History Main / ObscuredSpecialEffects

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', the camera cuts away each time Gale consumes a magic item, saving Larian the trouble of animating him eating weapons or clothing.

* In the original ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' trilogy on the UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation}}, characters are almost never actually shown opening or closing doors. When a character besides the player (or even a monster) enters or leaves a room, it is often done off-screen. The tiny handful of exceptions can usually be spotted ahead of time by a door that's [[ConspicuouslyLightPatch rendered from polygons rather than being part of the background]].

* One of the reasons most levels in ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot1996'' took place in [[JungleJapes thick rainforests]] is because the big tree leaves of such a setting could be used to obscure parts of the level that needed to be unrendered to keep from straining the limited hardware of the UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}}.

* Done for the opposite reason in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom:'' When the filmmakers saw the footage of the animatronic human sacrifice being lowered into the flames, they decided it looked ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath too real,]]'' and added some flames to the foreground to make it harder to see. This same effect was used for the exploding heads at the end of ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''.

* Used rather tastefully in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'': Marty's original jump to 1955, his entry back to 1985 and cinema crash, and Doc leaving for 2015 at the end of the movie, all happen either as a POV inside the car or entirely off-screen. Since Marty leaving 1955 and the signature ending shot of the film are depicted fully (as well as Marty witnessing his first jump once returning to 1985), the audience doesn't pick up on it.[[note]]As an homage to this, ''[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII Part II]]'' shows jumping to 1985A in first-person, as well as jumping to and just before leaving 1885 in ''[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII Part III]]''[[/note]]. On a larger scale, while time travel obviously makes up a large part of the story, it's ultimately a B Plot used to get Marty to meet his parents when they're his age, which is the true heart of the film. Time Travel is the A Plot in ''Part II'' thanks to ''Part I'' normalizing it, but ''Part III'' once again sets it aside so that Marty's insecurities and Doc falling in love with Clara can take focus.

* Non-Playable races in ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'' that don't fit the standard humanoid shape (namely Penguins, Agarans, Frogs, and "Maggot Man") are actually playable races (Florans for Agarans, Humans for the rest) wearing outfits not obtainable in normal gameplay. You can tell because they use the original race's sound effects when spoken to.

Note that many of the examples from 3D animated mediums aren't about hiding things like flying or explosions but instead about obscuring relatively mundane actions, such as a character marking something with a pen or adjusting their hair; 3D animation is very efficient at making objects move around, but much less efficient at altering the [[NoFlowInCGI shape]] or texture of objects. Since these things aren't that interesting to look at, many directors will choose to use an obscure camera angle rather than sink hundreds of hours into a second of uninteresting animation.

** In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', if you choose [[spoiler: to [[NonStandardGameOver join the Shadow Queen as a servant]]]], then a flash of white light is used to hide Mario’s model being swapped with [[spoiler:a brainwashed/lobotomised version of him]]. The localised versions [[{{Bowdlerise}} remove the model swap]], [[OrphanedReference but keep in the flash]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' has an example that's not obscured by in-game imagery but by picture resolution. Whenever Mario moves with the camera zoomed out very far, his model will be replaced with a very low-polygon version to save on graphical resources. The CRT televisions on which gamers would have first played the game in 1996 were sufficiently low-resolution to disguise this change, but playing a high-definition rerelease of the game (especially 720p or higher) makes it easier to see what's happening. This is a very common trick in video games even today -- the term for it is LOD, short for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_of_detail_(computer_graphics) "level of detail".]] While the swap is pretty obvious in older games like ''Mario 64'', newer games are more subtle with how they switch, and usually have multiple models depending on how far away an object is.
* In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', if you choose [[spoiler: to [[NonStandardGameOver join the Shadow Queen as a servant]]]], then a flash of white light is used to hide Mario’s model being swapped with [[spoiler:a brainwashed/lobotomised version of him]]. The localised versions [[{{Bowdlerise}} remove the model swap]], [[OrphanedReference but keep in the flash]].

* Video games require thousands of hours of animation, especially in terms of facial expressions, and if you do it wrong it’s extremely easy to fall into UncannyValley. ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'', amongst other science fiction franchises, often solves this problem by [[CoolHelmet sticking everyone in helmets]] or making them faceless robots.

* A near-universal technique used in 3-dimensional video games is to have the model of a character/enemy/object that doesn't need to be depicted yet -- but ''will'' need to pop into view soon -- rendered just outside of the level boundaries so that it can be quickly snapped into position in the visible level once the player triggers the necessary event flag. The alternative would be to load the model from scratch immediately before it's needed, which typically requires an annoying load screen. Fans of the "Boundary Break" series by [=YouTuber=] Shesez will be very familiar with this technique.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'':

** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', the Boss pulling her shirt open is shown from behind, before cutting to her front to show her scar.
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', when Drebin writes 'RAT PT 01' on the floor in chalk, we only see his face while he's writing, and then cut to the completed text.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' has an example that's not obscured by in-game imagery but by picture resolution. Whenever Mario moves with the camera zoomed out very far, his model will be replaced with a very low-polygon version to save on graphical resources. The CRT televisions on which gamers would have first played the game in 1996 were sufficiently low-resolution to disguise this change, but playing a high-definition rerelease of the game (especially 720p or higher) makes it easier to see what's happening.

* Downplayed in ''Film/TheBeastFromTwentyThousandFathoms'', where the first look we get at the beast is obscured by a blizzard - but we still get a pretty damn good look at the thing, and the effects hold up pretty well today.[[/folder]]

* Likewise, ''Film/TheMist'' has a whole plethora of monsters, obscured by... well, you can probably guess. We do get a pretty good look at a few of them, but others - including perhaps the most iconic creature in the movie, the gargantuan, six-legged Behemoth - are barely more than ghostly silhouettes, looming through the mist.
** ''The Mist'' also had a rerelease in DeliberateMonochrome, which both adds to the '50s sci-fi GenreThrowback feel of it, and subtly serves as this trope, letting the 2007 CGI age a little better.