First, to address an issue brought up elsewhere (I believe by BJ): There really was no reason to expand this category to five nominations (or to rename it Sound Editing, honestly. Everybody knew what Sound Effects meant, and I think they -- at least subconsciously -- still vote on that basis). Expanding to five has just made the two sound categories look redundant -- since the change, it seems like it's always four nominees showing up both places. If sound editing were still three, say it would have been Sniper, Interstellar and The Hobbit; sound mixing, including two new titles and eliminating The Hobbit, wouldn't look like such a carbon copy. (I'm skeptical we'll ever get another sound editing slate like 2000-2001, composed of multiple films that don't show up anywhere else)
As for this year's category...I'm afraid this is my poor-attendance slot: I had every intention of skipping The Hobbit, but I've been unable to see Unbroken, either. Of the remaining: Birdman has some decent effects, but not enough to compete with the other two (under mixing, it might have a shot, especially if Birdman is the best picture winner). I think it's down to Interstellar and American Sniper, but I don't view it as all that close. Interstellar, despite its in-the-end more than decent gross, is viewed as a disappointment, where Sniper is the unexpected smash of the season. All those shots and explosions should make this an easy Sniper win.
Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing
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Mister Tee
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing
Weird that Best Sound Editing has to rank as one of the least competitive tech categories when it has to be even money between American Sniper and Interstellar. Last year's win for Gravity doesn't necessarily favor Interstellar so much as point to the fact that these people don't really know what they're voting for. So as long as they remember American Sniper as being a loud war movie, that should point to a win for Eastwood's film.The Original BJ wrote
This doesn't seem like one of the more competitive tech categories, but I still wouldn't bet the farm on my prediction -- I think more than one outcome is very possible.
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The Original BJ
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Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing
This doesn't seem like one of the more competitive tech categories, but I still wouldn't bet the farm on my prediction -- I think more than one outcome is very possible.
On the surface, The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies would seem to be a strong candidate for this prize -- most of the movie is a loud battle sequence, with lots of swords clanging and strange creatures grunting. And in terms of box office, the movie was a sizable hit. But I imagine Middle Earth fatigue has just exhausted people, as evidenced by the miss for the (still very impressive) visual effects. It would be extremely fluky for the movie to ride its sole nomination to a win.
Unbroken has a lot of noteworthy sound effects at the beginning of the movie, both in the initial air battle and in the sequence that leads to the ocean crash. But the movie quiets for a long stretch following that, until the liberation of the camp nearer the movie's end. It feels like the kind of movie that COULD win here, but mostly as part of a big sweep. Given that even Slumdog Millionaire couldn't carry this category along, I figure Unbroken likely won't be strong enough to triumph over louder alternatives.
Birdman has some cool sound effects here and there -- those fantasy sequences are some of the movie's most exciting and imaginative moments, and certainly the film is viewed as a terrific technical achievement across the board. It also has the advantage of being the nomination leader, and perhaps enthusiasm for the movie could carry it to a win. But...if it's tricky to find a Cinematography precedent for the film, it's REALLY hard to find one in this category. Winners in this category just tend to have a base level of volume that Birdman lacks.
I view this category as mostly a race between American Sniper and Interstellar. Christopher Nolan's blockbusters have done well in this category recently, winning twice. And Interstellar has the kind of wall-to-wall sound and futuristic effects that voters like to reward here. Two questions remain, though: will the griping in some quarters about the film's sound hurt it here? I'm not sure about that -- I didn't care for Interstellar at all, but I didn't have any kind of negative reaction to the sound, and I bet a lot of people will be drawn to voting for the movie here just based on overall loudness. The second question is: do voters LIKE Interstellar, at least enough to make it a tech winner? This is a question that I don't have an answer to, except to say that...
...I DO know voters overall liked American Sniper a lot. And its credentials in the sound effects department are similarly impressive -- all of those firing guns, explosions, and tensely crafted moments of quiet ambience make one highly aware of the sound work in all of the Iraq sequences, which comprise a large portion of the film. And prestige war movies have done quite well in this category recently, from Eastwood's own Letters From Iwo Jima, to the down-to-a-vote Zero Dark Thirty win, to The Hurt Locker's (to me) semi-surprising victory. American Sniper may not be the Oscar sweeper The Hurt Locker was...but I think it's pretty safe to say that Interstellar definitely does NOT have the popularity Avatar did. Looking at how that race panned out, I'm going to predict that Sniper just narrowly outruns Interstellar in this race.
On the surface, The Hobbit: The Battle of The Five Armies would seem to be a strong candidate for this prize -- most of the movie is a loud battle sequence, with lots of swords clanging and strange creatures grunting. And in terms of box office, the movie was a sizable hit. But I imagine Middle Earth fatigue has just exhausted people, as evidenced by the miss for the (still very impressive) visual effects. It would be extremely fluky for the movie to ride its sole nomination to a win.
Unbroken has a lot of noteworthy sound effects at the beginning of the movie, both in the initial air battle and in the sequence that leads to the ocean crash. But the movie quiets for a long stretch following that, until the liberation of the camp nearer the movie's end. It feels like the kind of movie that COULD win here, but mostly as part of a big sweep. Given that even Slumdog Millionaire couldn't carry this category along, I figure Unbroken likely won't be strong enough to triumph over louder alternatives.
Birdman has some cool sound effects here and there -- those fantasy sequences are some of the movie's most exciting and imaginative moments, and certainly the film is viewed as a terrific technical achievement across the board. It also has the advantage of being the nomination leader, and perhaps enthusiasm for the movie could carry it to a win. But...if it's tricky to find a Cinematography precedent for the film, it's REALLY hard to find one in this category. Winners in this category just tend to have a base level of volume that Birdman lacks.
I view this category as mostly a race between American Sniper and Interstellar. Christopher Nolan's blockbusters have done well in this category recently, winning twice. And Interstellar has the kind of wall-to-wall sound and futuristic effects that voters like to reward here. Two questions remain, though: will the griping in some quarters about the film's sound hurt it here? I'm not sure about that -- I didn't care for Interstellar at all, but I didn't have any kind of negative reaction to the sound, and I bet a lot of people will be drawn to voting for the movie here just based on overall loudness. The second question is: do voters LIKE Interstellar, at least enough to make it a tech winner? This is a question that I don't have an answer to, except to say that...
...I DO know voters overall liked American Sniper a lot. And its credentials in the sound effects department are similarly impressive -- all of those firing guns, explosions, and tensely crafted moments of quiet ambience make one highly aware of the sound work in all of the Iraq sequences, which comprise a large portion of the film. And prestige war movies have done quite well in this category recently, from Eastwood's own Letters From Iwo Jima, to the down-to-a-vote Zero Dark Thirty win, to The Hurt Locker's (to me) semi-surprising victory. American Sniper may not be the Oscar sweeper The Hurt Locker was...but I think it's pretty safe to say that Interstellar definitely does NOT have the popularity Avatar did. Looking at how that race panned out, I'm going to predict that Sniper just narrowly outruns Interstellar in this race.