Editor’s note: Welcome to the ninth of a 33-part series dissecting the 83rd Academy Awards, brought to you by the Large Association of Movie Blogs and its assorted members. Every day leading up to the Oscars, a new post written by a different LAMB will be published, each covering a different category of the Oscars. To read any other posts regarding this event, please click the tag following the post. Thank you, and enjoy!

by Red of Anomalous Material

One of the more surprising things about this year’s nomination list for Best Sound Editing is the number of films that fail to match up with the Sound Mixing category. It is pretty typical to see four or five films receive a nomination in both fields, as most voters tend to believe that the two go hand in hand. This year, however, a whopping two movies managed this feat, with those films being “Inception” and “True Grit”.

This is the first time that we’ve seen less than four identical nominations since Sound Editing expanded to five nominations in 2006. It’s also the first time we’ve seen only two identical nominations since 2003, when “Finding Nemo” was nominated in a class of three for Editing, but failed to make the final five for sound Mixing. For all of you trivia wizards out there, the last time that no nominations matched up? 1996.

Sound editing, simply enough, is the capturing and production of noises and sound, whether they are recorded or synthetic. Obviously big action movies tend to do well in this category, but animated movies tend to have success as well, since every bit of sound has to be fabricated. While this years nominees aren’t exactly the five that I would have selected, the field does offer up a nice variety of genres, deciding not to be exclusive to summer blockbusters and rejecting the likes of “Iron Man 2″ and “Salt”. As for the nominees themselves, in no specific order.

1. Inception- The clear cut favorite as of right now, and many other technical categories as well. Richard King has done extremely well with the Academy the past decade, being nominated three other times and winning twice with “The Dark Knight” and “Master and Commander”. Working with the likes of Nolan, Weir, and Spielberg (other nomination was for “War of the Worlds) tells me this is a smart man, and you never bet against one of those.

2. True Grit- The other film that managed to also capture a Sound Mixing nomination, the sound on this film really helped establish the Ol’ Western setting that the Coens were looking for. Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey were nominated here with the Coens two years ago for “No Country for Old Men” as well. It’s just a shame that they couldn’t make Jeff Bridges understandable.

3. Toy Story 3- Of the nominations, this is probably the last film on the list that I would’ve included on my own. I fully expected the sheer scale of “How to Train Your Dragon” to allow for a nomination before Toy Story 3, but we can’t always be right I suppose. This is Michael Silvers’ SIXTH nomination for Pixar in the past decade, so if he’s working on “Cars 2″ next year, I’ll have learned not to count him out of the race. He has yet to bring home a trophy from the Oscars, but I doubt this is the film that finally does it for him. But at the rate that Pixar is moving up in the world, it’s only a matter of time before it happens.

4. TRON: Legacy- This is the films that surprised me the most when I heard that it wasn’t nominated for Sound Mixing. A lound, special effects oriented film of this scale typically requires skilled sound mixing, but the Academy voters decided to recognize the likes of “The King’s Speech” instead. If there is a dark horse to possibly walk away with this award, Tron is it. The two supervisors on this film have worked with a good chunk of the voters, and you can never underestimate the power of simply knowing somebody.

5. Unstoppable- And the last nominee, which not many people saw coming. There were a few out there that spoke of the possibility, but I’m sure it still came to them as a bit of a shock as well. Mark P. Stoeckinger was nominated just last year for “Stark Trek”, but this really does seem like a “filler” nomination with no real shot of winning the actual award. It is nice to see that the voters weren’t completely asleep on this category and went for something unique, though.

Who will win: Inception, with True Grit in the distant 2nd place.

Who should win: Inception

Dark Horse: TRON: Legacy

Editor’s note: Welcome to the nineteenth of a 33-part series dissecting the 82st Academy Awards, brought to you by the Large Association of Movie Blogs and its assorted members. Every day leading up to the Oscars, a new post written by a different LAMB will be published, each covering a different category of the Oscars. To read any other posts regarding this event, please click the tag following the post. Thank you, and enjoy!

By Aiden of Cut the Crap Movie Reviews.

Well, folks, get Granny on the phone and hold on to your Snuggies ’cause the moment you’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived like a mighty phoenix reborn from the ash of a most glorious death…THE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEES FOR BEST SOUND EDITING ARE IN! Screw the sound mixers, these guys are the real effing deal and I don’t know about you, but I am freakin’ PUMPED about this year’s roster. Why is that? Oh, I don’t know. Does the name “Gwendolyn Yates Whittle” ring any bells? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Shove it, jerk. So for all you posers out there trying to act like they know what the hell you’re talking about (’cause you don’t…served!), let me break it down for ya’. The folks over at Wikipedia would like you to believe that the award for Best Sound Editing is “granted yearly to a film exhibiting the finest or most aesthetic sound editing or sound design.” Yeah, sure it is, jackass. The double truth, Ruth, is that sound editing is about one thing and one thing only: EXPLOSIONS. Pants-crapping explosions that shake you to the marrow and give you night terrors when you snore too loud. Wondering why Up in the Air isn’t nominated? Get the hell out of here, you and your severance package. This award’s about being awesome, being loud and being awesomely loud, and these are the audio gods we have to thank for blessing us with their talents.

First up we got Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle (oh snap!) for Avatar. BOOM! Lots of noise going on in this piece. We got the suped up power loaders from Aliens shooting down an army of blue circus freaks, mutant pterodactyls throwing hover planes into floating canyons and a lot of sounds I’ve never even heard before from animals that I’m pretty sure I’ve seen twice in real life. Need I say more? I think Boyes and Whittle are the ones to beat at the moment, but that’s just me.

Editor’s note: Welcome to the eighth of a 24-part series dissecting the 81st Academy Awards, brought to you by the Large Association of Movie Blogs and its assorted members. Every day leading up to the Oscars, a new post written by a different LAMB will be published, each covering a different category of the Oscars. To read any other posts regarding this event, please click the tag following the post. Thank you, and enjoy!

By Joseph from Cinexcellence

Although less thrilling than the other awards, Best Achievement in Sound Editing usually falls under the cracks of the surrounding “Oscar Buzz.” But this year I’m more excited about the award than in previous years. Maybe it’s because most of the nominations deserve the acclaim*, or maybe it’s because it has less subs than the other categories (I’m looking at YOU, Original Song).

That being said, we’ve got some decent competition this year. Here’s the breakdown:

(Pictured l-r: Burrt, Wood, Statemen, Boyes)

Richard King (The Dark Knight)
1 Oscar.

Frank E. Eulner & Christopher Boyes (Iron Man)
4 Oscars and 5 Nominations for Boyes.

Tom Sayers (Slumdog Millionaire)

Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood (WALL*E)
2 Special Achievement Awards, 3 Oscars, and 5 Nominations for Burtt.
1 Nomination for Wood.

Wylie Stateman (Wanted)
3 Nominations.

In terms of previous Academy Awards, Tom Sayers is in the lead, and a definite hopeful this year. But in terms of quality work, Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood deserve every sound award they can get their hands on. (Just watch Building Worlds from the Sound Up on the WALL*E DVD if you don’t believe me.)

*Aside from Wanted, that is.

Resumes:

The Dark Knight – Richard King
WON: Master and Commander
NOMINATED: War of the Worlds
OTHER WORK: Fool’s Gold / There Will be Blood / The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford / The 11th Hour / The Prestige / Firewall / A Series of Unfortunate Events / Signs / Unbreakable / Pollock / Magnolia / Gattaca / Rob Roy / Waterworld

Iron Man – Frank E. Eulner & Christopher Boyes
Fran. E. Eulner: Bolt / Lions for Lambs / The Kite Runner / Charlotte’s Web / Lady in the Water / The Village / Hellboy / The Hunted / Saving Private Ryan / Armageddon
Christopher Boyes:
WON: Titanic / Pearl Harbor / The Return of the King / King Kong
NOMINATED: The Fellowship of the Ring / The Two Towers / Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (x2) / Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
OTHER WORK: National Treasure (x2) / Charlotte’s Web / The Weatherman / Sky Captain / Catwoman / Mystir River / Minority Report / Pearl Harbor / Jurassic Park III / Armageddon / Titanic / The 13th Warrior

Slumdog Millionaire – Tom Sayers
WORK: The Golden Compas / 28 Weeks Later / Sunshine / V for Vendetta / Millions / Love Actually /Iris

WALL*E – Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood
Ben Burtt:
WON: [Special Achievement Award] Star Wars / Raiders of the Lost Ark
WON: E.T. / Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
NOMINATED: Return of the Jedi (x2) / Willow / Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Best Sound) / The Phantom Menace
WORK: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull / Munich / Revenge of the Sith / Attack of the Clones / Clone Wars / Howard the Duck / The Dark Crystal / Death Race 2000
Matthew Wood:
NOMINATED: There Will be Blood
WORK: The Clone Wars / The Clone Wars / Fanboys / Crystal Skull / Young Indiana Jones / Zoom / Munich / Revenge of the Sith / Titan A.E. / 13th Warrior / Phantom Menace / Armageddon / Eraser / The Rock / Con Air / Mission: Impossible / Quiz Show

Wanted – Wylie Stateman
NOMINATED: Born on the Fourth of July / Cliffhanger / Memoirs of a Geisha
WORK: W. / In the Valley of Elah / Death Proof / Grindhouse / Slipstream / Alexander / Troy / Kill Bill (x2) / Windtalkers / Unfaithful / We Were Soldiers / Shrek / Almost Famous / Nixon / Natural Born Killers / Jerry Maguire / Cutthroat Island / Dennis the Menace / Curly Sue / JFK / The Doors / Home Alone / ETC

Editor’s note: Welcome to the third of a multi-part series dissecting the 2008 Academy Awards, brought to you by the Large Association of Movie Blogs and its assorted members. Every weekday leading up to the Oscars, a new post written by a different LAMB will be published, each covering a different category (or more) of the Oscars (there are 24 in all). To read any other posts regarding this event, please just click on the tag following the post. Thank you, and enjoy!

By Pat from Doodad Kind of Town

If you’re anything like me, you probably haven’t paid too much attention to the Oscar categories Best Achievement in Sound Editing and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing. Truth be told, when I’m watching the awards at my friend’s annual party, I’m more likely to be filling my plate at the buffet table when the sound awards are announced than to be glued to the TV screen in rapt anticipation.

This year will be different, though. This year, I’ve actually done some reading and research about the work of the nominated film sound designers and technicians. Plus, I’ve discovered there is a little drama behind one of this year’s nominations.

Kevin O’Connell, a nominee for Achievement in Sound Mixing, holds the all-time record for most Oscar nominations without a win (19, to be exact.) He’s the Susan Lucci of film sound mixers, you might say. This year, O’Connell got his 20th nomination for “Transformers.” Will he win - or will he continue his distinguished but winless run in the category? I’ll be watching intently to find out.

The complete lists of nominees are as follows:

For Sound Editing -

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro) Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins

For Sound Mixing -

“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal) Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis

“Transformers” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin

You might be wondering (I was): What’s the difference between the two awards?

The Sound Editing award is given for achievement in executing the sound design of a film - it has a lot to do with the creation of sound effects. (In fact, for many years, the award was called Best Sound Effects , then Best Sound Effects Editing.) The Sound Mixing award, by contrast, is based on the excellence of the finished soundtrack of the film, including the entire mix of sound effects, music and dialogue.

(Why did “There Will Be Blood” got the nomination for Editing, but not Mixing? Was it Jonny Greenwood’s score - which tended to sound more like a swarm of crazed cicadas than music - that alienated voters? I’m only guessing. Personally I found the score both disturbing and effective, but not everyone shares that view.)

This New York Times article is not only a great introduction to the craft of film sound, but also gives you a whole new appreciation for the importance of sound design in double-nominee “No Country for Old Men.” With only 16 minutes of music in the film’s entire 122-minute running time, the sound effects have even greater impact. As “No Country” sound editor, Skip Lievsay explains, “The idea here was to remove the safety net that lets the audience feel like they know what’s going to happen. I think it makes the movie much more suspenseful. You’re not guided by the score and so you lose that comfort zone.”

Oh, and the sound made by that air-powered cattle stun gun wielded by Javier Bardem? It’s actually a pneumatic nail gun. According to sound mixer Craig Berkey “I wasn’t looking for authenticity, so I didn’t even research cattle guns. I just knew it had to be impactful, with that two-part sound, like a ch-chung.”

Reading this article made me want to go back and see “No Country” again just to focus on the sounds. Ditto for “There Will Be Blood,” after reading this interview with Sound Designer Chris Scarabosiso and Re-recording Mixer Mike Semanick (both P. T. Anderson regulars). Here they talk about how the sound of the oil derricks underscores the tensions in the story:

Semanick: (The derricks have) a constant grinding - they’re going and going, you know. And I mean a constant (he makes a “Chug! Chug!” sound). It’s like poking at the town’s folk and poking at the preacher kid because they got shorted out of the money. And the derricks are still pumping away, so it’s this ongoing character in the background, a constant track audible every day in these people’ lives.

Scarabosio: (Paul) was pretty adamant about it sounding dangerous. But Paul doesn’t like things to sound too over produced So, it’s the challenge of trying to create that without it sounding too over done. Give it that sense of darkness, danger, but also convey it’s this big piece of wood with these big metal wheels and stuff and they always have to have some kind of imperfection to them as well.

I love the idea of the oil derricks being a sort of additional character in the film. Those are the kinds of subtle details I rarely pick up on a first viewing, but knowing about them makes me want to go back to “There Will Be Blood” all that much more.

Randy Thom - a double nominee this year, and a two-time Oscar winner for “The Right Stuff” and “The Incredibles” - gives a little insight into his sound design for “Ratatouille” in a video interview at filmsound.org. Here he talks about the special challenges of creating sound for an animated film, and gives some background on how his team was able to create an authentic feeling of being in Paris. (Hint: listen closely and you’ll hear actual Parisians speaking French in the background of some scenes.) Thom is a distinguished sound veteran who got his start working on “Apocalypse Now.”

While I appreciate the fine sound work of “3:10 to Yuma” and “The Bourne Ultimatum,” (I didn’t - and won’t - see “Transformers”), I believe the award winners will come from one of the three aforementioned films. In fact, my money is on either “No Country for Old Men” or “Ratatouille.” Why should you believe me? Well, I’m no expert, but I have won my friend’s Oscar-predicting contest in three of the last four years. And I usually choose the technical awards correctly.