Scenery Porn - 5 Centimeters per Second
Scenery Porn - Avatar: the Last Airbender
Scenery Porn - Lord of the Rings
Scenery Porn - Departures
André is one hell of a cameraman.
Scenery Porn - Hayao Miyazaki films
Scenery Porn - The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi
More here.
Trope of the Day - Scenery Porn
“Geographic conditions indicate an aesthetically pleasing view nearby. Organic lifeforms may wish to take note.”
— Hammerhead’s V.I. Mass Effect 2, Project Overlord DLC
Scenery porn is the emphasis on luscious backgrounds with great detail, lovely lighting or both. It means that the makers put in extra effort for something that might not have direct influence on the plot. Of course, there are extra points to be earned when the scenery actually enhances the plot in some sort of symbolic fashion.
In live-action movies, scenery porn is in effect when extra effort is put into emphasizing a beautiful surrounding, usually wide-open landscapes. Stage productions can have copious amounts of this trope with elaborate sets and backdrops. A main characteristic is that the scenery is almost treated as a character in its own right, either as a passive onlooker or with a more active role, depending on the setting of the show (if the scenery is literally a character with a mind of its own, then it’s a Genius Loci). Bonus Points when Awesome Music is added.
In literature, scenery porn manifests itself as long paragraphs that go into more detail about the setting than necessary, such as describing at length the mountains of the Swiss countryside, or name-dropping all the streets in Chicago as the character turns on them. It’s the author’s way of proving that he’s from the area in question or did the research, and while it’s a great bonus for people who know the area, it can be seen as Filler to just about everyone else. On the extreme end of this, some works are popular entirely because they are nothing but Scenery Porn.
