OVP: Best Sound Mixing (2016)
The Nominees Were...
Bernard Gariepy Strobl & Claude la Haye, Arrival
Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie, & Peter Grace, Hacksaw Ridge
Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, & Steve A. Morrow, La La Land
David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio, & Stuart Wilson, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Mac Ruth, & Greg P. Russell , 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (nomination rescinded for Russell-we'll talk about it below)
Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie, & Peter Grace, Hacksaw Ridge
Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, & Steve A. Morrow, La La Land
David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio, & Stuart Wilson, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Mac Ruth, & Greg P. Russell , 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (nomination rescinded for Russell-we'll talk about it below)
My Thoughts: We are hitting the halfway point in our look at the nominees of 2016, and with that we stumble across arguably the hardest to discuss of the film categories: Sound Mixing. While I'm more than aware of what the difference between mixing and editing are, it's sometimes hard to tell what the Oscars (or what I'm, quite frankly) looking for here. Sound Mixing is something that should be invisible, and if it's not it's either because it's a blessing to the picture or a curse.
We have two films that land on either end of such a conversation, and we'll start with the positive-Arrival is a great example of a film with specific, artful sound mixing. The film manages to create a distinct palette with its audio work, particularly in the softness of the main character's voices against the constant hum of the machines and spaceships. Think of Amy Adams, introverted and calm, and the way that the film doesn't drown her out. This is an unusual character in a SciFi picture, and I loved the way that the film and its sound personality morph to create a specific motif. Combined with the dance scenes and the movie's underappreciated use of silence, and you have a truly spellbinding collection of noises.
And on the opposite end, you have La La Land. The film's musical numbers are a feat of dancing, and occasionally there's artistry in the music, but the sound work is terrible. The film is a jumble of instruments, and they frequently outshine the onstage actors, becoming louder than Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, and even John Legend, while they are singing onscreen. This is breaking a cardinal rule of film-making and sound work-you don't have an actor speak onscreen without being able to hear them, unless this is something addressed in the plot (i.e. there's been a recent explosion or they're far apart). This doesn't happen in La La Land, which makes me think that it was either overlooked or intentional, but it's sloppy. You should always be able to clearly hear the actors and singers in a movie if they are giving you lines.
This is also why I'm counting down Rogue One a little bit, though it's only a short few sentences where the score and sound editing muffles out some of the dialogue early in the picture. The sound work in this film is really inventive-we talked about this last week, but I totally would have cited this movie for Best Sound Editing (weirdly the category it missed for), but the sound mixing isn't as impressive, and usually the organic noise fights with the sounds that are being manufactured, creating a cacophony in quieter scenes.
This is a similar problem for 13 Hours. Admittedly, the dialogue in 13 Hours is so dreadful it might be doing the audience a favor by having the manufactured bullets and explosions taking out the conversation between the two soldiers, but it's still not a strong piece of work. It also lacks some of the precision of Michael Bay's previous films (specifically the Transformers movies). This nomination almost certainly happened because of Greg P. Russell's inappropriate campaigning, which ended up costing him the nomination (though not the film, which feels eyebrow-raising considering only one of "Alone Yet Not Alone"'s composers broke their rules but they both lost the nomination). Russell, a 16-time nominee who has never won, might have now screwed himself out of the sort of campaign that goes to the likes of...
...Kevin O'Connell! After 20 straight losses, O'Connell finally won the prize (and received more applause than you'd usually expect for a sound mixer, so clearly the Dolby was aware of this record). Thankfully O'Connell's work here is quite good. Hacksaw Ridge doesn't suffer the same fate as 13 Hours and Rogue One in that its sound work overshadows the dialogue, and it'd actually be super easy for it to fall into that pit during the main action sequences, considering the cacophony of bullets and even the occasional language barrier between the characters onscreen. The film doesn't have as distinctly sharp of a stamp as Arrival, particularly during its early scenes, but it's a strongly-executed action movie (from a sound perspective) in a year that the genre struggled.
We have two films that land on either end of such a conversation, and we'll start with the positive-Arrival is a great example of a film with specific, artful sound mixing. The film manages to create a distinct palette with its audio work, particularly in the softness of the main character's voices against the constant hum of the machines and spaceships. Think of Amy Adams, introverted and calm, and the way that the film doesn't drown her out. This is an unusual character in a SciFi picture, and I loved the way that the film and its sound personality morph to create a specific motif. Combined with the dance scenes and the movie's underappreciated use of silence, and you have a truly spellbinding collection of noises.
And on the opposite end, you have La La Land. The film's musical numbers are a feat of dancing, and occasionally there's artistry in the music, but the sound work is terrible. The film is a jumble of instruments, and they frequently outshine the onstage actors, becoming louder than Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, and even John Legend, while they are singing onscreen. This is breaking a cardinal rule of film-making and sound work-you don't have an actor speak onscreen without being able to hear them, unless this is something addressed in the plot (i.e. there's been a recent explosion or they're far apart). This doesn't happen in La La Land, which makes me think that it was either overlooked or intentional, but it's sloppy. You should always be able to clearly hear the actors and singers in a movie if they are giving you lines.
This is also why I'm counting down Rogue One a little bit, though it's only a short few sentences where the score and sound editing muffles out some of the dialogue early in the picture. The sound work in this film is really inventive-we talked about this last week, but I totally would have cited this movie for Best Sound Editing (weirdly the category it missed for), but the sound mixing isn't as impressive, and usually the organic noise fights with the sounds that are being manufactured, creating a cacophony in quieter scenes.
This is a similar problem for 13 Hours. Admittedly, the dialogue in 13 Hours is so dreadful it might be doing the audience a favor by having the manufactured bullets and explosions taking out the conversation between the two soldiers, but it's still not a strong piece of work. It also lacks some of the precision of Michael Bay's previous films (specifically the Transformers movies). This nomination almost certainly happened because of Greg P. Russell's inappropriate campaigning, which ended up costing him the nomination (though not the film, which feels eyebrow-raising considering only one of "Alone Yet Not Alone"'s composers broke their rules but they both lost the nomination). Russell, a 16-time nominee who has never won, might have now screwed himself out of the sort of campaign that goes to the likes of...
...Kevin O'Connell! After 20 straight losses, O'Connell finally won the prize (and received more applause than you'd usually expect for a sound mixer, so clearly the Dolby was aware of this record). Thankfully O'Connell's work here is quite good. Hacksaw Ridge doesn't suffer the same fate as 13 Hours and Rogue One in that its sound work overshadows the dialogue, and it'd actually be super easy for it to fall into that pit during the main action sequences, considering the cacophony of bullets and even the occasional language barrier between the characters onscreen. The film doesn't have as distinctly sharp of a stamp as Arrival, particularly during its early scenes, but it's a strongly-executed action movie (from a sound perspective) in a year that the genre struggled.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Cinema Audio Society splits their nominations between live-action and animated features, though they struck out a bit on their own for Live Action, replacing Arrival and 13 Hours with Doctor Strange and Sully (the winner was La La Land). For Animated, Pixar continued its hold on this category with Finding Dory besting Kubo and the Two Strings, Moana, The Secret Life of Pets, and Zootopia. BAFTA wasn't much closer to Oscar, giving its trophy to Arrival, and substituting out 13 Hours and Rogue One in favor of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Deepwater Horizon. In sixth place, I have to wonder if Sully might have been the contender, considering it got in for Sound Editing and was on the mixers' radar (you could make a decent argument for Deepwater Horizon for the same reasons, but I'm thinking Sully myself).
Films I Would Have Nominated: I'd almost completely upend the category, to be honest. There are lots of great options here, but Oscar just didn't go for it. Think of the way that echoing, museum feel of the White House sounds against the music of Jackie or the every bleet or wind whisp in The VVitch adds to the film's truly petrifying ambiance. Some personal favorites also include the expansive quiet of Silence (it's in the title!) or the romantic conversation against urgent mood music in Moonlight...these are all how you do sound.
Oscar’s Choice: Oscar went with Hacksaw Ridge, one has to assume in a slight nod over La La Land and Arrival.
My Choice: I'm going with Arrival, one of my easier choices even though Kevin O'Connell didn't get this trophy without earning it, as Hacksaw comes together in second. Behind them is Rogue One, 13 Hours, and La La Land in possibly the worst lineup that Oscar pulled together that year.
Those are my choices-how about you? Are you with me that this is a slam dunk for Arrival or are you more in the vein of Oscar's Hacksaw Ridge? Does anyone want to make the case for the other three nominees (which all feel like sharp misses)? And do you think the eyebrow-raising nature of La La Land's nomination might be why some future musicals have struggled here? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Those are my choices-how about you? Are you with me that this is a slam dunk for Arrival or are you more in the vein of Oscar's Hacksaw Ridge? Does anyone want to make the case for the other three nominees (which all feel like sharp misses)? And do you think the eyebrow-raising nature of La La Land's nomination might be why some future musicals have struggled here? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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