In what other films/shows is the "lamps ominously swinging" trope?
April 27, 2017 7:57 PM Subscribe
At 0:41 in the famous Risky Business Porsche sinking scene there is a shot of the lamp on the dock swinging ominously as the dock is about the collapse. I know I have seen this "harbinger of doom" in other TV shows or movies, but I can't remember which ones. Not to be confused with Chandelier Swing (which involves a character actually swinging from the lamp) or Falling Chandelier of Doom, but rather more like the Dramatic Wind.
I know it's a trivial detail, but it seems so familiar!
Every single episode of the first three seasons of Supernatural.
posted by fshgrl at 10:04 PM on April 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 10:04 PM on April 27, 2017 [2 favorites]
When I saw "ominously swinging dock lamp" I was sure I would read ""Jaws" in the same sentence.
posted by coldhotel at 4:18 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by coldhotel at 4:18 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Isn't there a scene in "The Lost Weekend" where the guy finds the bottle of rye he hid when he was blackout drunk in a light fixture, by the shadow, after he has torn his apartment apart searching for it? Maybe that counts.
posted by thelonius at 5:27 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 5:27 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
In James Cameron's "Titanic," ship designer Thomas Andrews realizes the ship will sink when he notices the lamp above his head swinging gently.
posted by elphaba at 5:50 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by elphaba at 5:50 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure this was something Hitchcock used at least once, but I'm not sure exactly which film...
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 6:01 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 6:01 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
Dark City, which is a great somewhat unknown 90s movie. You get the lamp swinging within the first few minutes, and then you find out why later in the movie.
posted by Don_K at 7:41 AM on April 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Don_K at 7:41 AM on April 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
In Psycho, when Lila Crane comes face to face with Mrs. Bates, she flails her arm and sets the cellar lamp swinging, just before the sudden reappearance and revelation regarding Our Boy Norman.
posted by Flexagon at 9:10 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Flexagon at 9:10 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
The ceiling fan from Twin Peaks (TV series and prequel movie Fire Walk With Me)
posted by cadge at 10:38 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by cadge at 10:38 AM on April 28, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:03 PM on April 27, 2017 [1 favorite]