The Academy Award for Best Sound Effects is given to films with outstanding design in the areas of sound mixing, editing, and sound effects. Judges generally consider the level of detail and quality of the sound effects, the clarity of the dialogue, how well the sound fits into the story, and the overall quality of the mix.

In this regard, 2023 has so far been an exciting year for the film industry in terms of sound quality, with some of the best sound mixes and sound designs ever created. The Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects and the Golden Reel Awards are two of the film industry's most important awards honoring exceptional sound production. In this article, we’ll highlight the winners of both awards, explore the merits of their sound work, and how they can enhance the cinematic experience for viewers. From intense action sounds to the subtle atmosphere of a theatrical film, let's see how these honorees took the art of sound design to new heights in 2023.

Oscar nominees for Best Sound were All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Elvis, and Top Gun: Maverick (we've already discussed such films in this post).

"Top Gun: Maverick" was not only the winner of this category but also won the MPSE (Sound Editing Syndicate Award) and the CAS (Sound Mixing Syndicate Award), where it beat its two strongest rivals in this race: "All Quiet" and "Elvis". If you saw "Top Gun: Maverick" in the cinema, you will agree that its sound is spectacular. But in addition to the roar of the military jets, the sound of aerobatics, and the amazing action scenes of the third act, the sound design focused on the experience of the pilot characters inside the cockpit, elements such as breathing and the movement of their controls helped create an atmosphere that was as intimate as it was exciting. "Top Gun: Maverick," earned nearly $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office, and $718 million domestically. It is very likely that most voters saw it in theaters and felt the power of those jets. As mentioned in this post, it's a war movie that steps outside the mere popcorn format and goes way beyond; so much so, that some consider it to be as good or better than its first installment from the 1980s.

In short, the skills of Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, the great Mark Weingarten, and a tremendous team, came together to create an immersive and exciting sound experience that complemented the story and action of the film very well. Not only did they include realistic sound effects, but they presented a fairly balanced mix of sound and music, as well as creating a sound environment that immerses the viewer in a quality cinematic experience.

Now, as for the Golden Reels, awards from the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE), we can say that while 'Top Gun: Maverick' and 'The Banshees of Inisherin' are some of the winners from the sound editors' guild, 'Everything Everywhere all At Once' did not get awards for excellent work.

In the Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Room Effects/Foley category nominated films included Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Jurassic World: Dominion, Nope, and Top Gun: Maverick. Each of these films demonstrated exceptional skills in terms of sound mixing and sound design, especially in terms of creating realistic and immersive sound effects.

In the Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Dialogue/ADR category, Inisherina's Banshee, Batman, Elvis Presley, Empire of Light, Everything Everywhere, Everything at Once, and Top Gun: Maverick was nominated. These films were distinguished for, among other things, clarity of dialogue and the ability to integrate sound into the overall narrative of the film.

In the Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Music category, the nominees were Elvis Presley, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, and Tar and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Each of these films showcased a strong ability to offer remarkable skill in incorporating music into the film and overall sound mix.

In the Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Animation category, each film displayed extraordinary skills in sound mixing and sound design. Nominations included DC Super Pets, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, Year of Light, and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Finally, in the Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Foreign Film category, nominees included All Quiet on the Western Front, Argentina, 1985, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Few Truths, EO, and The Quiet Girl. We've already talked about some of these and highlighted their virtues from a mixing and sound design standpoint.

If you want to learn a little more about how to achieve excellence in sound design for your audiovisual production, don't hesitate to contact Enhanced Media Sound Studio. It’s a pleasure for us to take your work to the next level of quality.

*The images used on this post are taken from Pexels.com