Post Completed with DaVinci Resolve Studio for The Stargate Music Video
Brie Clayton January 16, 2025
0 Comments
Hit band Blood Incantation uses DaVinci Resolve for editing, grading and VFX to help with complex storylines.
Blackmagic Design today announced that The Stargate music video, from American death metal band Blood Incantation, was edited and color graded in DaVinci Resolve Studio with visual effects (VFX) completed using the post production software's Fusion page. The video's Director and DP Michael Ragen was responsible for the edit and VFX, while Colorist Belal Hibri completed the grade for the 20 minute saga featuring mind bending imagery and unsettling atmospheres.
More short film than music video, The Stargate presents the epic story of a mysterious object and its victims. Beginning in the Dark Ages and traveling into the voids of deep space, it blends science fiction and folk horror with interdimensional travel and otherworldly technology.
This film is an exploration of portals, worlds beyond worlds, and places beyond time, explained Ragen. Because it's so complex, I built out the entire edit to the song using text cards in Resolve initially. Just simple descriptions of what would be happening in every shot. This was key to staying on schedule and shooting exactly what we needed with our limited resources and time.
Once we started shooting, I ping ponged between filming, editing, working on VFX, and also doing temp color correction, he added. The biggest thing that convinced me to switch to Resolve for editing was the ability to jump into the color page at any time and work on temp grades. I'm primarily a cinematographer so having the right look really helps me dial in the edit, especially on something like this where we transition from black and white to color.
Ragen also noted that if he found himself stuck while editing, he could switch gears, simply click over to DaVinci Resolve Studio's Fusion page, and work on compositing a shot.
In Fusion, I used the planar tracker to track part of someone's face, then used a secondary take of them and stabilized their head movement with the planar tracker. Next, I took elements of that take and composited it onto the first shot, making them into multi featured mutants, he said.
According to Ragen, the space shots required traditional compositing with basic 3D elements such as animated particle fields that the camera pans through. All the organic elements in the space backgrounds were filmed in camera by Chris Parks, who is a master at fluid effects and has worked on films like The Fountain' and The Tree of Life,' he explained. I would take multiple shots from him and stack them or warp them into a new background in Fusion, then bring in the ship, as an EXR or PNG sequence with transparency. The ship itself was something I initially built as a practical miniature and then 3D scanned and did additional 3D kitbashing in Unreal Engine.
Additional tools essential to Ragen's work included DaVinci Resolve Studio's inspector with built in stabilization and retiming tools. On the color page, personally I would never get too fancy with the nodes in the temp color, but I did end up stacking a lot of FX in there, such as some of the warp and dent tools, as well as Analog Damage, he said.
According to Hibri, Ragen had a clear vision for the music video's various phases. I would describe it as a raw photochemical look that you might see in a low budget sci fi film from the 70s. This matched the analog methods used to record and mix the music as well as the approach to VFX. When we got into the actual grading, it became about sculpting that look in a way that responded to density and layering that you can hear in the recording. In addition to the color palette, we used grain, glow, halation and lens flares in different intensities and styles to distinguish each of the various genres and tonalities in the tracks, he said.
Hibri continued, Close to the end of the video, the pilot loses control, and the music and editing get really wild. The scene blends different types of footage from Chris Parks' macro photography to shots of bubbling fluids to shots of the band members melting as they enter the star. We worked hard to ensure that the sequence flowed together and kept up with the intensity of the moment. We had shots where we blended four types of scanned film grain to fuse them into the rest of the edit and keep the energy flowing. There is a moment when it all comes together, and it's immensely satisfying when the sound and image match each other.
We were lucky to work with a band that was so trusting in us and gave us the creative freedom to realize this vision but at the same time were incredibly hands on and collaborative throughout the process, Ragen concluded. The team we had was also amazing. It really felt like working with a bunch of friends on something fun, not a job, however challenging it may have been. It was a good reminder of what filmmaking can be when it feels like there is a common artistic goal.
January 21, 2025RE:Vision Effects: Introducing Twixtor StandaloneRE:Vision Effects, visual effects and video processing industry leader, has released Twixtor
January 20, 2025Franchise Projects Shouldn't be a Makeover Im going to tell you a story. Its going to sound ridiculous.
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 requi
North America Stories
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
25/03/2026
Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...
25/03/2026
The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team
In the live-sports-video ind...
25/03/2026
Synamedia has announced ContentArmor Edge Watermarking, a server-side solution t...
25/03/2026
SES has announced meoSphere, a medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite network targeted for operation by 2030. The first phase will pair SES-developed software-defin...
25/03/2026
TVU Networks is working with Reuters on a phased migration from satellite to a c...
25/03/2026
Nielsen has announced three senior appointments. Seth Ladetsky has been named Head of Global Sports. Trevor Fellows will lead Nielsen's advertiser and agenc...
25/03/2026
Anoki and Amagi have launched In-Scene Ads powered by Anoki ContextIQ across Amagi's portfolio of in-content ad formats for Free Ad-supported Streaming TV (...
25/03/2026
Arkona Technologies will announce a series of enhancements to its BLADE//runner platform at NAB 2026 (Booth C.1808). The updates focus on usability and workflow...
25/03/2026
Daktronics has installed two tower displays and a video wall in the Lexus Club at Petco Park in San Diego ahead of the 2026 season.
Continuing to improve the ...
25/03/2026
MultiDyne Video & Fiber Optic Systems is celebrating its 50th anniversary as NAB Show 2026 approaches. The company was founded in 1976 by Vincent Jachetta, an N...
25/03/2026
IPC, a provider of integrated communication solutions, will make its NAB 2026 de...
25/03/2026
Live production categories were led by NBC, FOX, and ESPN's NFL coverage...
25/03/2026
The Atlanta Braves and Spectrum have announced a multiyear distribution agreemen...
25/03/2026
(L-R) Charlie Tyrell and Daniel Roher attend The AI Doc: Or How I Became An Apocaloptimist Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre ...
25/03/2026
L3Harris Technologies and RFTEQ Pty Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding to ...
25/03/2026
L3Harris delivers combat-ready Torpedo Tube Launch and Recovery system, which deploys and retrieves Iver4 900 autonomous underwater vehicles through submarine t...
25/03/2026
The company expands leadership team under Chief Revenue Officer Amilcar Perez
S...
Post Completed with DaVinci Resolve Studio for The Stargate Music Video 
