Last week, while discussing the sound editing category, I explained the difference between that art form and sound mixing. The Oscar for the latter is shared between two (or more) persons who construct the soundtrack of a movie. The re-recording mixers bring together everything – dialogue, sound effects, music – into what we hear in the theater. The production sound mixer is also awarded for capturing the sounds during shooting, an undoubtedly arduous task.
Many of the films nominated here are also nominated for Best Sound Editing. In fact, rarely is there more than one film showcased for only one field. Both categories like loud films, blockbusters and, as always, being a Best Picture contender certainly helps.
That said, some trends are noticeable between the two categories. Firstly, the branch has a love of musicals when it comes to sound mixing. That makes sense, of course, because a musical is fully made by its mix. Meanwhile, animated films consistently fare better in the sound editing category, which also makes sense given that so much of the sound scape is created separately from production.