exploring contrast in sound design: case study on short documentary, 'something glamorous something awkward'

Last year I had the pleasure of completing the sound design and mix for Something Glamorous, Something Awkward, directed by Leanne Dimant.

The film follows Mr. X, who has spent most of his life in state care. It explores his troubled past, his obsession with crafting extraordinary structures out of found materials, and his eventual release from hospital into the real world. As he prepares to leave, the objects he builds become more than sculptures: in his imagination, they transform into spacecraft, vehicles of escape from hospital wards and violent encounters, and symbols of crossing society’s boundaries.

From the very beginning, it was clear that contrast would be the guiding principle of the sound design. The spotting session with Leanne included words like tactile, rough and ready, and earthiness. Mr. X was obsessed with tape — tearing through rolls of it — and these sounds became crucial anchors for his world. The challenge was to capture not only the physical detail of his craft, but also the mystery, escapism, and imaginative leaps that the story demanded.

Textural Contrast: Cardboard vs. Cosmos

I worked closely with foley artist and long-time collaborator Ross Wilkes. Ross consistently goes the extra mile on projects we collaborate on, and this film was no exception. Together, we captured close-mic’d foley of scissors slicing, cardboard bending, tape ripping, and boxes shuffling — sounds that grounded Mr. X in his immediate, physical reality. Leanne used the word 'tactile' in our spotting session and the foley work captured and enhanced this concept sonically.

These raw, organic details were then contrasted with futuristic, designed sounds to reflect his imagination. I incorporated elements from BOOM’s Sci-Fi Momentum library. Layering these with more musical, electronic textures allowed me to build a sonic bridge between the humble materials in Mr. X’s hands and the vast, otherworldly journeys unfolding in his mind.

The result was a deliberate clash of the earthy and the epic, the rough and the polished. This tension didn’t just sound pleasing — it mirrored the film’s central theme: how discarded, everyday objects can spark extraordinary creativity.

Narrative Contrast: Closed vs. Open

Beyond textures, I used contrast to reflect the film’s emotional arc.

In the first half, while Mr. X is still in hospital, the sound world is intentionally restrained: muted room tones and mono neutral ambiences. This created a sense of confinement — a grey sonic backdrop that paralleled the institutional environment.

When Mr. X is finally released, the soundscape expands. I opened up the world with rich, layered stereo ambiences and surround panning, bringing in snow, wind, birds, and traffic — details absent from his former environment. The effect was one of sudden breadth and vitality, underscoring the theme of liberation.

Why Contrast Matters in Sound — and in Life

Contrast isn’t just a creative choice; it’s a fundamental principle of how humans perceive the world.

Our sensory systems are tuned to notice change, not constancy. Gradual shifts in light or temperature often escape our awareness, but sudden changes capture our attention instantly. Evolutionarily, this made sense: detecting a rustle in the grass (predator) or a sudden movement (prey) was more critical to survival than registering the steady sound of wind or water.

The auditory system in particular is designed to filter out constant, predictable sounds — the hum of a fridge, the roar of traffic — while remaining exquisitely sensitive to new or unusual signals. This is why we can pick out a human voice across a noisy room, even when the background noise is technically louder. Our brains are wired to prioritise contrast over continuity.

For sound designers, this is both a scientific truth and a creative tool. By leaning into contrast — between textures, between silence and fullness, between narrow and wide spatialisation — we can shape how audiences feel, drawing their attention where it matters most and making the story resonate on a deeper level.

Something Glamorous, Something Awkward was a rich opportunity to explore these ideas in practice. From the tactile ripping of tape to the soaring resonance of imagined starships, from confined mono spaces to expansive stereo ambiences, contrast was the thread that tied the sound design together.