DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol
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.
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