One Category at a Time: Sound Editing

As it is in Best Sound Mixing, the competition for the Best Sound Editing trophy seems to be pretty well sewn up. Even though a 4/5 overlap with the former category makes a separate analysis of the latter somewhat redundant, let's take a look at the nominees anyhow. After all, last year saw the first time ever that the two sound awards were split between three films, so clearly the Academy doesn't always lump the two together -- often, but not always.

My Award nominations: Sound Editing

Last year my nominees for Best Sound Editing were five completely different films than my nominees for Best Sound Mixing, but as much as I do wish I could similarly spread the wealth this year, there were a couple of films whose sound elements simply could not be denied recognition in both categories.

One Category at a Time: Sound Editing

Some odd inclusions and exclusions in Sound Editing this year, in which I only correctly anticipated two of the five nominees. Pretty dismal performance on my part, but with such high-profile snubs, perhaps that's understandable. Among the slighted films are Super 8, which dominated the guild announcements with three nods from the MPSE. No room was made for animated efforts Tintin or Rango either. Ditto Mission: Impossible. But enough of that griping; let's examine those that did make the cut

My Awards nominations: Sound Editing

The most impressive Sound Editing of 2011 could be heard in:

The Adventures of Tintin (Brent Burge, Chris Ward, David Whitehead):

The deep groans of ships at sea, the resonance of voice-shattered glass, bullets and bazookas and tanks... oh my!

Drive (Lon Bender):

The drive sequences are mesmerizing in their sonic detail, but moments of relative silence are just as tense.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (Richard Hymns):

The WHAPs and THWAPS of bone-crunching fisticuffs, the sonic boom of airborne missiles, and all those awesome gadgets and gizmos...

Thor (Michael Babcock, Richard King):

The electrifying pounding of Thor's hammer, the creaks and cracks of the icy frost giants, the threatening machinations of The Destroyer...

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn):

Tinny robot voices, those distinctively organometalic sound effects, and of course, explosions gallore... KA-BAY!!!

War Horse (Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom):

As they did on Saving Private Ryan, the piercing staccato of machine gun fire, the shattering bombast of artillery shells, but also the thunderous rumble of hooves.

Just missed: Thor, Hugo, Super 8, The Tree of Life

Sunday Top Ten: Sound effects

Time has been somewhat tight for me this week, so you're getting an abbreviated edition of the Sunday Top Ten; a quick countdown of some of my favourite movie-related sound effects.

One Category at a Time: Best Sound Editing

The degree of overlap between this category and Best Sound Mixing was smaller this past season than it's been in a while, with only two films nominated for both. Will we see a repeat next year? For the sake of early predictions, it's nice to be as spread out as possible, so let's assume the answer is "yes" for the time being.

Pixar is on a roll in this category, having earned nominations for the last four consecutive years (even for work that may not have been that awards-worthy, but thus is the benefit of being a studio with a high reputation). Can they make it five years in a row with Cars 2. I can think of a few reasons why the streak may end, but Pixar is never that much of a longshot for Sound Editing.

Perhaps a longer shot would be Jon Favreau's Cowboys and Aliens, which looks like it may be a lot of fun, but not really up the Academy's alley. Nevertheless, David Farmer and company have an interesting opportunity to meld rip-roaring Western sound effects with sci-fi alien gadgetry.

Steven Spielberg has two big pictures that could find their way in here this year; War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin. The former, a late-release WWI drama with sound effects supervised by three-time Oscar winner Richard Hymns (Saving Private Ryan) seems like a good enough bet. The latter, a motion-capture adventure with big box-office potential and the attached prestige of a respected director at the helm is probably a formidable contender too.

Finally, one of the few original premises that aims to make some serious coin this summer is J.J. Abrams Super 8. The fact that it isn't based on a comic book hero or previous movie already gives it a leg up with the Academy, who tend to stay away from blockbuster sequels unless they're absolutely amazing. Super 8 looks like it'll have lots of nice loud sound effects to satisfy the sound branch.

Predicted five:
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Cars 2
Cowboys and Aliens
Super 8
War Horse

Also consider: Captain America, The Green Lantern, Transformers 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 4