Zombie Repellent Created With Blackmagic Camera and Blackmagic Cloud
Brie Clayton February 17, 2025
1 Comment
Horror film finished using DaVinci Resolve Neural Engine Film Look, UltraNR, Face Refinement and Film Look.
Blackmagic Design today announced that New Zealand Sons Film's new film, Zombie Repellent, was completed with DaVinci Resolve Studio, Blackmagic Cloud and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 digital cinema cameras. As part of the post production process, the filmmakers also used a number of DaVinci Resolve Neural Engine AI tools, including Face Refinement and UltraNR noise reduction.
Zombie Repellent is a mix of horror and romantic comedy and stars Chad Malen and Olivia Rose. The film from Sean and Taylor King, the father and son founders of New Zealand Son Films, will soon be available in theaters and for streaming.
Together the two filmmakers have written, directed and produced all of the company's 19 films, which can be seen in 160 countries on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Tubi, Flix, Plex and 16 other platforms.
The film's director and DP, Taylor King, shot anamorphic using Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2 over three weeks. The film was shot using a Laowa 35mm Nanomorph Anamorphic 1.5x lens in conjunction with the Pocket Cinema Camera 6K G2.
DaVinci Resolve Studio was used throughout the entire production, starting in pre production with LUT development right on set.
Sean explained how he set the tone of the film with DaVinci Resolve Studio: With each new film, we like to experiment and try different looks. On Zombie Repellent,' the film starts off looking like a typical romantic comedy, but 10 minutes in, our couple heads down a road that's gonna dramatically change the story. That is where we used Resolve's new AI Film Look to change from our romantic comedy look into our more desaturated grainy look that runs for the rest of the film. It's not as dramatic as the Wizard of Oz going from going from black and white to color, but in that single shot, you're definitely getting the feeling that the tone of the film is changing.
Blackmagic Cloud become an integral part of their filmmaking process, allowing them to work more efficiently and with artists they trust anywhere in the world. Editing was done in Chicago with sound and color correction done by artists in other parts of the United States using DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Sean explained: At the end of each shoot day, we created a timeline with production audio and BRAW video. Resolve instantly started creating proxies in the background and uploading them to the Cloud along with the production audio, and the colorist and audio editor would start getting footage they could work within minutes. Usually within two hours the entire days footage had been downloaded and available to all our workstations.
He continued: We can be collaborating with a composer, colorist or sound designer anywhere in the world and they can watch the dailies immediately. And then as sound design and color correction are being done in Resolve in different states, those changes are being updated instantly and downloaded to anyone who opens the session. It's been a game changer.
Another set of DaVinci Resolve Studio tools that were essential to the creation of Zombie Repellent were several of the software's Neural Engine AI tools, including Face Refinement Filter, UltraNR noise reduction, Film Look Creator and Voice Isolation.
DaVinci Resolve's AI tools are exactly what AI should be. Designed to help give me more time to be creative and not take over creating, or worse, steal what we work so hard to create, Sean explained. UltraNR has really helped since Zombie Repellant' takes place at night and we pushed the camera to the edge of its low light ability. Face Refinement let us fix hot spots on actors faces and minor make up changes. And funny enough, on the zombies, we used it in reverse to give them a more menacing look.
He continued: The Neural Engine feature we used on every shot is the Voice Isolation. Even at very low settings, it can remove enough of the background without any artifacts, and at higher settings save audio that would have been unusable a few years ago.
As filmmakers that have a history of shooting in widely different genres, New Zealand Sons have come to rely on DaVinci Resolve Studio to help them stay efficient.
Sean explained: One of the major breakthroughs for us and using Resolve happened a couple years ago when we discovered Resolve's color management workflow. It gives us unlimited possibilities for the varying looks of the different projects. And in the last year, the addition of the new Color Slicer and Film Look features have allowed us to move from genre to genre in the same color management pipeline and node tree, creating unlimited looks, without changing our normal color correction workflow.
What I've learned from working with Resolve over the last five years is it's a constantly evolving software, with new tools and features released every few months. I search YouTube weekly looking for colorist advice and tutorials to keep on top of the new additions, and use that shared knowledge to incorporate into my workflow, he finished.
February 19, 2025Do I Know You From Somewhere? Shot with URSA Mini Pro 12KCanadian indie film uses Blackmagic camera to create cohesive story across different universes. Blackmagic Design
February 18, 2025The Ninth Order Completed With URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and FairlightFilm shown at 20 global film festivals used DaVinci Resolve Studio for
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 lar
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
Zombie Repellent Created With Blackmagic Camera and Blackmagic Cloud 
