History Main / TransformationDiscretionShot

* In the FailedPilotEpisode of ''Film/WEIRDWorld,'' Dr O'Reardon's plotline comes to a head when she uses credit-stealing partner Dr Mayhew as a test subject for her [[FountainOfYouth youth serum]]. Given the low-budget effects, Mayhew's regressions all occur via editing or visual trickery: beginning his regression after narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with Bob Provost, he is found to be very suddenly missing his wrinkles and arthritic joints. He stops at a gas station to call O'Reardon about this, and he looks to be back in his twenties on arrival... but as Mayhew moves between shelves, he regresses again and steps back into view as a teenager [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing in an oversized suit]]. By the time he gets back to the lab, he's regressed to childhood, [[TheDogBitesBack much to O'Reardon's amusement]] - especially once another cut leaves him down about four years old.

** In some of the live-action films, like the above animated examples sometimes Transformers will transform off-screen before stepping on-screen in their robot modes. In [[Film/{{Transformers}} the first film]], there were at least two sequences where Bumblebee is shown driving towards the screen, followed by the next shot depicting him doing a leap in robot mode and in the scene where the Autobots first land on Earth, a truck drives between Optimus Prime and the camera, and when it leaves the frame, he has scanned and transformed into a copy of it.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': In "Optimal Situation", as Optimus Primal is housing [[spoiler:the spark of Optimus Prime]], the shock of doing so sends him off-camera, where we hear him screaming in pain with his shadows showing him [[spoiler:turning into a bigger transformer like Prime]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'', ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'':A slow mutation begins when [[spoiler:Wallace]] transforms into a Were-Rabbit, growing huge buck teeth and large rabbit ears. These changes presumably continue as Victor, his dog, and Gromit all regard the transformation with growing apprehension. The next time [[spoiler:Wallace]] is in shot, he's become a towering bunny that beats his chest like a gorilla and howls at the moon.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', the effects the Happily Ever After potion have on Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey are only shown as flashes of light from a distance, with it shown that Shrek and Fiona became human while Donkey turned into a stallion in the following scene. Furthermore, when the effects of the potion wear off, Donkey is the only visible seen turning back to normal.

* ''WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit'', ''WesternAnimation/TheCurseOfTheWereRabbit'': [[spoiler:A slow mutation begins in Wallace while being bullied by Victor Quatermain, growing huge buck teeth and large rabbit ears. These changes presumably continue as Victor, his dog, and Gromit all regard the transforming Wallace with growing apprehension. The next time Wallace is in shot, he's become a towering bunny that beats his chest like a gorilla and howls at the moon.]]

* Near the beginning of ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', Kuzco begins to become a llama due to [[MinionWithanFinEvil Kronk]] accidentally feeding him the llama transformation potion instead of killing him with potion, he stuffs Kuzco into a bag, and by the time Pacha finally finds him, Kuzco is already now fully transformed into a llama. [[spoiler: We also never see Kuzco transform back into a human after [[BigBad Yzma]] is finally defeated.]]

* In the [[OneEpisodeWonder pilot episode]] of ''W.E.I.R.D. World,'' Dr O’Reardon's plotline comes to a head when she uses credit-stealing partner Dr Mayhew as a test subject for her [[FountainOfYouth youth serum]]. Given the low-budget effects, Mayhew's regressions all occur via editing or visual trickery: beginning his regression after narrowly avoiding a head-on collision with Bob Provost, he is found to be very suddenly missing his wrinkles and arthritic joints. He stops at a gas station to call O'Reardon about this, and he looks to be back in his twenties on arrival... but as Mayhew moves between shelves, he regresses again and steps back into view as a teenager [[ShapeshiftingExcludesClothing in an oversized suit]]. By the time he gets back to the lab, he's regressed to childhood, [[TheDogBitesBack much to O'Reardon's amusement]] - especially once another cut leaves him down about four years old.

** Shortly after this scene, Paprika is forced to flee from the BigBad and TheDragon as they unleash [[DreamWeaver their powers]] on the dreamworld, using her own abilities to escape into different dream environments, transforming along the way. Though her transformation into the sphinx in Gustave Moreau's ''Oedipus And The Sphinx'' is seen in full, the rest occur in cuts: when "Oedipus" [[spoiler: AKA Osanai]] knocks Paprika into the ocean, her transformation into a mermaid isn't revealed until we cut beneath the surface; then, when [[spoiler: the Chairman]] takes the form of a whale and eats her alive, he blasts her out through his blowhole - revealing that she has now become [[ToyTransmutation a clown doll]] that lands amidst the parade.
** In the climax, [[spoiler: Atsuko and Paprika finally [[SplitPersonalityMerge merge into one united personality]] in order to defeat the Chairman once and for all, [[SymbolicHeroRebirth transforming into a giant baby]] that matures as it feeds upon Inui's contagious nightmare until it's become an adult dream goddess. However, though the process of growing from infancy to adulthood is seen in full, the moment in which the two personalities merge and actually become the baby is obscured by the fact that it takes place inside the body of a HumongousMecha.]]

** When Himuro reveals himself as the apparent culprit behind the theft of the [[AppliedPhlebotinum DC Mini]], he does so by transforming the face of a CreepyDoll to match his own in a fully animated scene. However, when Atsuko/Paprika confronts him, we see an ordinary doll turning to face her... and then a cut to Paprika's POV reveals that it's suddenly wearing Himuro's face. Paprika ends up literally tearing Himuro's head off in her attempts to capture him, only to find herself holding the head of an ordinary doll in another cut.
** In the same scene, while Atsuko/Paprika is attempting to awaken Dr Shima from [[NightParadeOfOneHundredDemons the Parade nightmare]], she's initially a doll-sized figure dressed in a shepherdess costume to match the dolls accompanying him on the float, but when Shima notices her, Paprika suddenly finds herself dressed in a more traditional Japanese costume to match his delusions.
** During Paprika's second therapy session with Detective Konakawa, the detective manifests himself in the iconic sunglasses and cap of Creator/AkiraKurosawa to reveal [[HiddenDepths his hidden love of filmmaking]]. However, when Paprika delves deeper into the reasons for his troubling dreams and how they relate to his past interest in film, Konakawa becomes uncomfortable - then suddenly regresses to a much younger man in a cut. Then, when the Parade breaks into the movie theater, Konakawa is suddenly back to his middle-aged self in yet another cut.

** During the opening credits, [[SuperpoweredAlterEgo Paprika]] uses her DreamWalker powers to journey across the city, often transforming through stylistic trickery along the way. In one case, while biking down the highway, she happens to pass a truck with a cartoon mascot [[RocketRide riding a rocket]] on its side - only for the mascot to transform into her as she passes over it and fly off, going from a simple graphic to a three-dimensional being in a cut. Later, in order to avoid being pestered by two teenagers, she darts behind a passing roller-skater and seemingly vanishes... and it's not until the skater moves closer that the audience realizes that Paprika has transformed herself into an image on his t-shirt.
** When Himuro reveals himself as the apparent culprit behind the theft of the [[AppliedPhlebotinum DC Mini]], he does so by transforming the face of a CreepyDoll to match his own in a fully animated scene. Himuro continues to manifest himself as dolls in the dreamworld, but this time with no visible transformation: when Atsuko/Paprika confronts him, we see an ordinary doll turning to face her... and then a cut to Paprika's POV reveals that it's suddenly wearing Himuro's face. Paprika ends up literally tearing Himuro's head off in her attempts to capture him, only to find herself holding the head of an ordinary doll in another cut.
** In the same scene, while Atsuko/Paprika is attempting to awaken Dr Shima from [[NightParadeOfOneHundredDemons the Parade nightmare]], she's initially a doll-sized figure dressed in a shepherdess costume to match the dolls accompanying him on the float, but when Shima notices her, Paprika suddenly finds herself dressed in a more traditional Japanese costume to match his delusions. By contrast, Paprika growing back into her usual size and costume and Shima inflating to skyscraper proportions are both shown in detail.

** After discovering that [[spoiler: Chairman Inui]] is behind the Parade nightmare and the theft of the DC Mini, Atsuko and Dr Shima attempt to confront him in the real world... only to suddenly realize that she never awoke from the dream where she discovered the truth. As a result, Atsuko ''immediately'' transforms into Paprika via a cut. [[spoiler: Worse still, the same cut reveals that Dr Shima is actually [[TheDragon Osanai]] in disguise.]]
** Shortly after this scene, Paprika is forced to flee from the BigBad and TheDragon as they unleash [[DreamWeaver their powers]] on the dreamworld, using her own abilities to escape into different dream environments, transforming along the way. Though her transformation into the sphinx in Gustave Moreau's ''Oedipus And The Sphinx'' is seen in full, the rest occur in cuts: when [[spoiler: Osanai]] takes the form of Oedipus and knocks Paprika into the ocean, her transformation into a mermaid isn't revealed until we cut to beneath the surface; then, when [[spoiler: the Chairman]] takes the form of a whale and eats her alive, he blasts her out through his blowhole - revealing that she has now become [[ToyTransmutation a clown doll]] that lands amidst the parade.

-->--'''[=EtriJames=]''', ''Watchtower Database.''

->''"I physically can not look at you. We swap places every time, but the editor cuts out the horrific, demonic, transformation for the audience's sake"''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'': In the episode "Prehistoric Pup", when Odie gets stuck in the gum, he gets exposed to a meteorite that turns him into a giant green prehistoric dog. But when he transforms, it is offscreen.

* ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'': In the ending of "[[Literature/StillMoreTalesToGiveYouGoosebumps An Old Story]]",[[spoiler: Jon turns back into a baby off screen by eating a jar of baby food, an antidote for Aunt Dahlia's magical prunes.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMutantMayhem'': A flashback sequence early in the film depicts how Splinter and the Turtles first became mutants around 15 years prior to the events of the film. Splinter's hand is seen from his perspective as it absorbs some of the mutagen and begins to crack into a more human shape, but the rest of his transformation is only shown [[ShadowDiscretionShot as a shadow on the wall of the sewer]] before showing him completely transformed, though his pained screams make it clear how horrific it is. As for the Turtles themselves, their transformation from regular baby turtles to mutant baby turtles, which happens at the exact same time, occurs completely off-screen.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMutantMayhem'': A flashback sequence early in the film depicts how Splinter and the Turtles first became mutants around 15 years prior to the events of the film. Splinter's hand is seen from his perspective as it absorbs some of the mutagen and begins to crack into a more human shape, but the rest of his transformation is only shown [[ShadowDiscretionShot as a shadow on the wall of the sewer]] before showing him completely transformed, though his pained screams make it clear how horrific it is. As for the Turtles themselves, their transformation from regular baby turtles to mutant baby turtles, which occurs at the exact same time, occurs completely off-screen.

Often, this is due to budgetary concerns: on-screen transformations require costly special effects, after all. In other cases, it's due to simply lacking the technique or the technology to make the transition appear believable, a trope common in animation because of the insane level of skill required to draw or animate the transition between forms and may also be due to time constraints.

Even in cases where the production does have the skill and budget to display transformations on screen, it's still possible to find examples of this technique alongside the sequences. Here, once the presence of a shapeshifting character or transmogrifying power has been established through one visually extraordinary sequence, it's not uncommon for all the other transformation scenes to be obscured through the discretion shot unless they're considered ''really'' important to the plot.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'': Lampwick's transformation into a donkey is mostly shown on-screen, but when he fully succumbs into a donkey's body and [[IWantMyMommy calls out for his mama]], all that's shown is his and Pinocchio's shadow.

** In the same scene, while Atsuko/Paprika is attempting to awaken Dr Shima from [[NightParadeOfOneHundredDemons the Parade nightmare]], she's initially dressed up in a shepherdess costume to match the dolls accompanying him on the float, but when Shima notices her, Paprika suddenly finds herself dressed in a more traditional Japanese costume to match his delusions. By contrast, the transformations that both [[GiantWoman Paprika]] and [[PopGoesTheHuman Shima]] undergo in the remainder of this scene are all shown in detail.

** After discovering that [[spoiler: Chairman Inui]] is behind the Parade nightmare, Atsuko and Dr Shima attempt to confront him in the real world... only to suddenly realize that she never awoke from the dream where she discovered the truth. As a result, Atsuko ''immediately'' transforms into Paprika via a cut. [[spoiler: Worse still, the same cut reveals that Dr Shima is actually be a disguised Osanai, the Chairman's loyal servant.]]
** Shortly after this scene, Paprika is forced to flee from the BigBad and TheDragon as they unleash [[DreamWeaver their powers]] on the dreamworld, using her own abilities to escape into different dream environments, transforming along the way. Though her transformation into the sphinx in Gustave Moreau's ''Oedipus And The Sphinx'' is seen in full, the rest occur in cuts: when [[spoiler: Osanai]] takes the form of Oedipus and knocks Paprika into the ocean, her transformation into a mermaid isn't revealed until we cut to beneath the surface; then, when [[spoiler: the Chairman]] takes the form of a whale and eats her alive, he blasts her out through his blowhole - revealing that she has now become [[ToyTransmutation a clown doll]].

** During the big reveal of her shapeshifting powers in the broom closet, Nimona is briefly seen glowing and getting taller, only for the camera to abruptly cut to a POV shot of Ballister's stunned expression as Nimona's perspective lurches upwards. Cut to the corridor outside as Nimona's rhino form ''explodes'' out of the closet and through the waiting guards. For good measure, as the ensuing chase sequence demonstrates, all subsequent shapeshifts occur in full view of the camera.

** During the opening credits, [[SuperpoweredAlterEgo Paprika]] uses her DreamWalker powers to journey across the city, often transforming through stylistic trickery along the way. In one case, while biking down the highway, she happens to pass a truck with a cartoon mascot [[RocketRide riding a rocket]] on its side - only for the mascot to transform into her as she passes over it and fly off, going from a simple graphic to a three-dimesnional being in a cut. Later, in order to avoid being pestered by two teenagers, she darts behind a passing roller-skater and seemingly vanishes... and it's not until the skater moves closer that the audience realizes that Paprika has transformed herself into an image on his t-shirt.

** After discovering that [[spoiler: Chairman Inui]] is behind the Parade nightmare, Atsuko and Dr Shima attempt to confront him in the real world... only to suddenly realize that she never awoke from the dream where she discovered the truth. As a result, Atsuko ''immediately'' transforms into Paprika via a cut. [[spoiler: Worse still, the same cut reveals that Dr Shima is revealed to actually be a disguised Osanai, the Chairman's loyal servant.]]

** When Himuro reveals himself as the apparent culprit behind the theft of the [[DreamWalker DC Mini]], he does so by transforming the face of a CreepyDoll to match his own in a fully animated scene. Himuro continues to manifest himself as dolls in the dreamworld, but this time with no visible transformation: when Atsuko/Paprika confronts him, we see an ordinary doll turning to face her... and then a cut to Paprika's POV reveals that it's suddenly wearing Himuro's face. Paprika ends up literally tearing Himuro's head off in her attempts to capture him, only to find herself holding the head of an ordinary doll in another cut.
** In the same scene, while Atsuko/[[SuperpoweredAlterEgo Paprika]] is attempting to awaken Dr Shima from the Parade nightmare, she's initially dressed up in a shepherdess costume to match the dolls accompanying him on the float, but when Shima notices her, Paprika suddenly finds herself dressed in a more traditional Japanese costume to match his delusions. By contrast, the transformations that both [[GiantWoman Paprika]] and [[PopGoesTheHuman Shima]] undergo in the remainder of this scene are all shown in detail.
** During Paprika's second therapy session with Detective Konakawa, the detective manifests himself in the iconic sunglasses and cap of Creator/AkiraKurosawa to reveal [[HiddenDepths his hidden love of filmmaking]]. However, when Paprika delves deeper into the reasons for his troubling dreams, Konakawa becomes uncomfortable and suddenly regresses to a much younger man in a cut. Then, when the Parade breaks into the movie theater, Konakawa is suddenly back to his middle-aged self in yet another cut.
** After discovering that [[spoiler: Chairman Inui]] is behind the Parade nightmare, Atsuko and Dr Shima attempt to confront him in the real world... only to suddenly realize that she never awoke from the dream where she discovered the truth. As a result, Atsuko ''immediately'' transforms into Paprika via a cut. [[spoiler: Worse still, the same cut reveals that Dr Shima is revealed to actually be a disguised Osanai, the Chairman's henchman.]]
** Shortly after this scene, Paprika is forced to flee from the BigBad and TheDragon as they unleash [[DreamWeaver their powers]] on the dreamworld, using [[DreamWalker her own abilities]] to escape into different dream environments, transforming along the way. Though her transformation into the sphinx in Gustave Moreau's ''Oedipus And The Sphinx'' is seen in full, the rest occur in cuts: when [[spoiler: Osanai]] takes the form of Oedipus and knocks Paprika into the ocean, her transformation into a mermaid isn't revealed until we cut to beneath the surface; then, when [[spoiler: the Chairman]] takes the form of a whale and eats her alive, he blasts her out through his blowhole - revealing that she has now become [[ToyTransmutation a clown doll]].

** In the climax, [[spoiler: Atsuko and Paprika finally [[SplitPersonalityMerge merge into one united personality]] in order to defeat the Chairman once and for all, [[SymbolicRebirth transforming into a giant baby]] that matures as it feeds upon Inui's contagious nightmare until it's become an adult dream goddess. However, though the process of growing from infancy to adulthood is seen in full, the moment in which the two personalities merge and actually become the baby is obscured by the fact that it takes place inside the body of a HumongousMecha.]]

* Though many transformations in ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'' occur in detailed sequences, just as many occur only in cuts, befitting the weird and inconsistent atmosphere of a dream:
** When Himuro reveals himself as the apparent culprit behind the theft of the DC Mini, he does so by transforming the face of a CreepyDoll to match his own in a fully animated scene. Himuro continues to manifest himself as dolls in the dreamworld, but this time with no visible transformation: when Atsuko/Paprika confronts him, we see an ordinary doll turning to face her... and then a cut to Paprika's POV reveals that it's suddenly wearing Himuro's face. Paprika ends up literally tearing Himuro's head off in her attempts to capture him, only to find herself holding the head of an ordinary doll in another cut.