Motion Picture Sound Editors Analysis, Winners: 'Gravity' and 'Captain Phillips' Win Big

The Motion Picture Sound Editors have handed out their annual awards celebrating the 61^st ceremony in the organization's history.

The awards are important because the organization contains a number of Oscar voters; numerous Sound Editor winners have gone on to win the Oscar at the Academy Awards. Previous recipients of the MPSE and Oscar have been "Skyfall," "Inception," and "The Bourne Ultimatum." The MPSE has also given a number of Oscar nominees in Sound Editing the award including "Avatar," "War Horse" and "Slumdog Millionaire."

This year the MPSE gave the top award for Best Sound Editing for Sound effects and Foley to "Gravity." The win was not a surprise as the film has racked up a number of sound awards and it is expected to win the Oscar in this category. "Gravity" defeated "All is Lost," "12 Years a Slave," "Captain Phillips," "Fast & Furious 6," "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," "Iron Man 3," and "Lone Survivor."

Fellow Oscar nominee "Captain Phillips," however, beat "Gravity" in the Best Sound Editing: Dialogue and ADR category. The win was a surprise and could threaten to defeat the Alfonso Cuaron sci-fi drama on Oscar night. Back in 2011,"Hugo" won this award at the MPSE, and even though "War Horse" had won the top award, "Hugo" was the eventual Oscar winner. "Captain Phillips" was victorious over "12 Years a Slave," "American Hustle," "August: Osage County," "Gravity," "Her," "Inside Llewyn Davis," and "Lone Survivor"

The other big award "Gravity" failed to capture was the Best Sound Editing: Music Score. The film lost to "the Great Gatsby." However, unlike its loss to "Captain Phillips," this one is not as dangerous because "The Great Gatsby" was not nominated for Sound Editing at the Oscars. "Gatsby" beat "12 Years a Slave," "47 Ronin," "American Hustle," "Gravity," "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," and "World War Z."

Other big winners included "Epic," which beat "Frozen" in the Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Dialogue & ADR in an animated film category. The win was surprising because the film was not nominated for any major ANNIE awards and it was also not nominated for the Oscar.

The Iranian film "The Past" took Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Dialogue & ADR category in a Foreign Film. The movie beat out "Blue is the Warmest Color," "The Grandmaster" and "Wadjda."

"Dirty Wars" was the big winner in the Best Sound Editing in a Documentary. The film beat out "1," "20 Feet From Stardom," "CinemAbility," "Good Ol' Freda," "Muscle Shoals," "Rising From Ashes," and "Sound City."

The Best Sound Editing Music in a Musical Feature went to "Frozen." The film took the award over "Inside Llewyn Davis," "Justin Bieber's Believe" and "Metallica Through the Never."

Founded in 1953, the MPSE is an organization dedicated to improving the recognition of its members by educating the public and the rest of the filmmaking community about the artistic merit of sound editing. The MPSE members are comprised of artists who sculpt dramatic sound effects and invent new sounds for imaginary worlds. In addition to sound effects editors, members also include Foley editors, Dialogue editors, ADR editors, and music editors.