Tropescilloscope: Meaningful Background Event

Something plot-relevant happens onscreen, but not as the focus (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Adaptation Distillation Final Girl Affectionate Parody Call-Back Mugging the Monster I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Nice Hat Camp Gay Evil Plan Enemy Mine Dropped a Bridge on Him Villain Ball Shout-Out Department of Redundancy Department Adult Fear The Mole Put on a Bus Evil Brit Stuff Blowing Up Papa Wolf Downer Ending Brutal Honesty Dark Action Girl Rule of Symbolism Artistic License – History Failed a Spot Check Does Not Like Shoes Danny Peary Cult Movies List Ass Shove As Himself Mundane Made Awesome He Knows Too Much An Axe to Grind The Brute Five-Man Band Berserk Button Big Bad Smoking Is Cool Public Domain Feature Films Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Never Found the Body Sealed Evil in a Can Broken Bird No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Cool Guns Black Comedy Rape The Cavalry Thriller Dressing as the Enemy Cowboy Cop Totally Radical Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies The Remake Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Visual Pun Fainting Crazy-Prepared Gender Flip Affably Evil Epic Fail The Vamp Bare Your Midriff The Stinger Dying Moment of Awesome Bury Your Gays Wham Line The Bad Guy Wins Light Is Not Good All Men Are Perverts In Medias Res Rich Bitch Flashback Closed Circle Vomit Discretion Shot Scary Black Man Pragmatic Adaptation Anachronic Order The Ace Running Gag Accidental Misnaming Brother–Sister Incest Deliberate Values Dissonance Serious Business Exact Words What Happened to the Mouse? Groin Attack Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Arc Words Shell-Shocked Veteran Jerkass Has a Point MacGuffin Red Right Hand As You Know Token Minority You Killed My Father The Chick Auto Erotica Fatal Family Photo Sexy Discretion Shot Car Fu Mind Screw Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Book-Ends Manic Pixie Dream Girl Kubrick Stare Retcon Guns Akimbo Femme Fatale Pre-Mortem One-Liner My Beloved Smother The Cameo Fantastic Racism Genre Shift Due to the Dead Fanservice Slasher Smile Credits Gag Ms. Fanservice Rewatch Bonus Bavarian Fire Drill Defrosting Ice Queen Product Placement Race Lift Left the Background Music On Love at First Sight Artistic License – Geography Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Darker and Edgier Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Gory Discretion Shot Break the Haughty Tempting Fate Villain Protagonist Rule of Funny Meaningful Echo Vomit Indiscretion Shot Bloody Hilarious Morality Pet Say My Name As Long as It Sounds Foreign My God, What Have I Done? Corpsing Handicapped Badass Rasputinian Death Leitmotif Peek-a-Boo Corpse Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Body Horror Laughing Mad Eureka Moment Depraved Bisexual Silence Is Golden Disguised in Drag Storming the Castle Australian Movies Star-Crossed Lovers Drives Like Crazy Crazy Jealous Guy Adaptational Heroism Badass Normal Death by Irony The Voiceless The Starscream Advertised Extra Sci-Fi Horror Our Zombies Are Different Action Genre Historical Hero Upgrade Implacable Man Posthumous Character Batman Gambit Karmic Death Suspiciously Similar Substitute Anti-Villain Artistic License – Biology Wretched Hive Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Adaptation Dye-Job Asshole Victim Spanner in the Works Sacrificial Lion Leave the Camera Running Lampshade Hanging And I Must Scream Casting Gag Politically Incorrect Villain Action Prologue Names to Run Away from Really Fast Evil Laugh Tagline Dogged Nice Guy Hypocritical Humor The Mafia And the Adventure Continues Homage You Have Failed Me Leaning on the Fourth Wall Action Girl Laser-Guided Karma Air-Vent Passageway Beta Couple Rape as Drama Hope Spot Spiteful Spit Red Eyes, Take Warning May–December Romance The Dreaded Rule of Cool Back from the Dead Bound and Gagged Curse Cut Short Bar Brawl Author Appeal Redshirt Army Distracted by the Sexy Karma Houdini No Name Given Setting Update Hidden Depths The Ghost Cool Shades Not So Different No OSHA Compliance Word of God Paper-Thin Disguise Mighty Whitey Dies Wide Open Neck Snap Beware the Nice Ones Ironic Echo La Résistance Bloodier and Gorier Ascended Extra Fish out of Water Protagonist Title Historical-Domain Character Real Life Writes the Plot And Starring Woman in White Shirtless Scene Television Movie Index Obstructive Bureaucrat Properly Paranoid Accidental Murder Your Cheating Heart Anachronism Stew The Lancer Police are Useless Black Comedy Punch-Clock Villain Catapult Nightmare The Smurfette Principle The Smart Guy Villain with Good Publicity Pay Evil unto Evil Martial Arts Movie Adaptation Expansion Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Beauty Is Never Tarnished Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Soundtrack Dissonance Badass Bookworm Hair-Trigger Temper Hoist by His Own Petard B-Movie Awesome, but Impractical Ambiguous Disorder Authority Equals Asskicking Big-Bad Ensemble Slap-Slap-Kiss Country Matters Abhorrent Admirer Big Brother Instinct Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Kick the Son of a Bitch Suddenly SHOUTING! Cassandra Truth Riddle for the Ages Dual Wielding Poor Communication Kills Index of Film Westerns Heel–Face Turn Ripped from the Headlines Lighter and Softer Bond Villain Stupidity Adaptational Badass An Aesop The Sociopath Only One Name Heroes Want Redheads Truth in Television Funny Background Event Zombie Stories Creative Closing Credits Famous Last Words Playing Gertrude War Is Hell The Hero Dies Jump Scare Aside Glance The Quiet One Scenery Porn Does This Remind You of Anything? Fantasy Films I Have Your Wife Mystery and Detective Films Romantic Comedy Henpecked Husband Humiliation Conga Not Using the "Z" Word Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Last-Name Basis Author Avatar Too Dumb to Live Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Foreshadowing Brainless Beauty Shipper on Deck Establishing Character Moment Blood Knight After the End Daylight Horror Manly Tears Black Best Friend Amoral Attorney Driven to Suicide Non-Indicative Name Happily Married Cool Car Almost Kiss Made of Explodium The Chessmaster Same Language Dub Line-of-Sight Name Bullying a Dragon Disney Death It Will Never Catch On Loads and Loads of Characters Hooker with a Heart of Gold Canon Foreigner Bi the Way Unwitting Instigator of Doom Roaring Rampage of Revenge Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Video Credits Your Head A-Splode Exactly What It Says on the Tin Malevolent Masked Men Mr. Fanservice Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Hypocrite I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Half the Man He Used to Be Red Oni, Blue Oni Superhero Early-Bird Cameo Based on a True Story Canadian Movies Dirty Cop Japanese Films Humans Are Bastards Villain Opening Scene Deal with the Devil The Ditz From Bad to Worse Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience No Ending The '80s Cat Scare Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Butt-Monkey Creepy Child Face–Heel Turn Anti-Hero Slashed Throat Creator Cameo Intrepid Reporter Demonic Possession Good Is Not Nice Mood Whiplash Pretty in Mink Taking the Bullet Wounded Gazelle Gambit Major Injury Underreaction Wham Shot Double-Meaning Title Film Series Animal Motifs Gold Digger Belligerent Sexual Tension Stock Footage Cat Fight Unusually Uninteresting Sight One Steve Limit Pet the Dog This Is Gonna Suck Meaningful Background Event Retirony Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! A God Am I Did Not Get the Girl Reality Is Unrealistic Animal Title Index Outrun the Fireball French Films Dirty Old Man Straight Gay Adapted Out Disproportionate Retribution Developing Doomed Characters Heroic BSoD Green-Eyed Monster Needs Wiki Magic Love The End... Or Is It? Redemption Equals Death Determinator aka: The Determinator Have a Gay Old Time Oh, Crap! Naïve Newcomer Artistic License – Physics Works Set in World War II Greater-Scope Villain Made of Iron Dirty Coward Obviously Evil The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Even Evil Has Standards Stealth Hi/Bye Off with His Head! Apocalypse How Music Stories Heel Realization Bring My Brown Pants Important Haircut Jerkass The '50s Psychological Thriller Bilingual Bonus Disney Villain Death Tap on the Head Slasher Movie The Load Disappeared Dad Narrator The Casanova Smug Snake Costume Porn Bad "Bad Acting" Vacation Films The Big Guy Evil-Detecting Dog Covers Always Lie Bait-and-Switch Madness Mantra Neck Lift Parental Abandonment Not So Above It All Chekhov's Gunman No-Sell Mama Bear Reckless Gun Usage Bald of Evil Intergenerational Friendship Race Against the Clock Comically Missing the Point Abusive Parents Informed Ability Christmas Movies Index Took a Level in Jerkass Foil Only Known by Their Nickname Bad Boss Card-Carrying Villain Mad Scientist The Atoner Double Entendre Took a Level in Badass Evil Counterpart Deconstruction Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Deus ex Machina Alpha Bitch Psycho for Hire Tranquil Fury Sanity Slippage Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Gorn Sequel Hook Jerk with a Heart of Gold Killed Mid-Sentence Big Eater Older Than They Look Plot Hole Make It Look Like an Accident Death by Sex Action Survivor Retired Badass The Alcoholic Imagine Spot Dull Surprise All for Nothing Annoying Younger Sibling Cruel and Unusual Death Fiery Redhead Genre Savvy Jitter Cam Camera Abuse Let's Get Dangerous! Bittersweet Ending It's Personal Ship Tease All There in the Script Men Are the Expendable Gender Naked People Are Funny Never My Fault Amusing Injuries Together in Death Alas, Poor Villain Those Wacky Nazis Stepford Smiler Villainous Breakdown Meet Cute Heroic Sacrifice Knight Templar Noodle Incident Really Gets Around Fingore Trailers Always Spoil Reality Has No Subtitles Beard of Evil "Well Done, Son!" Guy The Film of the Book Hate Sink Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Those Two Guys Eye Scream What You Are in the Dark Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday World of Ham Documentary Rule of Three Animated Credits Opening Meaningful Name Hollywood Darkness Take That! Blood from the Mouth Badass Grandpa Badass Longcoat Funny Foreigner Improbable Weapon User The Dragon Captain Ersatz It Can Think Wicked Cultured Room Full of Crazy Rousing Speech '80s Hair Pyrrhic Victory timeperiod Undying Loyalty Frame-Up Death Glare Dark and Troubled Past Rated M for Manly Dissonant Serenity I Need a Freaking Drink Take a Third Option The X of Y Actually Pretty Funny All Just a Dream Offscreen Teleportation Man on Fire Dark Reprise Manipulative Bastard Small Name, Big Ego Parental Neglect Market-Based Title Adaptational Villainy Unresolved Sexual Tension Whole Plot Reference Moment Killer Interrupted Suicide The Great Depression Love Triangle Death Seeker Dumb Blonde Daddy's Girl Victoria's Secret Compartment Insistent Terminology Bolivian Army Ending Death by Adaptation Faux Affably Evil Monumental Damage Revenge Dark Is Not Evil Foregone Conclusion The '70s My Greatest Failure Male Gaze Woman Scorned Spiritual Successor Hong Kong Films Police Brutality Wrong Genre Savvy Award-Bait Song Never Trust a Trailer One-Word Title Instant Death Bullet Armor-Piercing Question Getting Crap Past the Radar She's Got Legs Crapsack World Eiffel Tower Effect The Hero Deadpan Snarker Reality Ensues Broken Aesop Drill Sergeant Nasty From Nobody to Nightmare The Dog Bites Back Epic Movie In Name Only Immune to Bullets Large Ham Dramatic Irony Obfuscating Stupidity Friend to All Children The Lost Lenore Would Hit a Girl Extreme Doormat Arch-Enemy Dramedy Lock and Load Montage Mooks Crucified Hero Shot Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Fanservice Extra Skewed Priorities Time Skip Adults Are Useless Age Lift Male Frontal Nudity Arranged Marriage Attempted Rape One-Man Army Faking the Dead Black Dude Dies First The Place Shower Scene Drugs Are Bad Chekhov's Skill A Father to His Men Sinister Minister How We Got Here Nice Guy Facial Horror Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Kids Are Cruel Precision F-Strike The Musical Only Sane Man Shut Up, Hannibal! Chiaroscuro Better to Die than Be Killed I'm a Humanitarian German Films Sir Swears-a-Lot Yandere Betty and Veronica Deliberately Monochrome Artistic License – Military Demoted to Extra Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Random Events Plot Unreliable Narrator Honor Before Reason All There in the Manual Russian Films Early Installment Weirdness Contrived Coincidence Self-Deprecation Science Fiction Films Ambiguous Ending Not Even Bothering with the Accent Antagonist Title I Did What I Had to Do Cool Old Guy Grievous Bottley Harm Ungrateful Bastard Mythology Gag Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Heterosexual Life-Partners The Bully Worthy Opponent No Celebrities Were Harmed Fourth Date Marriage True Companions Fun with Acronyms Only in It for the Money Overprotective Dad Despair Event Horizon Combat Pragmatist 20 Minutes into the Future Psychopathic Manchild Romantic False Lead For Want of a Nail Eyepatch of Power Insane Troll Logic Darkest Hour Grey and Gray Morality "Awesome McCool" Name Soft Glass Vampire Fiction Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Very Loosely Based on a True Story Toplessness from the Back Not Quite Dead Blackmail Guile Hero British Films Eldritch Abomination Evil Is Hammy Title Drop Super Strength She Cleans Up Nicely Flipping the Bird Pragmatic Villainy Calling the Old Man Out Suspiciously Specific Denial Celebrity Paradox Parental Incest Big "NO!" No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Taking You with Me Plucky Comic Relief Kick the Dog NO INDOOR VOICE Big Bad Duumvirate Agony of the Feet Fire-Forged Friends Broken Pedestal Maybe Ever After Overly Long Gag Spared by the Adaptation He Who Fights Monsters Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Character Development Would Hurt a Child Pretty Little Headshots Translation Convention Stealth Pun Face Death with Dignity Fate Worse than Death Diabolus ex Machina Film Noir Index BFG Damsel in Distress Shoot the Shaggy Dog Cool Old Lady Cain and Abel Mr. Exposition Gratuitous English Stalker with a Crush Evil Sounds Deep Improvised Weapon Coming-of-Age Story Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Mexican Standoff All Girls Want Bad Boys Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Twist Ending Big Fancy House Unspoken Plan Guarantee Adorkable Not What It Looks Like Framing Device Bowdlerise Kill It with Fire Continuity Nod Gainax Ending Punny Name Artistic License – Law Defiant to the End Sequel Escalation The Un-Reveal Death of a Child Red Herring Empathic Environment There Is No Kill Like Overkill An Arm and a Leg Knife Nut Curb-Stomp Battle Children Are Innocent Evil Is Petty Central Theme Sole Survivor The '60s Nothing Is Scarier Aluminum Christmas Trees Earn Your Happy Ending Every Car Is a Pinto Italian Films Anyone Can Die Historical In-Joke Freeze-Frame Bonus Recycled IN SPACE! folderlabel Extremely Short Timespan Horror Comedy As the Good Book Says... Becoming the Mask Cold-Blooded Torture Big Damn Heroes N-Word Privileges Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Corrupt Corporate Executive Easily Forgiven Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy A Minor Kidroduction The Alleged Car Dutch Angle Composite Character Ax-Crazy Kill 'em All Fatal Flaw Bland-Name Product Brick Joke Once More, with Clarity! Gilligan Cut Badass in a Nice Suit Re-Cut Eagleland Gone Horribly Right Mistaken for Gay Chase Scene Pimped-Out Dress It's All About Me Those Two Bad Guys "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Well-Intentioned Extremist Show Within a Show Missing Mom Ambiguously Gay What the Hell, Hero? Fake Shemp The Faceless Motor Mouth Chekhov's Gun Even Evil Has Loved Ones Captain Obvious Jerk Jock Destination Defenestration Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Irony Hollywood Law Fan Disservice Bottomless Magazines Expy O.O.C. Is Serious Business Scare Chord Military and Warfare Films A Date with Rosie Palms Novelization Determinator Training Montage Match Cut Break the Cutie Insult Backfire No Antagonist Catch-Phrase Fat Bastard Get Out! Loophole Abuse Our Vampires Are Different The Oner Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Hell Is That Noise Refuge in Audacity Adaptational Attractiveness Boom, Headshot! The Power of Love Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Serial Killer The Stoner Reasonable Authority Figure Sadistic Choice Improbable Aiming Skills Hero of Another Story The Stoic Real Life Anguished Declaration of Love "The Reason You Suck" Speech In the Back Be Careful What You Wish For Parental Substitute Domestic Abuse Here We Go Again! Dramatic Gun Cock For the Evulz You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Chewing the Scenery Historical Villain Upgrade Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Black and Gray Morality Ghost Fiction Breaking the Fourth Wall The Reveal The '90s Bloodless Carnage Silent Movie Cluster F-Bomb Mercy Kill Drowning My Sorrows Married to the Job Unusual Euphemism Off-into-the-Distance Ending Alliterative Name Shown Their Work Blatant Lies Adaptation Name Change Ominous Latin Chanting Stylistic Suck Horror Films Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Chuck Cunningham Syndrome More Dakka Decoy Protagonist Throwing Your Sword Always Works Idiot Ball Dwindling Party Cloudcuckoolander You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Biopic Babies Ever After Sassy Black Woman Actor Allusion Genre Throwback Didn't Think This Through Bunny-Ears Lawyer Four-Temperament Ensemble Spell My Name with an "S" Villain Song Conspicuous CG Vitriolic Best Buds Film Noir Screw the Rules, I Have Money! "Shaggy Dog" Story Not So Stoic Artistic License – Gun Safety Evil vs. Evil Everyone Has Standards Scenery Gorn Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Logo Joke Up to Eleven Badass Boast Offscreen Moment of Awesome Call-Forward Only a Flesh Wound Freudian Excuse Big Applesauce Red Shirt Expository Hairstyle Change Bond One-Liner A.I. Is a Crapshoot Manchild Sports Stories Hero Antagonist