Revealing It's a Dream: MATLOCK
This Matlock scene starts like any day in the office before three different types of cues in quick succession lead us into an ‘it was just a dream!’ reveal.
Audio Cues
The brass from the jaunty intro and a couple fingerbell/chimes play in the background even after Matty (Kathy Bates) sits down and the conversation gets ‘serious.’
But the noticeable shift starts at 1:00-1:04 — Olympia’s (Skye P. Marshall) voice gets drastically echo-y, then strings swell and a foreboding ‘duuun’ sounds.
These techniques could also be used to ‘put us in Matty’s head’ or give the audience a feeling akin to the doom she feels, but either way the audio makes quite clear something is afoot!
Camera Moves
Starting at 0:53 when Olympia begins laying out the case against Matty, the camera dollies closer and closer to her.
The camera is also moving closer to Matty in her (very quick) reaction shot at 0:53.
The real payoff is the dolly zoom on Matty which terrifies her out of the dream:
Props and Wardrobe
The basket of mouth-watering muffins is a nice touch; don’t they look just a little TOO dreamy and deliciously perfect, plus professionally arrayed in an idyllic wicker basket?
If someone hand-delivered these to me I’d at least fleetingly consider whether I’d done something to make them want to poison me!
The ‘smash out’ of the dream follows an absurd moment dressed in wardrobe which is also another blatant reference to the original Matlock, the person/show Matty and the lawyers were discussing within the scene.
*chef’s kiss*
Takeaways
You don’t have to wait until the smash cut to someone gasping in bed before you tip the audience that something is a dream.
Whether you go subtle like audio cues and small camera movements, or go for broke with a complete wardrobe change, dream sequences are supposed to be weird, get weird, have fun, go for broke!