Magical Security Cam: Difference between revisions

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|Bill Corbett, ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]'' [[Riff Trax]]}}

In any situation where someone watches a recording of an event that the audience has already seen happening, the recording will—by the purest coincidence—happen to use exactly the same footage that the audience has already witnessed. That is to say, it will include all the same dramatic camera angles, pans and zooms as the original scene, ~~despite~~ ~~that~~ there's no way an in-universe device (especially a ''stationary'' device, like a fixed security camera) could have captured and produced such, well, ''cinematic'' footage.

In any situation where someone watches a recording of an event that the audience has already seen happening, the recording will—by the purest coincidence—happen to use exactly the same footage that the audience has already witnessed. That is to say, it will include all the same dramatic camera angles, pans and zooms as the original scene, even though there's no way an in-universe device (especially a ''stationary'' device, like a fixed security camera) could have captured and produced such, well, ''cinematic'' footage.

Sometimes this is [[Hand Wave]]d by overlaying visual effects on the recording -- [[Deliberately Monochrome|conversion to black-and-white]], simulated scanning lines, a [[Dodgy Time Stamp|date/time stamp]] or watermark, [[Techno Babble|meaningless computerese]], and so on; this still doesn't change the fact that the director is simply recycling footage from the previous scene, rather than attempting to recreate the scene as it would actually appear to the in-universe device (which, as [[Real Life]] can attest, often turns out dull, grainy, over- or under-exposed, off-center, and etc.).

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* The first part of ''[[Megazone 23]]'' reuses action scenes as cam footage several times.

* ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'', episode 3 - "Sakura's Heart-throbbing First Date". In Kero-chan Check, Kero-chan wonders how Tomoyo was able to get all that footage of Sakura hunting down and capturing the Watery card.

* In episode 9 of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] StrikerS'' the newer characters are given a brief rundown of Nanoha's past, which includes [[Clip Show|footage from the previous two series]]. While theoretically most of it could be [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] as part of the general Midchildan [[Magitek]], at least some of it came from the very first episode, before Nanoha ever even obtained her magical powers. All three seasons are rife with Magical Security Cams, but this example is probably the most blatant.

* In episode 9 of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]'' the newer characters are given a brief rundown of Nanoha's past, which includes [[Clip Show|footage from the previous two series]]. While theoretically most of it could be [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] as part of the general Midchildan [[Magitek]], at least some of it came from the very first episode, before Nanoha ever even obtained her magical powers. All three seasons are rife with Magical Security Cams, but this example is probably the most blatant.

** However, some segments of 'brief rundown' include what appears to be more Magical Security Cam footage given some of the angles, zoom levels, quality, and so forth - except these were never part of the original series and were in fact created specifically for this sequence. In fact, it seems the security cam was ''so'' magical, it saw what looks like a good bit of a series denied the viewers!

* ''[[D.Gray-man]]'': When Timcanpy replayed Allen sending him away after {{spoiler|Tyki Mikk destroyed his innocence and almost killed him.}} He did so from the viewer's angle, including himself in the picture.

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== [[Film]] ==

* Mr. Freeze apparently had hidden cameras set up all over the place so he could watch footage of him giving his wife a snowflake necklace in the above mentioned ''[[Batman and Robin (film)|Batman and Robin]]''. [[Lampshade]]d by [[Mystery Science Theater 3000|Crow T. Robot]]

** Another one pointed out in [http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Batman___Robin_1997.aspx the Agony Booth recap]: Batman shows Mr. Freeze a recording of Poison Ivy stating that she (not Batman as she'd previously told Freeze) unplugged his wife's cryotube. It's a replay of the clip from the movie, with no sign that Batman's vantage point at that moment was up near the ceiling.

** Another one pointed out in [http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Batman___Robin_1997.aspx the ''Agony Booth'' recap]: Batman shows Mr. Freeze a recording of Poison Ivy stating that she (not Batman as she'd previously told Freeze) unplugged his wife's cryotube. It's a replay of the clip from the movie, with no sign that Batman's vantage point at that moment was up near the ceiling.

*** The same recap also mentioned how the security camera at Fries's lab apparently follows the good doctor and zooms in at all the right moments, such as when he plunges into that milky liquid that turns him from Fries into Freeze.

* In ''[[Batman: The ~~Movie|Batman the~~ Movie]]'', Robin follows Bruce and Kitka's date on the TV in the Batmobile, but the camera that watches them follows them wherever they go whether it be in the restaurant, the horse carriage, or Kitka's apartment and of course the shots of this [[Hidden Wire]] match the ones we saw them in seconds ago.

* In ''[[Batman: The Movie]]'', Robin follows Bruce and Kitka's date on the TV in the Batmobile, but the camera that watches them follows them wherever they go whether it be in the restaurant, the horse carriage, or Kitka's apartment and of course the shots of this [[Hidden Wire]] match the ones we saw them in seconds ago.

* In ''Captivity,'' the main characters watch a sepia-toned video tape of the killer being molested by, and then killing his mother. Later, a similar video shows that the killer's brother was present.

* Averted hard in ''[[The Conversation]]'' - being a movie all about surveillance, all the security camera shots are accurate. In fact, it inverts it in that the normal camera sometimes behaves more like a security camera, though it's possible that [[Mind Screw|the main character is under surveillance and we're seeing the footage]].

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* [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] in ''[[Never Say Never Again]]''. The attack on the terrorist hideout at the beginning of the movie is revealed to be a training exercise when we see a videotape of the events which shows what the viewers saw a few moments earlier.

* The crooks in [[Jackie Chan]]'s ''Mr. Nice Guy'' are chasing a reporter after she catches their drug deal on tape. A pity her cameraman didn't survive, since he was good enough to catch the action from multiple angles without moving, ''and'' managed to edit the footage on the fly.

* ''[[Star Trek IV: The ~~Voyage Home|Star Trek IV the~~ Voyage Home]]'' begins with a group of Klingons replaying the destruction of the Enterprise from the previous movie—using footage from the previous movie, of course.

* ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]'' begins with a group of Klingons replaying the destruction of the Enterprise from the previous movie—using footage from the previous movie, of course.

** Which was, in itself, a particularly [[Egregious]] example of this trope, as the footage shown by the Klingons included the destruction of the Enterprise. As the only other vessel in orbit at the time, the Klingon Bird of Prey, was still in the hands of Kirk, where the Klingons get the footage from?

** Not only that, but the other scenes shown must have been recorded by the Enterprise's own computer, which was destroyed when the ship blew up. No explanation is given of how they acquired it (though there could have been a black box).

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== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

* In ''[[Andromeda]]'', replays of events by the AI look exactly like if they occurred in the show, and in face, characters can look at the scene in 3D in virtual reality (though, to be fair, it is the distant future).

* A security camera in an episode of ''[[Blake's 7~~|Blakes Seven~~]]'' cuts between two viewpoints. It'd make sense if it were cycling cameras, but one camera is uselessly but dramatically focused on the boots of the invading hordes.

* A security camera in an episode of ''[[Blake's 7]]'' cuts between two viewpoints. It'd make sense if it were cycling cameras, but one camera is uselessly but dramatically focused on the boots of the invading hordes.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''Angel'' have both avoided this with "security camera" footage in "The Prom" and "Reunion" were footage from previous scenes are shot in black and white and from a higher angle.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Angel]]'' have both avoided this with "security camera" footage in "The Prom" and "Reunion" were footage from previous scenes are shot in black and white and from a higher angle.

* [[Averted Trope|Avoided]] in an episode of ''[[CSI]]'' - [[Drag Queen|men in drag]] stage a daring casino robbery, which we see in the usual style: [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|flashy edits, strange zooms, slo-mo, everything]]. When the police view the security camera footage, however, it is obviously shot from a stationary video camera on the ceiling, not on multiple film cameras. In other words, it looks real. ''CSI'' abuses the hell out of [[Enhance Button]], but not this trope.

* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''Planet of the Spiders'', a psychic character is hooked up to device that shows his thoughts and is given the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. The device then shows footage from an earlier episode where the sonic screwdriver is used. Of course, some of the footage isn't from the point of view of the Doctor ''or'' the sonic screwdriver.

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** In "Forest of the Dead", while the footage that CAL sees of Donna on her TV can be chalked down to {{spoiler|it being a computer simulation, rather than security camera footage}}, the closeup shot of a Vashta-infested suit's skull and the shot of the Doctor hanging on a ledge in the Library doesn't seem to match up with any visible flying cameras (which CAL ''is'' seen to use at one point).

* ''[[MacGyver]]'', "Lost Love".

* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode, "The Menagerie", Spock displays records of his initial mission on the Enterprise, actually footage from the show's original pilot. Shortly into the presentation, Capt. Kirk comments that recording devices couldn't possibly have captured everything they're seeing, and it indeed turns out that the footage is actually being telepathically projected by aliens.

* In the ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "The Menagerie", Spock displays records of his initial mission on the Enterprise, actually footage from the show's original pilot. Shortly into the presentation, Capt. Kirk comments that recording devices couldn't possibly have captured everything they're seeing, and it indeed turns out that the footage is actually being telepathically projected by aliens.

* In the middle of the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint", Commander Riker is shown a recap of the story so far, and Enterprise's internal cameras appear to be the same ones the film crew used.

* Nearly every ''[[Power Rangers]]'' team from the beginning to the present does have a Magical Security Cam, good guys and bad guys alike able to observe any plot-relevant event no matter where it took place and at angles that make you wonder if they've got an invisible camera crew (though it's not always footage we've just seen in reality.) In some seasons, surveillance devices were literally magical ([[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|"Observe the viewing globe!"]]) but in others... apparently, the entire world (and galaxy, in some seasons) is filled with never-seen hovering security cameras for both sides. ''[[Power Rangers Ninja Storm]]'' (the 11th season) makes a mention of a security drone, and ''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury]]'' (season 16) mentioned a citywide surveillance system - the show's first (and to date, only) attempts to [[Justified Trope|justify]] this.