
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
08/07/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is applauding the passage of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill and provision...
08/07/2025
SYDNEY RTS has announced that Channel 7 Sydney has deployed a new comms system from RTS as part of a larger ST-2110 upgrade....
08/07/2025
ATLANTA & CINCINNATI Gray Media, Inc. and The E.W. Scripps Company have entered into agreements to swap television stations across five mid-sized and small mark...
07/07/2025
Advanced vision solutions deliver more than reliable night vision for tactical-edge warfighters. Today's technological advances can provide the capability f...
07/07/2025
BALTIMORE Sinclair has named Narinder Sahai its executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective immediately....
07/07/2025
Riedel Communications today announced the launch of RefSuite, a powerful new Managed Technology solution tailored to professional sports workflows. RefSuite com...
07/07/2025
Regional base will foster client engagement, partner collaboration, and executive touchpoints
Skandha Media Services, a leading provider of cloud-native media ...
07/07/2025
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, announced its Against All Odds - ASG Builds Cutti...
07/07/2025
Agreement secured on the strength of Skandha's proven track record in delivering reliable managed services across the full content life cycle for existing h...
07/07/2025
1-2 Punch: The Cloud, Generative AI, and the Future of Sports-Content Distributi...
07/07/2025
Tests and decisions: Formula E host broadcaster Aurora on launching new AR graph...
07/07/2025
Building tension: Using new AR graphics for storytelling at the Formula E penult...
07/07/2025
Altitude Sports' Matt Krol on the Success of the RSN's In-Arena Postgame...
07/07/2025
SVG Rewind: Four NFL Clubs Bring Us on Set of Respective Media Day Shoots An in-depth conversation with 49ers Laura Johnson, Ravens Jay O'Brien, Las Vegas R...
07/07/2025
Cosm To Build Fifth Shared Reality Venue in Cleveland as Part of Bedrock's ...
07/07/2025
Back to All News
She Walks in Darkness, Agust n D az Yanes New Film, Premieres ...
05/07/2025
Back to All News
Superestar, the Story of a Star Who Never Changed. Premiering July 18
Entertainment
05 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Dis...
04/07/2025
By Lucy Spicer
Editor's note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robe...
04/07/2025
Introducing CVP Auctions: Trusted Tech, At Auction-Only Prices
Brie Clayton July 4, 2025
0 Comments
A New Destination for Film and Broadcast Gear at U...
04/07/2025
Unveiling China's Ecological Wonders with URSA Mini Pro 12K
Brie Clayton July 4, 2025
0 Comments
Nature Documentaries Freeze Epic Momentsin Extrem...
04/07/2025
Create Any Planet in After Effects
Graham Quince July 4, 2025
0 Comments
The Advanced 3D renderer in After Effects makes it really easy to import 3D o...
04/07/2025
Custom Gradient Colorize for Resolve Fusion
Simon Ubsdell July 4, 2025
0 Comments
Digging into the theory of the gradient colorize process to build ou...
04/07/2025
Watching live sports on TV these days is a delicate balance for broadcasters how much information is too much?...
04/07/2025
WASHINGTON As Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr works to achieve his goal of a very busy, productive summer at the FCC, the agency has rele...
04/07/2025
Other World Computing Launches OWC Guardian USB-C Hardware-Encrypted Portable SS...
04/07/2025
CANAL Brings MotoGP to Vision Pro with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton July 3, 2025
0 Comments
Experience MotoGP like never before as CA...
03/07/2025
To achieve a true level of decisive overmatch, communication systems must be as ...
03/07/2025
The Broadcasters Foundation of America has named Ray Hopkins, president of U.S. distribution at Paramount Global, to its board of directors....
03/07/2025
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. In his first major policy speech, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr outlined his Build America Agenda for the agency'...
03/07/2025
As the industry is making a major push to transition to NextGen TV and develop new businesses that will fund the next generation of broadcasting, TV Tech's ...
03/07/2025
Despite enabling its subscribers to watch films and TV shows in the highest possible resolution, Netflix has revealed it is taking things old school with the in...
03/07/2025
WASHINGTON In response to news that Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, Democrats and other administra...
03/07/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications today launched RefSuite for professional sports workflows....
03/07/2025
WEITERSTADT, Germany LYNX Technik, a provider of modular signal processing solutions, has announced that founder and longtime CEO Winfried Deckelmann is steppin...
03/07/2025
WASHINGTON Representatives from six trade groups representing tech, pay TV, broadband, LPTV and other sectors recently met with Federal Communications Commissio...
03/07/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wis. Dan Whealy has acquired Heartland Video Systems and will be its new owner and president, the systems integrator said....
03/07/2025
Acclaimed filmmaker, educator, and industry veteran Jay Holben has released his most ambitious work to date: The Director's Guide to Everything a sweeping...
03/07/2025
For Los Angeles-based photographer Scout Pruski, documenting the annual Dyke Day LA is a way to honor and give back to the city's legacy queer community and...
03/07/2025
Modular, Travel-Ready Solution Matthews Studio Equipment launches the new Chimera V-Flat Panel Frame Kit, the lightweight and modular, ultra-durable alternativ...
03/07/2025
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the release of Dalet Flex 2025.6 LTS (long-term support), introdu...
03/07/2025
Lightware's LARA Wizard makes it quicker and easier than ever to set up audio-visual (AV) room automation and control configurations, ensuring anyone, from ...
03/07/2025
Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED screens, has obtained both the NCAGE Code (NATO Commercial and Government Entity) and TAA (Trade Agreements Act)...
03/07/2025
nxtedition is implementing a new solution for WIN Network, based in its headquarters in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The nxtedition integrated platfo...
03/07/2025
ORS Group and Insys Video Technologies today announce the launch of a new joint brand identity: Big Blue Marble. The move reflects the evolution of a long-stand...
03/07/2025
Evergent, a global leader in customer lifecycle management and monetization solutions for subscription-based businesses, today announced the successful results ...
03/07/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions today announces an executive leadership transition, effective July 1, 2025. Markus Motzko has been...
03/07/2025
Chaos Releases V-Ray for Blender
Brie Clayton July 2, 2025
0 Comments
Production-Proven Renderer V-Ray Arrives Natively in Blender for the First Time;...
03/07/2025
Calvin University Adds Blackmagic Replay to Broadcasts and Streams
Brie Clayton July 2, 2025
0 Comments
Replay workflow joins 14 Blackmagic Design cam...
03/07/2025
Berklee's Gospel Performance Program Welcomes Jonathan Nelson as the Herb Al...
03/07/2025
Back to All News
Get Ready for Even More Action! Netflix Has Confirmed the Thir...