Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

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dws1982
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

Post by dws1982 »

Probably won't catch Deepwater Horizon in time, probably won't matter either. I think it's fourth or fifth at best in this lineup. Sully is a solid nominee, and wouldn't be a bad winner (the plane landing is what got the nomination, and it does sound great), but since the lineup expanded to five nominees in 2006, it's always gone to either Best Picture nominees, or movies that had a few technical nominations.

Other than Titanic/Ben-Hur/Return of the King precedent--i.e., running the table, more or less--there's nothing arguing for La La Land here. People ask, "Will voters who check off La La Land in almost every category really stop at Sound Editing?" And my response is, "I think so." Plenty of people were checking off Titanic in a lot of categories, but they didn't check it off in Supporting Actress or Makeup--two categories where it was thought to be in contention. And one of the bigger sweeps in recent years, Slumdog Millionaire, was stopped short in this--and only this--category. I could easily be wrong here, but La La Land winning here would be a big surprise.

Between the other two, I can see arguments either way. Arrival offers something unique in those alien sounds, and the movie, at least at a general level is about communication, so the Sound Editing actually ties into the film on a thematic level. But, and this shouldn't matter, it's not an extremely loud movie, and Hacksaw Ridge definitely fits the bill there. The whole final 45 minutes is practically a Sound Editing demo reel, with one sustained battle sequence. I think it'll win. And it'll be a fine winner--I don't have a strong preference between it, Arrival, and Sully.
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

Post by nightwingnova »

This category is a good bellwether of the growth in the sophistication of the Oscar voters, especially as new and diverse (perhaps more educated) voters join their ranks.

Do they vote for the noisiest one? Or will their choice show more nuance and complexity, as with Gravity?

Btw, I'm seeing mixed reactions to Arrival. I loved it. One of the year's best and one of the most distinguished sci-fi films ever. But there are those who hate it and cannot understand it.

So I'd go with Hacksaw for most use of sound.
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

Post by Big Magilla »

It should be Arrival, but who knows.

This is one category I would expect La La Land to lose in.
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

Post by Sabin »

According to wikipedia: "Sound editing is the creation of sound effects (such as foley)."

However, according to Academy history, it would appear that the Sound Editing Oscar goes to the Best Picture nominee that looks like it has the most sound effects. For example, Gravity's nomination and win for Best Sound Editing has to be one of the silliest in recent years. But it looks like the kind of thing that would has a lot of big sound effects. Which probably favors Arrival. To continue this line of logic, Gravity was up against All is Lost, Captain Phillips, Lone Survivor, and a Hobbit movie. I'm guessing voters maybe wavered for a moment at the prospect of giving Captain Phillips something considering that it was up for six Oscar nominations, but ultimately decided "Nah." Which goes against Hacksaw Ridge.

The best case I can make against Hacksaw Ridge winning is the gunfire doesn't start for roughly the first half of the film. That didn't affect Zero Dark Thirty winning for probably the Bin Laden raid alone. So, it's in the running.

I'm going to jump onto that Slumdog/Dark Knight comparison. If Slumdog Millionaire wasn't up for Best Sound Mixing, does anybody have any doubt that The Dark Knight would win in its place? That's how I feel about Arrival's chances for Best Sound Mixing. In addition to rewarding foley artists, Best Sound Editing also seems like a consolation prize. I think that favors Arrival and its alien language.
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dws1982
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

Post by dws1982 »

The Original BJ wrote:
Mister Tee wrote:There’s just one scenario for La La Land winning here, and that’s that enough voters simply name-check the film in every category imaginable. There have been best such picture juggernauts, that unexpectedly picked up everything their paths – The Return of the King seemed like an 8- or 9- win probability, but got all the way to 11.
For statistics' sake, it's also worth noting that this was the ONLY category Slumdog Millionaire lost during its otherwise clean sweep in 2008. And that year, this category went to a more typical, action-packed winner -- The Dark Knight -- even as Slumdog prevailed in the Mixing category.

I'm thinking that's likely to happen again this year, with La La Land a seeming easy winner in the Mixing race, that nonetheless will probably fall to something more effects-y (Arrival or Hacksaw Ridge) in the Sound Editing derby.
Worth noting that the Slumdog/Dark Knight split was the only time that the sound categories were split between two films that were nominated in both categories. I think there's a good chance of that happening for a second time this year, though.

Also worth apologizing for the fact that I can't contribute to getting these threads going: There's still so much I haven't seen that I could only tackle one or two categories.
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

Post by The Original BJ »

Mister Tee wrote:There’s just one scenario for La La Land winning here, and that’s that enough voters simply name-check the film in every category imaginable. There have been best such picture juggernauts, that unexpectedly picked up everything their paths – The Return of the King seemed like an 8- or 9- win probability, but got all the way to 11.
For statistics' sake, it's also worth noting that this was the ONLY category Slumdog Millionaire lost during its otherwise clean sweep in 2008. And that year, this category went to a more typical, action-packed winner -- The Dark Knight -- even as Slumdog prevailed in the Mixing category.

I'm thinking that's likely to happen again this year, with La La Land a seeming easy winner in the Mixing race, that nonetheless will probably fall to something more effects-y (Arrival or Hacksaw Ridge) in the Sound Editing derby.
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Categories One-by-One: Sound Editing

Post by Mister Tee »

The nominees:

Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

Though Sully and Deepwater Horizon each have enough loud noises to make them candidates on a merit-basis, their overall nomination totals (2 for Deepwater, Sully here only) make them unlikely win prospects – since the best picture expansion, Skyfall’s half-victory in 2012 is the only one for a non-best picture contender.

There’s just one scenario for La La Land winning here, and that’s that enough voters simply name-check the film in every category imaginable. There have been best such picture juggernauts, that unexpectedly picked up everything their paths – The Return of the King seemed like an 8- or 9- win probability, but got all the way to 11. On the other hand, even Titanic lost make-up to the more ostentatious Men in Black. I’m thinking the Titanic precedent is more likely to be the one in play: there’s nothing inherent in La La Land to make it a natural choice in the category, and I’d expect voters to go with one of the more obvious choices.

What Hacksaw Ridge has going for it, of course, is the din of battle – explosions and gunfire, much as we’ve heard in recent winners like Letters from Iwo Jima, The Hurt Locker and American Sniper.

What Arrival has is the communication with the aliens – the very use of inarticulate sounds as language.

It may come down to which film has more plurality respect among voters. The fact that both films are nominated for film/director/editing suggests they’re evenly matched. Arrival has the edge with its screenplay nod. You could say Hacksaw offsets that with its lead acting nomination, something Arrival was denied –- the counter-argument: that Garfield slipped in due to weak lead actor opposition, where Adams was boxed out by a strenuously competitive best actress field. My instinct is Arrival is a bit more widely liked...but that, of course, could be my prejudice engaging in projection.

I imagine many people are going to go with the battle-intense Hacksaw, but I think Arrival’s rooters will want it to go home with something, and will push here, where they have their best chance.
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