The Sound Mixing category is one of the technical awards many do not understand. The mixing category is the overall sound work that is heard in the final cut of the film. This year two films nominated for Best Picture also shortlisted in this category while the other three nominees are only nominated in a few categories. Previous winners include "Les Miserables," "Hugo," "Inception," "The Hurt Locker," "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Bourne Ultimatum."
"Captain Phillips" - Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor and Mike Prestwood Smith are nominated for their first Academy Award while Chris Munro garnered his fourth nomination. Munro has previously been nominated for "Black Hawk Down," "The Mummy" and "Gravity." "Captain Phillips" has been nominated for a number of sound awards including the BAFTA, and the Cinema Audio Society, which contains a number of Oscar voters. However, the film was unsuccessful at the awards ceremony and has gone home empty-handed. It is unlikely the film will take home this award especially with "Gravity" also nominated alongside it.
"Gravity" - Skip Lievsay garnered his sixth Academy Award nomination this year while Chris Munro obtained his fourth nomination at the Academy Awards. Meanwhile, Niv Adiri and Christopher Benstead were nominated for the first time at the Oscars. "Gravity" has won virtually every single award for Sound including the BAFTA and the CAS, making it the front-runner to win the Oscar in sound mixing. Additionally, the film is the front-runner in the sound editing award and the Academy usually likes to hand both sound awards to the same film. Recently, "Hugo," "Inception, "The Hurt Locker," and "The Bourne Ultimatum" won both awards.
"The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" - Christopher Boyes obtained his 14th Academy Award nomination while Michael Hedges garnered his fourth Oscar nomination. Both sound mixers have previously won Oscars for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," and "King Kong." Peter Jackson's films have been frequent nominees in this category particularly for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. However, only the third installment won the award. Ever since "The Hobbit" trilogy began, the Oscars have not been as generous to the series and the first film did not score nominations in sound categories. With very little buzz for "The Desolation of Smaug" and few nominations, Peter Jackson's latest adventure is sure to go home empty-handed.
"Inside Llewyn Davis" - Skip Lievsay received his fourth Academy Award nomination while Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland garnered their fourth mention in the category. "Inside Llewyn Davis" was once seen as serious Oscar contender for Best Picture. However, the Academy only nominated it in two categories including Best Sound Mixing. The Academy has a tendency of nominating musical films in this category. "Chicago" and "Les Miserables" both won the awards and therefore it would seem that "Llewyn Davis" would have a chance. However, with the lack of nominations and the fact that it lost the CAS, the Coen brothers' latest film will go home without a victory.
"Lone Survivor" - Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow received their first Oscar nominations. "Lone Survivor" was once seen as a major Oscar contender, the same way "LLewyn Davis" was. However, it only garnered two sound category nominations. The lack of serious wins during the precursor awards and the fact that the film has no awards buzz will hurt any chances of a win this category.
Predictions: "Gravity" has all the momentum in this category but "Captain Phillips" can surprise if the Oscars want to share the wealth.