The LAMB Devours The Oscars 2017: Best Sound Mixing

by Jay Cluitt · January 30, 2017 · Featured, LAMB Devours the Oscars · 2 Comments

Every day until the Oscars ceremony we’ll be highlighting a different category or movie here on the LAMB! Here’s a link to all the posts written so far: https://largeassmovieblogs.com/2017/01/the-lamb-devours-the-oscars-2017-roster.html

Today, Simon Appleton from Moustache Movie News is here to discuss the Best Sound Mixing category:

The sound mixers go to work after all of the movie’s sounds have been edited together. It’s their job to decide the levels of all the sounds, so whether you hear the score over the top of everything else or quietly in the background. Understandably, it’s common for war movies and musicals to get nominated. The award is usually given to the Sound Mixers themselves.

Erik Aadahl – Sound Editing nominee for Argo in 2013 – described the roles of Sound Editor and Sound Mixer in an interview with Deadline: “One way of thinking about it is kind of like an orchestra, where you’ll have the composer composing the symphony and then a conductor saying, ‘More flutes here,’ and that’s very much like what mixing is – it’s like conducting.

Previous winners include:

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudolph and Ben Osmo
Les Miserables (2012) – Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
The Hurt Locker (2009) – Paul N. J. Ottosson and Ray Becket
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003) – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek
Chicago (2002) – Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee
Gladiator (2000) – Scott Millan, Bob Beemer and Ken Weston

This year’s nominations are:

Arrival
Sound Mixers: Bernard Gariepy Strobl and Claude La Haye

Hacksaw Ridge
Sound Mixers: Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace

La La Land
Sound Mixers: Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Sound Mixers: David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Sound Mixers: Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffery J. Haboush and Mac Ruth

La La Land is the obvious favourite, currently leading the race with 14 nominations. Sound Mixing is likely a sure thing for a musical with this kind of following; in fact my money is on La La Land to win. But I would like to see one of the other nominees win this one. All of them are equally deserving of the award making it a difficult pick. If it were up to me, it would be between Hacksaw Ridge, Rogue One and 13 Hours, but that’s just me.

Who would you like to win the Oscar for Sound Mixing? And whom do you think will win the award? Contact us at The Large Association of Movie Bloggers to let us know or find me on Twitter: @Moustache_News

Tags: