OVP: Best Sound Mixing (2008)
The Nominees Were...
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Mark Weingarten, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, and Ed Novick, The Dark Knight
Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke, and Resul Pookutty, Slumdog Millionaire
Tom Myers, Michael Semanick, and Ben Burtt, WALL-E
My Thoughts: We're going to continue on the OVP train with Sound Mixing this morning. This year's contenders fall into the many traditional cliches that this category celebrates. 80% of them we've already talked about a bit in Sound Editing (there's always one odd man out), and most of the films either comprise a Best Picture nominee or a prestige action film or are from Pixar (the other trope of the category, a musical, wasn't picked this year though this was probably Mamma Mia!'s best shot at an Oscar citation). As a result, I'm having trouble knowing where my entrance into the article is...shall we perhaps start with WALL-E, if for no other reason than that's where we left off yesterday?
WALL-E is a film that, in my opinion, has excellent sound work but it's worth noting that it has better Sound Editing than Sound Mixing. The Sound Editing elevates the film, going outside of excellent and entering groundbreaking. Here, though, we do have a lot of the hallmarks of great sound work. One of the things I frequently look for in this category is how does the film find a strong balance between the score, the dialogue, and the other sounds of the film, and here we have a film with such sparse dialogue that it's really a wonderful cascade of sounds and score, sort of humming along together, and well-aided by each other. It actually helps that the sound work in the first half is so smooth, so when the dialogue comes in late in the picture aboard the ship, we get a weird sense of "whoa!" It's these subtle touches that makes WALL-E so audibly special.
I won't tear into Slumdog Millionaire in the same way that I did yesterday, since it's very clear that the film does indeed have sound. However, I will quibble again with this nomination, as I don't think the sound work is particularly strong. The scenes in the game show are such carbon copies of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire that you almost want to recognize it just for that, but then you realize recreating what at the time was an incredibly iconic and highly-parodied game show wasn't what you'd call a particularly difficult task. The film also frequently finds itself matching the loudness of the music with the dullness of the dialogue, so that the music overpowers it in chase scenes, an unforgivable task in my opinion (it's not 1926-we want to hear the dialogue). The movie does do better when the main characters are children (the first flashback story I remember having some hushes that I liked), but by-and-large this film doesn't have the detail that some of its competitors have.
Benjamin Button, for example, the film that most often finds itself at odds with Slumdog, is a film that does find the details. The movie has a beautiful score (which we've already rewarded-see the links below for past contests and how evenly 2008 has been spread for me, which even I'm a bit surprised by), and it folds well into the film. The sound work in the film is actually quite exemplary, as it uses silence better than I think any of the other nominees, which is important-you have a wide breadth of emotions you can capture, and anticipation is an important one. There are subdued scenes like the ones with Tilda and Brad earlier in the movie that are so sharp you can almost hear the brisk weather in their voices. Though I am always complaining a bit about the excess of this picture, the sound work doesn't reflect that-there's a specificity to it that stands out over the picture.
Batman has a few steps up over his competition here that most films don't. For starters, it has the most sound, and while that doesn't always guarantee best (it frequently doesn't), it guarantees opportunity, and the film does that. I've talked a couple of times about that opening bank robbery, but there's a great moment at the beginning where this sharp, desperate tick-tick-tick welcomes us into the movie. Every time I watch it I'm not sure if I'm still watching a trailer or a title card because it's so urgent and full it's hard to imagine a movie starting out this way. The film continues to unfold in this similar direction, though, finding ways to keep a breathlessness in the audience. I loved the way that so much of the sound drops for the dialogue, to the point where the Joker appears louder than he probably is, which is true to life as you would be straining to hear this madman's voice, or the way that Batman's muffled voice matches the loud sounds of the street. It's this kind of attention to detail that makes sound work so important, and why we should be thankful when someone comes in and knocks the socks off the category.
Because otherwise you get Wanted. Seriously, I don't get this movie at all-haven't we all moved out of the 1980's where the this category was having a love affair with mindless action flicks (and yes, it's mindless-just because you jumble a whole mess of ideas doesn't make you a genius...see also Interstellar for a strong example of this). The film's sound work is shoddy-it's too reliant on cliches from The Matrix or just bam, bam, bam. The script itself hurts it tremendously by giving us dialogue no one actually wants to hear and a main character so unlikable that the bad-assery of the sound team when they shuttle to him becomes obnoxious, but they still should have read the room and found a stronger way to highlight the interesting aspects of the film.
WALL-E is a film that, in my opinion, has excellent sound work but it's worth noting that it has better Sound Editing than Sound Mixing. The Sound Editing elevates the film, going outside of excellent and entering groundbreaking. Here, though, we do have a lot of the hallmarks of great sound work. One of the things I frequently look for in this category is how does the film find a strong balance between the score, the dialogue, and the other sounds of the film, and here we have a film with such sparse dialogue that it's really a wonderful cascade of sounds and score, sort of humming along together, and well-aided by each other. It actually helps that the sound work in the first half is so smooth, so when the dialogue comes in late in the picture aboard the ship, we get a weird sense of "whoa!" It's these subtle touches that makes WALL-E so audibly special.
I won't tear into Slumdog Millionaire in the same way that I did yesterday, since it's very clear that the film does indeed have sound. However, I will quibble again with this nomination, as I don't think the sound work is particularly strong. The scenes in the game show are such carbon copies of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire that you almost want to recognize it just for that, but then you realize recreating what at the time was an incredibly iconic and highly-parodied game show wasn't what you'd call a particularly difficult task. The film also frequently finds itself matching the loudness of the music with the dullness of the dialogue, so that the music overpowers it in chase scenes, an unforgivable task in my opinion (it's not 1926-we want to hear the dialogue). The movie does do better when the main characters are children (the first flashback story I remember having some hushes that I liked), but by-and-large this film doesn't have the detail that some of its competitors have.
Benjamin Button, for example, the film that most often finds itself at odds with Slumdog, is a film that does find the details. The movie has a beautiful score (which we've already rewarded-see the links below for past contests and how evenly 2008 has been spread for me, which even I'm a bit surprised by), and it folds well into the film. The sound work in the film is actually quite exemplary, as it uses silence better than I think any of the other nominees, which is important-you have a wide breadth of emotions you can capture, and anticipation is an important one. There are subdued scenes like the ones with Tilda and Brad earlier in the movie that are so sharp you can almost hear the brisk weather in their voices. Though I am always complaining a bit about the excess of this picture, the sound work doesn't reflect that-there's a specificity to it that stands out over the picture.
Batman has a few steps up over his competition here that most films don't. For starters, it has the most sound, and while that doesn't always guarantee best (it frequently doesn't), it guarantees opportunity, and the film does that. I've talked a couple of times about that opening bank robbery, but there's a great moment at the beginning where this sharp, desperate tick-tick-tick welcomes us into the movie. Every time I watch it I'm not sure if I'm still watching a trailer or a title card because it's so urgent and full it's hard to imagine a movie starting out this way. The film continues to unfold in this similar direction, though, finding ways to keep a breathlessness in the audience. I loved the way that so much of the sound drops for the dialogue, to the point where the Joker appears louder than he probably is, which is true to life as you would be straining to hear this madman's voice, or the way that Batman's muffled voice matches the loud sounds of the street. It's this kind of attention to detail that makes sound work so important, and why we should be thankful when someone comes in and knocks the socks off the category.
Because otherwise you get Wanted. Seriously, I don't get this movie at all-haven't we all moved out of the 1980's where the this category was having a love affair with mindless action flicks (and yes, it's mindless-just because you jumble a whole mess of ideas doesn't make you a genius...see also Interstellar for a strong example of this). The film's sound work is shoddy-it's too reliant on cliches from The Matrix or just bam, bam, bam. The script itself hurts it tremendously by giving us dialogue no one actually wants to hear and a main character so unlikable that the bad-assery of the sound team when they shuttle to him becomes obnoxious, but they still should have read the room and found a stronger way to highlight the interesting aspects of the film.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Cinema Audio Society wasn't breaking out its nominees between animated and live action a few years ago, so we get that rarest of direct comparisons as we close out the tech categories (also, if you haven't realized by now, we've hit the halfway point with the 2008 OVP with this writeup). The nominees were a bit more action-movie oriented at the CAS, with Quantum of Solace and Iron Man besting Wanted and Benjamin Button, with Slumdog Millionaire ending up with the trophy. Slumdog also sailed away with the BAFTA, with Quantum of Solace and Changeling coming in ahead of Wanted and Benjamin Button. I know that the evidence points to Quantum being that sixth place nominee, but I suspect it would be Iron Man-James Bond is not something that Oscar loves and it's hard to realize what a game-changer Iron Man was in 2008, especially coming off the financial success but critical failure of Spider-Man 3.
Films I Would Have Nominated: Hmm-I probably need to find two additional nominees here (I'm good with the Top 3 making it). I suspect I would have also picked Iron Man-it's not groundbreaking, but it's very good and I think you occasionally need to recognize excellence in a genre that usually gets nominated but should probably get a more discriminate eye. The final nomination I'm torn-I probably would have been fine with either Kung Fu Panda or Indiana Jones 4, like with Sound Editing-one of the films is clearly better than the other, but I think both have strong enough sound work that they'd fit here. I'll select Kung Fu Panda, since I went with Indy in Sound Editing and since it finds so much personality in the voices.
Oscar’s Choice: Oscar went for Slumdog without the worry that it had in Sound Editing over whether or not there was sound editing in the film. It was a rare split between the Sound Mixing winner and the Sound Editing victor for AMPAS, and I'm sure The Dark Knight was running a close second.
My Choice: I on the other hand frequently select different films for these awards (they are, after all, very different once you take out the magnifying glass and I've only actually doubled up once, in 2013). It's clear that either The Dark Knight, WALL-E, or Benjamin Button are going to be my winner, and I'm going to go with The Dark Knight, partially for that opening scene but also because its sound has the most distinction and consistency. WALL-E follows, with Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, and Wanted coming in behind.
Those are my choices-how about you? Are you with me that it should have been another trophy for Batman (who takes the lead with three for most OVP trophies so far) or are you a fan of Danny Boyle's landmark? What films would you have nominated (I'm genuinely curious how this shakes out-should I have considered Changeling a little more closely, or am I right that it should be Iron Man joining the fray)? And what film had the best sound of 2008? Share in the comments!
Those are my choices-how about you? Are you with me that it should have been another trophy for Batman (who takes the lead with three for most OVP trophies so far) or are you a fan of Danny Boyle's landmark? What films would you have nominated (I'm genuinely curious how this shakes out-should I have considered Changeling a little more closely, or am I right that it should be Iron Man joining the fray)? And what film had the best sound of 2008? Share in the comments!
Also in 2008: Sound Editing, Original Score, Original Song, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup, Previously in 2008
No comments:
Post a Comment