Best Sound Editing:

Sound editing is one of the more confusing technical categories, as it often gets muddled in with sound mixing. However, the editing of sound is a critical part of telling a story and can make or break how well a film’s atmosphere is established. In layman’s terms, sound editing can be more easily defined as the creation and addition of sound effects into a film. Nominees such as David Acord and Matthew Wood‘s work on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Donald Sylvester‘s work on Ford v Ferrari seem to be easy frontrunners, as space and fast cars are two things that absolutely require impactful audio to move its audience.

Wylie Stateman‘s sound editing in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood makes Tarantino‘s version of the city incredibly rich and Alan Robert Murray‘s auditory creation of Gotham City in Joker gives it so much needed life but the film that really nails its expansive soundscape is Sam Mendes‘ 1917. Not only do war films seem to rely on masterful technical creativity, but because of Roger Deakins‘ “one-take” cinematography, Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate‘s utilization of sound in 1917 is absolutely critical. There are no cutaways to show what is happening off-screen and because of this limitation, the way that they used sound to guide the viewers into this warzone is phenomenal. This makes the film an easy pick for this category, as it crafted a new world unlike many of the other nominees.

Prediction: 1917

Best Sound Mixing:

The sound mixing category is infamously one of the least understood by the general public, but it’s an important signifier of a film’s technical achievement. It seems most probable that 1917 will take home the award, as the Academy has a record of giving the award to action-heavy war films (Dunkirk, Hacksaw Ridge). Joker and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are also strong contenders, both films seamlessly blending radio announcements and vintage TV into their soundtracks to render convincing worlds. Ad Astra is probably the biggest surprise for the category, as this is the only nomination for James Gray‘s challenging science fiction space film; nevertheless, it seems quite unlikely that the nomination will amount to anything other than a respectful nod. Ford v Ferrari may have a shot at the award as a loud racecar film, but 1917 seems the safest bet out of all the nominees.

Prediction: 1917

Best Visual Effects:

With large progression in technology slowing gradually, the Best Visual Effects category is now about finer details, execution of effects and innovation. Essentially it is an opportunity for studios to showcase high end graphics and VFX used to enhance the movie going experience, by providing deeply believable visuals or more realistic virtual environments to compliment their film’s respective plots. Studio heavyweights Disney boast an impressive three out of five nominees for the award. The Lion King is considered the frontrunner for the award, with three time Oscar winning VFX supervisor Rob Legato on board for Disney to breathe fresh life to an original classic Disney epic, working with cinematography legend Caleb Deschanel to create a powerful faux live-action world. Additionally, Disney can proudly boast two other big contenders to pick up the award, Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker and Avengers: Endgame, both absolutely massive franchise blockbusters and conclusions to their respective series of films. Rise of Skywalker, in particular, requiring various methods of craftsmanship for authentic puppeteering and large scale space battles. Endgame featured countless high-octane, adrenaline-fueled combat scenes that were striking. The Irishman is also in contention for the award, with an innovative de-aging technology designed by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) that aided film legends Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino to cap career great performances as younger men. Still, not to be discounted is 1917, using impressive VFX to stitch together the one continuous shot and weave together dazzling sequences seamlessly.

Prediction: The Lion King