View source for Reaction Shot

{{trope}}
'''1.''' When a character says or does something and the camera cuts away to another character to show them react in some way. Used in every sort of show around. In interviews, the reaction shot will simply show the interviewer nodding wisely (so that the audio could be edited - [[Screenwipe|Charlie Brooker did a take on this]]). In a [[Sitcom]], the other character is often doing an [[Eye Take]].

See also: [[Double Take]], [[Eye Take]], [[Loud Gulp]], [[Shrug Take]], [[Spit Take]], [[Split-Screen Reaction]]. An extreme form of this, usually reserved for [[Sequential Art]] with all but the [[Steve Martin|most]] [[Chevy Chase|physical]] [[Jim Carrey|of comedians]], is the [[Face Fault]].

'''2.''' When a character (or characters) are shown reacting to something 'off camera.' Either precedes or precludes a [[Reveal Shot]]. In the latter case it becomes a [[Take Our Word for It]]. Can be used for laughs as the characters describe what they're seeing. One of the more clever forms of censorship (if you can't show something unspeakable, show people reacting to it and let the audience picture it for themselves!) [[Head-Tiltingly Kinky]] is an example. The effect can give the offscreen event [[Nothing Is Scarier|more impact than a direct depiction]].

{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* About half of the anime ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]'' seems to be reaction shots (both kinds). When it isn't setting up a [[Reveal Shot]], it's usually a reaction shot chain—Lain reacts to a friend, the friend reacts to Lain's reaction, Lain reacts to the reaction to the reaction, and so on.
* [[Rock Lee's Springtime of Youth|Rock Lees Springtime of Youth]]: Tenten, being the [[Only Sane Man]], gets these a lot. 


== Film ==
* The final moments of the 1971 TV movie ''They Might Be Giants'' (yes, from which [[They Might Be Giants|the band]] took its name). George C. Scott (playing a man who thinks he's Sherlock Holmes) and Joanne Woodward (as his psychiatrist, Dr. Mildred Watson) are about to come face-to-face with what may or may not be a very real Professor Moriarty; the film ends with a Reaction Shot from them as they apparently see Moriarty for the first time.
* The director of ''[[Once]]'' [[Word of God|has said]] that although the film is meant to be focused on the two main characters, it's helpful for the audience to occasionally show the reactions of other people to their music.


== Live Action TV ==
* The last shot of ''[[Dallas]]'' (as a regular series) with Patrick Duffy saying "Oh my god".
* In an episode of ''[[Are You Being Served?|Are You Being Served]]'', the employees pass around a box containing a birthday present, each in turn reacting and saying what a wonderful gift it is. Mr. Humphreys finally steps through the [[No Fourth Wall|fourth wall]] and admits, "We're not going to show you what it is."
* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' based a well-known sketch around this, as Steve Martin led a group of yokels staring in befuddled awe at an unseen ''something''. Each in turn tries to guess at what it is, eventually falling back to "What the heck ''is'' that?"
* In the fourth season finale of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', Xander's dream sequence involves heavily tarted-up versions of Willow and Tara kissing... but because girl-on-girl kissing couldn't be shown, we only see Xander's expression, as he's unsure of whether he's more disgusted with himself for looking or turned on by the show, in a very, very long reaction shot with smoochy noises playing on the soundtrack.
* When the [[Mystery Science Theater 3000]] crew reviewed the trailers for ''Jurassic Park: The Lost World'' they made the claim that the reaction shot is Spielberg's trademark. They showed all the reaction shots together; the sheer volume was a compelling argument. 
* [[Higher Ground]] 's [[Crowning Moment of Funny]], when Peter and the Cliffhanger girls attempt to make Sophie a birthday cake without a recipe. The cake isn't shown when they first take it out of the oven.
{{quote|'''Kat:''' Oh dear lord.
'''Daisy:''' It's ''hideous''.
'''Shelby:''' ''*grabs a cleaver knife*'' We must kill it. }}
* Occurs occasionally on ''[[Jeopardy!]]'', most notably on the episode where Nancy Zerg {{spoiler|defeated Ken Jennings, who at that point had won an unprecedented 74 games in a row}} and the camera cut instantly to her surprised reaction. This reaction shot is dubbed the "Zerg Cam" both by fans and by the show itself.
* In [[Doctor Who]], after Jack reveals his old nickname, Martha's and the Doctor's faces slowly change from grinning to "No freaking way" at the [[Crowning Moment of Funny|exact same time]].
* [[Martin Freeman]]'s [[Sherlock|John Watson]] is the ''king'' of these.
** That's because he's the king of them [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr0vARFXzlg in real life] as well.


== Web Comics ==
* Junko has some nice reaction shots in [http://www.megatokyo.com/strip/1164 these] ''[[Megatokyo]]'' [http://www.megatokyo.com/strip/1165 strips].
* We get a reaction shot as the punchline in ''[[Sequential Art (webcomic)|Sequential Art]]'' [http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=1001 strip #1001], when Art realizes that he and Kat might not be talking about the same thing.

== Web Original ==
* The online viral video of the prairie dog turning dramatically to the camera is an example of this, complete with fitting music.
* Parodied in darksideincorprorated's ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh GX the Abridged Series]]''. One of their running gags is saying "Reaction Shot!" whilst doing said reaction shot.
* Half the point of the web series [[Reaction and Review|Reaction & Review]].
* Most of the, uh, fun of [[Shock Site|shock sites]] comes from watching [[YouTube]] videos of people's [[squick]]ed-out reactions.
* A parody that claims to sum up ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'' consists of crazy scenes from ''Der Film'' interspersed with shots of [[World Wrestling Entertainment|Vince MacMahon]] looking like "I simply can't believe I just saw that!" It finishes with him literally tipping his chair over backwards in apparent shock. 


== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Weekenders]]'', "Pru": Pru shows the main characters a room for popular kids. We only see them peering into the room, but also hear them say that there's a tennis court and waterfall in there.
* This type of shot may be used to hide "unsuitable" content: in WB's short-lived ''[[Road Rovers]]'', many episodes featured shots of the Rovers reacting to Muzzle sicking some villains.
** Alternatively used to hide the other kind of "unsuitable" content. Often a [[Toplessness From the Back]] shot is seen in the foreground.
* In one episode of ''[[ReBoot]]'', a game character is faced by a Binome in a trenchcoat. The Binome flashes the player (seen from over the Binome's shoulder), and a second after he opens the coat there's a wet, meaty ''thump'' of something hitting the ground. The player's eyes bulge in horror, he screams and runs away, and the Binome [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|looks over his shoulder to wink at the camera]].
* ''[[The Simpsons]] Movie'', after the [[Friend to All Living Things|woodland creatures help Marge and Homer]] undress. Although nothing is heard or seen, the aghast expressions on their faces tell us more about the Simpsons' love life than we needed to know.
** Including the young deer's father shielding his child's eyes as a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]].
* The second type occurs in ''[[Total Drama Island|Total Drama Action]]''. In order to try on a special boot, Lindsay takes off her shoes and the camera immediately cuts to the other characters looking horrified, followed by dozens of big feet jokes, and Chris saying that the shoe ''only fits on one toe.''
** The first type occurred in the first few Aftermaths. Often it cut to a shot of the non-participating contestants giving an [[Eye Take]] or responding nonverbally (ie: crying at Trent's love song or laughing at Owen) to whatever was happening onstage.
* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]],'' this combines with [[Scream Discretion Shot|three]] [[Gory Discretion Shot|different]] [[Shadow Discretion Shot|kinds]] of Discretion Shot to show us how Zuko got his scar. [http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep12/ep12-834.png We see]{{Dead link}} Iroh [[Papa Wolf|looking horrified]], Zhao looking [[Smug Snake|Smug]], and Azula looking [[Complete Monster|oddly triumphant]].

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Character Reaction Index]]
[[Category:Camera Tricks]]
[[Category:Reaction Shot]]