
DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
Brie Clayton March 12, 2025
0 Comments
Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for picture and audio post production.
Blackmagic Design today announced that Adam Bol, an ambitious co production between Kazakh and Nigerian cinema, used DaVinci Resolve Studio for color grading, audio mixing, and finishing.
Nigerian producers Kele Ikeata and Chimezie Imo, who supervised the Nigerian cut, enlisted colorist Claudia Maneka Maharaj and sound designer and composer Lukas Panayi, both from Signals, a Berlin based post production studio.
Working remotely from Berlin with DaVinci Resolve Studio for color grading and audio post production, Maharaj and Panayi crafted a unique viewing experience focused on supporting the producers' creative intentions by expressing an underlying synergy between color and sound.
Tasked with both audio post and music scoring for the film, Panayi's decision to use DaVinci Resolve Studio's Fairlight was based on its robust handling of dialogue and SFX editing, foley, sound design, and mixing. He also took full advantage of DaVinci Resolve Studio's ability to differentiate the sonic landscapes of Nigeria and Kazakhstan, crafting soundscapes that complemented the film's color choices. I needed to bring these different spaces to life; Lagos had a vibrant and chaotic energy, while the Kazakh locations were much calmer and more serene, he said.
For the more technically demanding scenes, DaVinci Resolve Studio's new dialogue editing tools proved essential. The Fairlight page's dialogue leveler and voice isolation helped immensely in scenes where characters spoke at various intensities, often alternating between extreme shouting and soft whispering, Panayi explained.
One particularly challenging scene involved a high energy performance where overlapping dialogue, musical elements and background noise demanded meticulous audio balancing. I selected the cleanest and best sounding dialogue takes and minimized unwanted set noise while managing the blend of Russian, Nigerian Pidgin and English without losing the natural character or nuance of the individual performances, noted Panayi. Resolve's integrated tools streamlined this, minimizing the need for third party plugins and making it easier to maintain a uniform sound quality and manageable session.
DaVinci Resolve Studio also enabled Panayi to meet the technical demands of a cinematic release, allowing him to manage the various deliverables for 5.1 and stereo mixes efficiently. The ability to create a customized 5.1 template in Resolve's Fairlight page made it simple to adapt to the client's specifications for both theater and digital formats, he said.
To shape the film's distinct visual styles, Maharaj used references from the producers and Director of Photography Ziad Abd Elbasit. She designed custom LUTs to reflect the environmental contrasts and psychological states of each setting.
For Nigeria, we adapted my CM8543 LUT, inspired by Fuji Eterna film stock, to emphasize bright, saturated colors and warm skin tones to evoke Lagos' vibrancy, Maharaj explained. I accentuated the green undertones to enhance the atmosphere and highlight key production design elements.
Kazakhstan's look drew on Soviet era cinematography and Eastman Color Negative 100T film. Customizing my CM5254 LUT unlocked the muted earthy tones and cyan hues reminiscent of Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror,' said Maharaj.
Reflecting on the project, Maharaj and Panayi expressed excitement at seeing Adam Bol reach international screens. It's such a unique film, and it was a privilege to be part of it. It also signals the future of international cinematic collaborations, made increasingly possible by advancing technology, Maharaj noted, a sentiment echoed by Panayi.
March 11, 2025Alice in Wonderlight Filmed with URSA Mini Pro 12K OLPFPlay captured in 8K60p as part of national initiative to digitally archive
March 10, 2025Symphony of Smoldering Chaos Shot on Blackmagic Design CamerasAn ensemble drama based on real life comedians created with Blackmagic Design.
Enjoying the news? Sign up for the Creative COW Newsletter! Sign up for the Creative COW newsletter and get weekly updates on industry news, forum highlights, jobs, inspirational tutorials, tips, burning questions, and more! Receive bulletins from the largest, longest-running community dedicated to supporting professionals working in film, video, and audio.
Enter your email address, and your first and last name below!
-- Sign up: * indicates required
Email Address *
Name
--
Most recent headlines
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...