Try to find some examples of the following:
- Intentional confusion of diegetic and non-diegetic sound - In There's Something About Mary many of the scenes are introduced by what could be a musical narration, that is in reality two guys singing the songs, initially outside the frame, but then you see they're in the scene, in a tree branch or similar.
- Sound that is hard to identify as either diegetic or non diegetic - In Chef, when Martin (John Leguizamo's character) is cooking for the first time in the van, there's what would seem like non-diegetic music, but then he's dancing at (what seems) the rhythm of the music.
- Music (non-diegetic) used to identify social and cultural references - In Gandhi film initial scene, when they show Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, the music is indian.
- Music and other non-diegetic sound used to create, for example, atmosphere, tension and emotion
- Non-diegetic sound that sets the pace of a scene
- Non-diegetic sound that give clues or cues to action
A bit of cheating here... I'm going to use the same two scenes for the three examples above.
In these scenes of 2001 Space Odyssey, we can see how the weird futuristic sounds set the scene for tension and mystery (creates atmosphere) when the apes find out the out-of-the-way object, and the music gains in intensity to grow with the scene (sets the pace).
In the last scene, when the ape "discovers" the tool, the music is giving the cues for action. Is the music (and the slow motion) that emphasises the uniqueness of the moment. This is, probably, the most obvious example that one can find!
