When you use a scene that contrasts a works genre

[K_S]

I'm not too sure what the formal term of this is called. But when a scene contrasts with the base genre of a piece...

For example, a gag/laugh before the monster comes out in a horror piece, the peaceful moment before the action scenes kick in. It's that contrasting scene, where the moment plays against the genre but enhances the base work in the long run...

Regardless I can't recall what it's called but I wondered if anyone here's ever used it in their works and wanted to share examples? It's a topic I hadn't seen brought up so I thought I'd give it a platform here.

 

[Negrek]

I enjoy these sorts of scenes a lot! Obviously it’s always a question of execution, and when the tone swings around between scenes unintentionally, it’s awful. (Or, maybe, hilarious.) But I think introducing contrast with a scene that maybe seems “out of place” can be a very powerful technique.

Since my current story’s quite dark, usually I’m looking at humorous or heartwarming scenes to contrast the prevailing tone. I don’t want things to feel relentlessly bleak or pointless; even in really dire circumstances, there are still happy moments, and sometimes the sheer level of bleakness itself gets to be absurd and kind of funny.

One way or another, I try to give the audience some respite now and again by playing up some of the characters’ absurdities. The protagonist, for example, can be a bit terrifying and cold, so I’ll include scenes where they’re out of their depth, whether trying to operate a computer or have a normal, convincingly human conversation.

I also like some contrast in a tragedy because it helps remind the audience of what could be, if the characters could only get their acts together. For example, for the audience to really feel the loss of a character, they need to have the opportunity to see what’s going to be lost first. I try to have some silly, lighthearted or heartwarming scenes between characters so that when things go bad between them or the relationship is otherwise lost the audience gets a sense of that loss themselves and really understands how it feels for those “good times” to be taken away.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Definitely agree on all points from Negrek. Contrast is so, so important in writing (and reading) because just like with food, if you get the same flavor over and over, it kind of blends together. That first bite of something always tastes the best, imo. To keep a reader's taste buds from getting bored, I like to use that contrast you're talking about. The emotional highs won't feel as high without the lows to compare them against, and vice versa. The sorrow hits differently when it's paired with fluff.

Fear, joy, anger, when you're feeling the same thing for too long, you grow numb to it. That's the cool thing with contrast, too, is you don't have to use much in order to get an effect. The change in emotion or tone makes even a slight change feel more impactful. I think that's why things like grimdark stories can wear a reader down if all they do is pour on more grimdark. Using elements like Negrek mentioned, giving the reader glimpses of hope, or belief that things can get better, before tearing them away hits a lot harder than having those bad things happen on a steady downward trend. That little blip on the graph can feel like a drop on a rollercoaster if you play your contrasting cards right.