I love Charlie Chaplain. I really do. But was he ever wrong when he predicted that “talkies” were a fad that would quickly die out. Since “The Jazz Singer” revolutionized cinema eighty years ago with its addition of sound to a movie’s visuals, so much of filmmaking has been told by its audio elements.

There is a distinction between the “sound” awards awarded by the Academy. Best Sound Editing recognizes achievement in integrating effects – the artificially created “clinks, rustles and grunts” – into the overall soundtrack. Best Sound Mixing refers to the creation and integration of all aural elements – effects, dialogue, music and anything else heard in the film – into a soundtrack of appropriate volume and consistency. Up to three re-recording mixers and one production sound mixer are eligible to share this award.

This is a category where several types of films are frequently seen. The first among these is the musical. As I discuss below, when musicals are good, they are almost always nominated and frequently win. Also seen regularly is the war film. Alas, there do not seem to be any traditional entries from this genre that are in real contention this year.

Blockbusters and big money makers also frequent the category. The sheer loudness of many of these films seems to get them nominated. But then there’s the fact that Best Picture contenders have an incredible knack of showing up all over the place, this category included. That said, the last two years have both been absent of Best Picture nominees – perhaps signaling a change of sorts, perhaps not.

The sound community is a tight-knit one in Hollywood. Among the nominees every year, there are several individuals with career nominations totals of close to, if not well within the realm of double digits. The significant majority of nominees every year have been nominated before. Films being nominated without any past nominees aboard a crew are almost unheard of.

Perhaps the biggest question of this year’s race is what will become of Kevin O’Connell and Greg P. Russell. The duo has gained a fair bit of Oscar infamy for having accumulated 30 nominations without a win between them. O’Connell’s 19 nods without a win is the highest tally in Oscar history, which got him a great deal of media attention last year.

The duo worked together twice this year – on Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3” and Michael Bay’s “Transformers.” They have previously been nominated for not only their two previous efforts in Raimi’s hugely successful franchise but also for “The Rock,” “Armageddon” and “Pearl Harbor,” all from Bay. Both films this year were massive hits and very loud indeed. I can’t see them winning for the “Spider-Man 3” given they couldn’t manage it for the first two and this one is widely seen as where the franchise jumped the shark. Nevertheless, I do think that they have fantastic chances at a nomination for it.

I personally believe O’Connell and Russell have a great shot at finally winning for “Transformers.” There is no denying how loud this film was or how integral the sound was to the overall feel of the movie. Moreover, I don’t see any film being that much of a challenge, as most of the other contenders are either sequels, marginal as sound category contenders or films of which I’m simply doubtful. Then again, there is that big musical coming out around Christmas…but I’ll get there in a minute.

Last year, the season’s big musical was Bill Condon’s “Dreamgirls,” for which Michael Minkler won his third Oscar. Unfortunately, Minkler made some highly inappropriate remarks regarding O’Connell after the show which left an awfully sour taste in that close-knit community of sound technicians. While Minkler apologized and O’Connell accepted, I can’t help but wonder if that will affect Minkler’s future chances in this category. But I’m just thinking out loud here. Minkler’s work will also be on display this season in Ridley Scott’s “American Gangster.” Scott’s film has received some kind advance word. But will the film be loved? And will the sound be notable enough to bring Minkler back into the race? It’s hard to say.

But familiar faces will be seen outside of O’Connell, Russell and Minkler. The team behind “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” led by Christopher Boyes, Paul Massey and Lee Orloff – Oscar favorites all – will be back in the hunt again this year. They’ve been nominated for the two previous installments in this series from Jerry Bruckheimer, king of the sound awards. Surely they’ll be in contention once more.

Now for the musical. Blending dialogue, singing and instrumental music is always an audio feat which draws attention to itself. Tim Burton’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” will be doing just that this year. Many think Burton is over due for Oscar recognition, and Sondheim’s Broadway masterpiece has been awards bait elsewhere. If the film comes off without a hitch (which I still think is considerable “if”), then I certainly expect this nomination to follow.

Continuing down the road of musicals, Adam Shenkman’s “Hairspray” turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of the summer to many a viewer, myself included. Given the campiness of this material and Shenkman’s past filmography, I assumed the film would wind up being a dud. But instead, embracing its own cheekiness, it became a surprising hit with both critics and audiences. The sound mixing from Oscar winners Rick Kline and David MacMillan must surely be considered as a potential nominee. Nonetheless, if there is room for only one musical, I’d give the edge to “Sweeney Todd.”

“Beowulf” is the latest experimental semi-animated feature from Robert Zemeckis. Zemieckis is a director who has had a very mixed record with Oscar, from incredible success with “Forrest Gump” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” to relative misses (“Cast Away,” “The Polar Express”) in recent years. Nonetheless, “The Polar Express” managed to grab a sound mixing nomination here three years ago, an extremely rare feat for an animated feature. “Beowulf,” one would imagine, would be even more reliant on its soundscape to tell the story. Sound guru Randy Thom is in charge of this effort and he’s been nominated six times over strictly for his Zemeckis collaborations. That said, I’d also imagine that it could turn out an even tougher sell at the box office – to say nothing of quality. We’ll wait this one out.

Having read the scripts for both “Lions for Lambs” and “There Will Be Blood,” I can tell you that certain scenes in both movies could be very loud indeed. If either movie catches on in a major fashion, I wouldn’t rule them out here. Neither film are saddled with sound favorites but “There Will Be Blood”’s Tom Johnson and “Lions for Lambs”’s Petur Hliddal are both previous nominees. That said, I remain highly skeptical of the quality, if any, that will come out of Redford’s film, while I’m not sure how much of a sweeper Anderson’s will become, even if it is an instant classic. AMPAS hasn’t embraced his filmography to date, nor does he usually work with crafts artists who are Oscar regulars (in fact, one-time nominee cinematographer Robert Elswit is the only non-sound craftsmen on board who has ever been nominated before).

“No Country for Old Men” will attempt to return the Coen brothers to the sort of Oscar success they only experienced once, with “Fargo.” There will likely be a great deal of action and violence in this. So while I don’t think that it will be memorable enough to sneak in here, I’d keep an eye on it nevertheless. Peter Kurland and Greg Orloff are both past nominees.

And if we’re speaking of potential sweepers, I would not totally discount Mike Nichols’s “Charlie Wilson’s War” either. Nothing about that film screams “Best Sound Mixing” to me, but given the premise, there could possibly be some basis for a nomination, if the film really begins to rack up the nods. Petur Hliddal is on board here as well.

Chris Weitz’s “The Golden Compass” could be a tech category behemoth. The soundscape will combine a great deal of sound effects with much action chaos and what could be an iconic score from the great Alexandre Desplat. If Weitz turns out a hit, this category ought to be considered. That said, none of the re-recording mixers are past nominees (though production sound mixer Tony Dawe does have four nominations to his credit) and I don't know if the box office will be as big here as for the summer films. We'll see.

Finally, I’d like to mention Paul Greengrass’s “The Bourne Ultimatum.” I’m probably just pimping a favorite here but I have found the sound work in the last two installments in this series, especially the second, to be nothing short of fantastic. Bob Beemer and Scott Millan are also both consistent nominees, with seven statuettes between them. Admittedly, an Oscar nomination for the series hasn’t happened in any category thus far and it’s very rare when the third film out is the first one to accomplishment that trick (in fact, I’m not sure if it’s ever happened.) Nonetheless…I’ll keep hoping!

Another category down. We’ll keep plowing through them in the next few weeks, but be on the look out for some special features mixed in here and there.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: If there's anyone sorely missing from this initial prospective line-up, it's five-time nominee Paul Massey and his work on the ever-prevalent "3:10 to Yuma.")