Unofficial Academy Awards Discussion Board

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:25 pm**

I agree with Damien on most of the cartoons out there. Of Disney's 90's Renaissance, there are only very few that would warrant in my mind inclusion for Sound Effects (Editing). For their time, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin for sure, but really they're more achievements of Mixing. When PIXAR released Toy Story, that all changed. There is such a tactile nature to all the sounds in the PIXAR films that are painstakingly edited in a way that I don't believe has yet to be equalled in animated features.

A film like Shrek is not an audio experience. Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc., and Cars...? These are films that create a transfixing audio atmosphere. Quite frankly, I don't think that PIXAR films can win enough awards for Best Sound Mixing/Effects. When Damien says that "WALL*E has a lot of beeps in it"...he's (understandably) not taking the entire universe of WALL*E into account. PIXAR has never mixed two different worlds together as they have in WALL*E...the desolation of planet earth AND the AXIOM. It's an audio experience.

That being said, I'm starting to think that Slumdog Millionaire might win. I predicted it would be nominated for Best Sound Mixing but I didn't anticipate a Best Sound Effects nomination. In all fairness, all the sounds in Slumdog Millionaire had to have been created and they're rather convincing at that.

That might be the one edge that Slumdog Millionaire has that the other films don't: crowds.

The Dark Knight has a fantastic sound mix and for my money is the best produced film of the year. The sound mix is incredibly emotional, signaling to the audience how they are supposed to feel amidst a confusing narrative with music drowning in and out. Slumdog Millionaire doesn't have a confusing narrative (ha!) but it certainly does this. WALL*E does this but with a lot of manufactured hustle and bustle. Beeps, whooshes, and everything manufactured by the Sound Effects people. Slumdog Millionaire did what WALL*E did but with crowd noise.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:54 pm**

Damien wrote:I don't think cartoons should ever win sound awards. The voices,and sound effects don't need to be synchronized pefectly with the moment on screen as they do with real movies. I take it that Wall-E has a lot of beeps in it -- now THAT sounds award-worthy.

Actually, this is quite misleading, as about 90% of the sound recorded on set rarely gets used in a film. In fact, it's generally covered in the ADR process, which, arguably, is exactly the way that sound is done on animated films.

And to add on to that, animated films have a much more difficult time because if you think about it, movies have the freedom of still having a set and location to reference whereas an animated film has absolutely nothing to start with. In fact, the professionals consider animated films a lot more difficult to mix and design, especially when the effect of a universe has to be mixed to perfection.

Case in point, look at Dash in The Incredibles as he walks through a tunnel. We hear his footsteps, voice and all sound effects echoing. None of that was able to have been done on location and had to all have been created and mixed to create the illusion of the familiar setting. When characters are outdoors, the recorded voices have to be manipulated to appear like they are not reverberating, when in fact, they are as they were recorded in a studio. That's something that is actually quite difficult.

If anything, there is a depth of sound in all of Wall-E's worlds, from the barren Earth-scape to the silence of outer space to the cold and spacious Axiom spaceship. There is a lot of stuff that would have been difficult to mix on a regular film, but is moreso because they had to create the effect from nothing.

Seriously, you need to break this whole "goddamn cartoon" mindset because it just makes you sound like an elitist snob. You're missing out on the real poetry of movies like Spirited Away and Fantasia by doing so, two movies that are actually more thought out, more poetic and more exquisitly crafted than a large number of live action films.

Edited By Hollywood Z on 1234749326

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 7:49 pm**

I love how you added "sound" in between "I don't think cartoons should win" and "awards."

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:33 pm**

dreaMaker wrote:OscarGuy is right, WALL-E and Dark Knight are far more deserving contenders, i would add Quantum of Solace as well.

I don't think cartoons should ever win sound awards. The voices,and sound effects don't need to be synchronized pefectly with the moment on screen as they do with real movies. I take it that Wall-E has a lot of beeps in it -- now THAT sounds award-worthy.

Although I wouldn't have voted for it, the sound engineering in Slumdog is exemplary, particularly in the myriad crowd scenes.

Edited By Damien on 1234741028

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:31 pm**

Slumdog again?
This is grotesque, no doubt at all.
OscarGuy is right, WALL-E and Dark Knight are far more deserving contenders, i would add Quantum of Solace as well.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 5:41 pm**

Eric wrote:
Sonic Youth wrote:Since you asked...

It could be worse. Slumdog Millionaire could be the final part of a fantasy trilogy with a bunch of munchkins running around a forest with swords sweeping every undeserved thing AMPAS nominated for.

Word.

I couldn't disagree more.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 4:11 pm**

I agree with Sonic. But not this year.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:11 pm**

Sonic Youth wrote:Since you asked...

It could be worse. Slumdog Millionaire could be the final part of a fantasy trilogy with a bunch of munchkins running around a forest with swords sweeping every undeserved thing AMPAS nominated for.

Word.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 12:27 pm**

The Dark Knight and WALL-E easily.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:42 am**

What two films did you feel were better and why?

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:25 am**

Ludicrous in that at least two of the nominees in the category were better in terms of Sound Mixing, yet Slumdog still managed to win. I think we may be looking at one of the most overrated Best Picture winners in history.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:46 am**

Put in that perspective, it does seem a bit ludicrous.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 10:32 am**

Since you asked...

It could be worse. Slumdog Millionaire could be the final part of a fantasy trilogy with a bunch of munchkins running around a forest with swords sweeping every undeserved thing AMPAS nominated for.

Posted: **Sun Feb 15, 2009 9:16 am**

Could this get any more ludicrous?

Slumdog Millionaire

Edited By OscarGuy on 1234707391

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