At the Oscars there are 2 different sound categories: Sound Mixing (sometimes just “Sound”) and Sound Editing. Don’t know the difference? Here’s a quick primer…
Sound Editing is creating sounds and sound effects. It might be the slamming of a car door that couldn’t be recorded during filming. Or it could be inventing a completely new sound, like Chewbacca’s growl or the Tardis’ whirr. The latter is also known as Foley. (It is something of a pipe-dream of mine to someday learn to be a Foley artist.)
Sound Mixing is the final mix of all sounds, dialogue, and score, whether recorded during filming or in post-production.
The Cinema Audio Society (CAS) is the sound mixers’ guild. Their awards nominations give us an idea of the direction the Oscars’ Sound Mixing category might take, but there are usually a couple differences. This year likely Oscar contenders All Is Lost and Rush were left off their list, though I’m at a loss for what either of those might replace.
Here’s the full list of CAS Award nominees…
Motion Picture – Live Action
“Captain Phillips”
“Gravity”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Iron Man 3”
“Lone Survivor”
Motion Picture – Animated
“The Croods”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“Walking With Dinosaurs”
Television Movie or Mini-Series
“American Horror Story: Coven” — “The Replacements”
“Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome”
“Behind the Candelabra”
“Bonnie and Clyde: (Night Two) Part Two”
“Phil Spector”
Television Series – 1 Hour
“Boardwalk Empire” — “Erlkönig”
“Breaking Bad” — “Felina”
“Game of Thrones” — “The Rains of Castamere”
“Homeland” — “Good Night”
“The Walking Dead” — “Home”
Television Series – 1/2 Hour
“Californication” — “I’ll Lay My Monsters Down”
“Modern Family” — “Goodnight Gracie”
“Nurse Jackie” — “Teachable Moments”
“The Office” — “Finale”
“Parks and Recreation” — “Leslie and Ben”
Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Specials
“2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony”
“Deadliest Catch” — “The Final Battle”
“History of the Eagles — Part One”
“Killing Lincoln”
“Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth”
The Screen Life 
[…] the guild for sound mixing. For more on the difference between sound mixing vs sound editing, read here or […]
[…] A lot has been written about the difference between sound mixing and editing. While the difference is clear and makes sense when you learn it, the end results at the Oscars are usually the same. Four nominees show up in both categories (all action/sci-fi/genre films). Movies with a big focus on music sometimes have an advantage in Mixing (just as animated movies do in Editing), which is how Inside Llewyn Davis nabbed that last spot. But its chances of winning are slim, as are that of the largely ignored Hobbit. Lone Survivor has a lot of respect – and not just in the tech fields – and with less competition could been a major contender. Captain Phillips, on the other hand, has been making a bit of a surge lately, and its teams came away with surprise wins in both categories recently for the third Bourne movie. Still, Gravity is the big player cleaning up the majority of the tech fields. It doesn’t hurt that it’s actually the most deserving, incorporating sound and music into an astoundingly original sonic identity. […]