A lot of sound design focusses on the creation of hyper-realism and creating larger than life sounds, however juxtaposing this sound sweetening against the more realistic relatable sounds can actually emphasise the scale of the sweetened sound. This method is used very commonly in modern TV. For example, episode 5 of MARVEL’s newly released Black Lightning, introduces the antagonist Tobius Whale, walking tall through the hallways of crooked community centre to the aggressive thud of a lo-fi hip hop track, in semi slow motion. This scene immediately cuts to one of Whale’s victims screaming. This juxtaposition between the head bopping swagger of a slightly intimidating rap record and the isolated screams of this victim really introduces the nature of this character with effect. Whilst abrupt the cut between these sounds still allows for the resolution of the non diegetic track, before switching. This type of editing allows the experience of a media format to be immersive as well as jaunting and challenging, because the contrast between these two feelings and the lack of journey between them exposes the audience and creates tension. This method is used liberally across all visual media formats and is effective for a number of reasons.
Non diegetic sound is sound not experienced by the film’s characters and is usually used to describe the emotions of the character or the story itself, in some examples the non-diegetic soundtrack can actually summarise the emotion or genre of the film with great effect. A good example of a curated soundtrack that is very effective in describing genre and style is DRIVE. This consists mainly of synthwave music with dark overtones, with artists such as kavinsky and College, which perfectly encapsulate the themes of film noir.
Jordan Vaughan: Creative Sound Design 