I'm going to hedge with definitions here:

A pillow shot or a scene creating emptiness may not change the audience's perception of the plot (plot = the series of actions in a movie) or the external acts of the protagonist et al.), but (as described here) it does change the audience's understanding of the story (story = the internal world / movement of a movie). The audience's understanding (emotional journey) is (or should be) always in motion until the movie ends (the plot may not change in a scene that consists only of scenery and music, but the audience's emotional world will change). In the hands of a skilled storyteller, an empty scene shades the audience's understanding of the interior world of the characters (especially the protagonist), which means that the audience's world as moviegoer is always changing. Orson Welles does this not so much with separate scenes as with mise-en-scene (camera angle, close-up, etc.). Locating the shootout in Lady from Shanghai in a hall of mirrors doesn't affect the plot per se but it develops the mood or theme.