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{{trope}}
{{quote|"''[[It's Quiet... Too Quiet|It's quiet... too quiet...]]''"}}
If a scene, response or view is shown in total silence, often the audience may simply think the sound is out on their TV or movie theater. Having a background noise that is normally drowned out by foreground noise
If it's quieter than ''that'', the hero's heartbeat may be amplified. This kind of silence almost always ends with a [[Scare Chord]].
Compare [[Visible Silence]], [[Nothing Is Scarier]], [[Chirping Crickets]], [[Loading Screen]] (so that [[Video Games]] make it clear they are still on while the level loads). The inverse is [[Music Video Syndrome]] or [[Sorry I Left the BGM On]].
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[One Piece]]'', when Zoro first learns to cut steel, the whole world goes silent save for his
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Upon finding out what happened in [[Spice Girls|Melanie C]] in ''[http://fav.me/dd7ow55 Case of the Missing Technology]'', the narrator remarked that even the crickets were quiet, thanks to finding her {{Spoiler|[[An Arm and a Leg| dismembered]]}}.
== [[Film]] ==
* The subtle sound of wind can be heard in the external shots of the capsule in ''[[Apollo 13]]'', providing an ambiance Quieter Than Silence. Of course, there is no sound in space in [[Real Life]].
* Played straight in ''
* An example of the exact opposite: Actual dead silence was used to punctuate the seismic charges ([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuzj_dICmw shown here]) in ''[[Star Wars]]: [[Attack of the Clones]]'', considered an experiment in cinematography by the film's sound engineers.
** A similar effect is used in the climax of Aranofsky's ''[[The Fountain]]'', just before {{spoiler|the star goes supernova and explodes}}.
* Not quite total silence, but the background noise of crowds and traffic fades to almost nothing just before the eruption kicks off in ''[[Volcano]]''. The effect is to convey the impression that the eruption is '''really loud''', without actually deafening the audience.
* Non-threatening example: in ''[[Thank You for Smoking]]'', a hot-shot's assistant points out that their building's elevator is completely silent.
* During the filming of ''
* ''[[No Country for Old Men]]'' does this a lot, and [[Nothing Is Scarier]]...
* Done so perfectly in ''[[Equilibrium]]'' that the commentary says audiences thought that the movie itself had been accidentally turned off. It's completely silent ''and'' totally black for several seconds.
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* In the middle of [[Michael Jackson]]'s "Smooth Criminal" video, Michael raises his hand and causes a skylight to shatter, at which point the music stops. The crowd inexplicably starts moaning, then chants "Annie are you okay?" until the music starts up again.
* Prior to the final duel in ''[[Sanjuro]]'', it becomes completely silent as the duelists stare each other down. The eventual strike is punctuated by the [[Scare Chord]] as indicated above.
* In the movie ''[[
== [[Live
* On [[Gerry Anderson]] shows like ''[[Captain Scarlet]]'', ''[[UFO]]'', and ''[[Space: 1999]]'', the airless silence of space or the moon's surface is conveyed by a slow droning sound like a cello or double-bass.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'': Twice in
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
* ''[[The Walking Dead]]'' loves this trope. If it's not actually silent, then the air hums with the call of cicadas, to emphasize that there's nothing ''human'' to hear.
== [[Theatre]] ==
* A sound engineer colleague was asked to provide a "pin drop" silence for the opening scene. The solution? White noise, played throughout the theatre's speaker system and slowwwwwly raised in volume over 10 minutes. When the sound was cut your ears popped with the sudden silence
* In the musical ''[[Les Misérables (
== [[Video Games]] ==
* In ''[[Pokémon Colosseum]]'', Nascour's battle is mostly silent aside from the crowd in the background constantly chanting, "BATTLE! BATTLE! BATTLE!"
* The fight with, and the scenery around, [[Cosmic Horror|Giygas]] from ''[[
* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' Path of Radiance (9) has this when Ike calls out the leaders of the game's most powerful country for toying with him earlier, even though his country is dependent on their help.
* The final boss of ''Sword Of Jade'' uses a [[One-Winged Angel]] attack pattern with music. After defeating him and keeping chase, you fight him a final time in a more conventional form with no background music.
* The only thing in ''[[Silent Hill]]'' more scary than the monster-made radio static or the ghoulish background music? Dead silence.
* ''[[Halo|Halo: Combat Evolved]]'' uses this trope for the Flood. In the cutscene there are 0 enemies around even though a dead body just fell at John. However, the music and faint sounds kee some sound around. [[It Got Worse|Then the Flood arrive.]]
** The others also use this, but to a lesser amount.
* ''[[Gears of War]]'' uses this trope. The sounds of you moving and some ambient sounds in the Locust tunnels help convey it, as does the line "It's quiet... too quiet."
* [[Batman: Arkham Asylum]] also uses this trope by having Batman make some noise and having music at times.
* ''[[
* The ''[[Resident Evil]]'' series uses this at points, such as right before you encounter the Licker.
* ''[[
* Several levels in ''[[Medal of Honor]]: Allied Assault'', such as The Communications Blackout, are entirely devoid of music until you complete the main objective.
* The middle third of the [[Battleship Raid]] level in ''[[R
* Played straight in ''Dead Space'' with all the portions of the game where Isaac is in the vacuum of space. This makes it even more chilling when necromorphs attack you out of nowhere with no audio cues.
* Used for dramatic effect in the first section of the final dungeon in ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]''.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* In ''[[Marble Hornets]]'', whenever [[Slender Man]] appears, the camera typically produces heavy audio distortion before the sound cuts off completely.
** The series does this a lot even in entries which don't feature the [[Slender Man]]. The video footage is mostly recorded with only ambient background noise (that is, without a soundtrack), most of which doesn't get picked up by the camcorders that the characters are carrying.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Silence Tropes]]
[[Category:Music Tropes]]
[[Category:Sound FX Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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