All Is Lost Captain Phillips Gravity The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Lone Survivor As opposed to Sound Mixing, Sound Editing is the actual creation (and manipulation) of the sounds you hear in the movie. In other words, it's more akin to what Foley artists do in a sound room where they use a myriad of different tools to create sounds that approximate the sound you would actually hear if the action on the screen really happened before your own eyes. The distinction then between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing can be thought of, very crudely, as quality versus quantity. However, once again, when it comes to predicting this award, knowledge of the actual differences between the two sound categories is unnecessary. Typically, the Academy rewards both sound categories to the same film, although last year this wasn't the case as Les Miserable took Sound Mixing and Sound Editing was stunningly a tie between Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty. This split though usually only occurs when a musical is involved (such as Les Miserable), with the musical taking Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing going to a more action oriented film. I suspect though when it comes to the three most technical categories of the Oscars (Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing), many Academy members will simply check Gravity, Gravity, Gravity. Between the two sound categories though, I do feel that Gravity is slightly more vulnerable in this category, and I think there is more quite love and respect for Captain Phillips than some might imagine, so if the Academy really feels like spreading the love, I could see it pulling off the surprise victory. Best Sound Editing though is not the category to take risks in though, so just do the smart thing and stick with Gravity. Will Win: GravityCould Win: Captain PhillipsShould Win: All Is Lost
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
