When an actor flies off the screen as a result of being punched in the face, he is – obviously – not being punched in the face at all. But it still makes us feel like that face must have suffered a lot.
This technique of amplifying the effect to give the impression of something bigger than the action works really well in composing too.
This allows us to place things like the snare at a healthy level and still make us feel like a bullet just ripped through the beat, because the rest of the mix reacted to it.
Cause and effect engineered into a track can ratchet up the drama really effectively.
Give it a go.
P.s. The Queen’s gambit producers used this effect to amplify the excitement of a chess game masterfully.
The TV audience will hardly understand the ‘genius’ of a chess sequence, but when the denizens of that world explodes with excitement you can’t help but feel the magic of it.