“Hardhome” wins Cinema Audio Society Award

Awards season is almost over (the Oscars will mark the climax this upcoming weekend), but in the meantime, it rages on. This past weekend, the industry’s sound professionals were honored at the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) awards. Game of Thrones was nominated, and won, in the 1-hour television series category, for “Hardhome.” Here’s what the field looked like:

• Better Call Saul: Ep. 110, “Marco”
• Game of Thrones: “Hardhome”
• Homeland: 502, “The Tradition of Hospitality”
• House of Cards: “Chapter 27”
• The Walking Dead: “First Time Again”

Congratulations to the audio professionals on the show, who include production mixers Ronan Hill and Ronan Hill, re-recording mixers Onnalee Blank and Mathew Waters, and foley mixer Brett Voss. This latest award means that Game of Thrones is maintaining its streak: it won an award in the same category last year for Season 4’s “The Children,” and the year before that for “The Rains of Castamere.”

Sound mixing is hugely important to setting the tone of a series. The mixing on Game of Thrones is excellent, but it’s not as obviously flashy as, say, a CGI dragon, so it doesn’t get discussed as much. Still, even people who wouldn’t normally pay attention to a sound mix probably noticed some of the excellent editing in “Hardhome.”

The high point comes midway through the Massacre at Hardhome, when Jon faces down the bearded White Walker. At the start of the fight, the mix is loud, with a pounding soundtrack in the background and the clang of sword on sword (or ice lance on whatever Jon and Loboda can grab) in the foreground. After the White Walker knocks Jon to the ground, the soundtrack cuts out, and the sound effects start to echo, as though there’s a ringing in Jon’s head. This focuses all the attention on their one-on-one battle, which climaxes when Jon shatters his enemy into a thousand crystalized shards. It’s a gripping bit of sound mixing, and well worth the CAS award.

h/t Variety