name for monologue to unexpected off-camera recipient?</p>
<p>Theres a definite technique where the cameraman is focusing solely on character A who is speaking to character B, and character B is not within view for the TV viewer. Then, when it is revealed who person B is, it is completely surprising and often to comedic effect.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is close to the <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrickDialogue" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Trick Dialogue</a>, with a bit of <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SubvertedTrope" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Subverted Trope</a>, not a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourthWallPsych" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Fourth Wall Psych</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Trick Dialogue:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>A subversion of the most fundamental aspect of Dialogue: whether a character is talking to someone else or not.</p>
<p>Commonly, a character will appear to be making a brave confession, and then be revealed to have just been practicing before a mirror. Or, he will seem to be explaining his life to someone, and then be shown to be talking to a gravestone.</p>
<p>Alternatively, a character will clearly be talking to himself, but we find out that someone just happened to overhear. (Bonus points if it was the intended recipient of a difficult request.) This can follow on the first kind for a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoubleSubversion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Double Subversion</a> of dialogue.</p>
<p>Visual media typically use a <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RevealShot" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Reveal Shot</a>, often a Close-Up on Head, to execute Trick Dialogue. Compare <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourthWallPsych" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Fourth Wall Psych</a> (where the character appears to be speaking to the audience but is actually talking to another person). See also Not So Dire.</p>
</blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Subverted Trope:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote>
<p>Basically, this is playing bait and switchnote  with a trope. A work makes you think a trope is going to happen, but it doesn't.</p>
<p>But how could people know a trope is going to happen? Well, tropes live in the minds of the audience. As such, sufficiently Trope Savvy audience members can predict a familiar trope coming based on the hints dropped by the writer. So when the writer decides to build on this expectation, only to reveal that the expected &quot;trope&quot; was a Red Herring while an entirely different situation results, you have a Subverted Trope.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-24T04:34:14.993Z
Great answer. And can someone add a tag for trope? It’s not an available tag.
Sridhar Sarnobat
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-24T04:41:40.727Z
@Sridhar-Sarnobat - Thanks. Apparently I have [enough Rep to create a Tag](https://video.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/create-tags)  so I will add it.
Rob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-24T04:32:40.270Z
2018-07-24T04:32:40.270Z
2020-06-17T09:53:03.607Z
Rob
<p>Theres a definite technique where the cameraman is focusing solely on character A who is speaking to character B, and character B is not within view for the TV viewer. Then, when it is revealed who person B is, it is completely surprising and often to comedic effect.</p>

<p>I'd like to read more about this technique, but without a name there is little to search for. Is there one?</p>

<p>There are 2 examples where I see this semi-frequently:</p>

<ul>
<li>Simpsons: (I may not have this accurately recalled) Homer Simpson is giving a stern warning that her daughter's radical behavior will not be tolerated in this house. Then the footage cuts to what turns out to be Maggie, the baby.</li>
<li>WWE: at least every couple of weeks, there is a wrestler backstage and he is talking to someone off-camera about something very specific and serious with the storyline he's involved in. But when the camera pans to the recipient, it's someone unexpected (e.g. a midget, a female valet etc.) which is funny but still makes 100% sense by the speaker.</li>
</ul>

<p>Does this technique/trope have an name?</p>

<transitions><shooting>
TV trope name for monologue to unexpected off-camera recipient?
Sridhar Sarnobat
# TV trope name for monologue to unexpected off-camera recipient?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-24)

Theres a definite technique where the cameraman is focusing solely on character A who is speaking to character B, and character B is not within view for the TV viewer. Then, when it is revealed who person B is, it is completely surprising and often to comedic effect.

I'd like to read more about this technique, but without a name there is little to search for. Is there one?

There are 2 examples where I see this semi-frequently:

* Simpsons: (I may not have this accurately recalled) Homer Simpson is giving a stern warning that her daughter's radical behavior will not be tolerated in this house. Then the footage cuts to what turns out to be Maggie, the baby.
* WWE: at least every couple of weeks, there is a wrestler backstage and he is talking to someone off-camera about something very specific and serious with the storyline he's involved in. But when the camera pans to the recipient, it's someone unexpected (e.g. a midget, a female valet etc.) which is funny but still makes 100% sense by the speaker.

Does this technique/trope have an name?

**Tags:** transitions, shooting


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-07-24. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

> TV trope name for monologue to unexpected off-camera recipient?
>
> Theres a definite technique where the cameraman is focusing solely on character A who is speaking to character B, and character B is not within view for the TV viewer. Then, when it is revealed who person B is, it is completely surprising and often to comedic effect.

It is close to the [Trick Dialogue](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrickDialogue), with a bit of [Subverted Trope](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SubvertedTrope), not a [Fourth Wall Psych](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourthWallPsych).

* Trick Dialogue:

> A subversion of the most fundamental aspect of Dialogue: whether a character is talking to someone else or not.
>
> Commonly, a character will appear to be making a brave confession, and then be revealed to have just been practicing before a mirror. Or, he will seem to be explaining his life to someone, and then be shown to be talking to a gravestone.
>
> Alternatively, a character will clearly be talking to himself, but we find out that someone just happened to overhear. (Bonus points if it was the intended recipient of a difficult request.) This can follow on the first kind for a [Double Subversion](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DoubleSubversion) of dialogue.
>
> Visual media typically use a [Reveal Shot](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RevealShot), often a Close-Up on Head, to execute Trick Dialogue. Compare [Fourth Wall Psych](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FourthWallPsych) (where the character appears to be speaking to the audience but is actually talking to another person). See also Not So Dire.

* Subverted Trope:

> Basically, this is playing bait and switchnote with a trope. A work makes you think a trope is going to happen, but it doesn't.
>
> But how could people know a trope is going to happen? Well, tropes live in the minds of the audience. As such, sufficiently Trope Savvy audience members can predict a familiar trope coming based on the hints dropped by the writer. So when the writer decides to build on this expectation, only to reveal that the expected "trope" was a Red Herring while an entirely different situation results, you have a Subverted Trope.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Great answer. And can someone add a tag for trope? It’s not an available tag.  
> **username_1**: @Sridhar-Sarnobat - Thanks. Apparently I have [enough Rep to create a Tag](https://video.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/create-tags)  so I will add it.  

---

