Oscar 2017 - Sound Mixing

As usual, I should maybe start with the difference between "sound mixing" and "sound editing". Well, I won't. 1 - I explained this in too many of the year before already. 2 - I didn't have time to watch all what's need to cover both sections, so I'll just stick to mixing this time. Which is about the way the final track of a movie's sound is composed/arranged/worked by putting together everything that gets there - voices, effects, score, etc. So, let's start...

In "Arrival" we have an interesting mix. Besides the camera work, I think it's the second major element of the movie that keeps up the gloomy mood. Interesting fact: the two Canadians (if I'm not wrong...) who worked on this mix, Bernard Strobl si Claude La Haye, have also "The Red Violin" in their CV, which I think has one of the best sound mixes I've ever heard... However, that didn't even get a nomination, so...

"Hacksaw Ridge" has Kevin O'Connell behind, one of the most nominated people on this planet (21 times) who didn't get an Oscar yet (no, DiCaprio did not have this record). I actually know about this guy because, along Greg Russell who we have below, is the author of the highest impact sound mix I've heard in a movie, which is "The Rock". Maybe it's also a matter of taste, but I didn't hear anything better in 20 years. Leaving this aside, what we have here sounds good, but I wouldn't say it shines. At some points the score seems too thin, at some points it seems to cover too much what's besides it... In any case this is most probably one of the 2 most possible winners here. A more detailed analysis comes from Soundworks Collection:

"La La Land" might seem to gain from being a musical, which happened before (ex., "Les Miserables"). Still, I have to admit that the sound mix is almost flawless, and that considering I hate the genre. Despite the fact that you have indeed a lot of singing, the transitions are made in such a way that the result is not annoying, not even for people like me.

"Rogue One" has a good mix, but I won't say it gets on par with the rest. So, let's not stay too long here...

... and neither on "13 Hours" where we have Greg Russell I was mentioning above. It's an action movie sound mixing on a war movie based on real facts. What you hear sounds good, but a bit too artificial for the depicted context...

Verdict: I say that this year "La La Land" will win.