The feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for picture and audio post production.
Blackmagic Design has announced that the international co-production Adam Bol, a collaboration between Kazakh and Nigerian cinema, used DaVinci Resolve Studio for colour grading, audio mixing and final finishing.
Nigerian producers Kele Ikeata and Chimezie Imo, who oversaw the Nigerian version of the film, worked with Berlin-based post-production studio Signals. The team included colourist Claudia Maneka Maharaj and sound designer and composer Lukas Panayi.
Operating remotely from Berlin, Maharaj and Panayi used DaVinci Resolve Studio to create a visually and sonically cohesive experience, ensuring the film’s creative vision was brought to life through a seamless blend of colour and sound.
Panayi, responsible for both the film’s audio post-production and musical score, relied on Fairlight’s advanced features for dialogue and SFX editing, foley, sound design, and mixing. The software’s capabilities allowed him to distinguish the distinct soundscapes of Nigeria and Kazakhstan, capturing the energy of Lagos and the serenity of the Kazakh landscape. “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 explained.
For the more technically demanding scenes, DaVinci Resolve Studio’s new dialogue editing tools proved essential. “The Fairlight page’s dialogue leveller and voice isolation helped immensely in scenes where characters spoke at various intensities, often alternating between extreme shouting and soft whispering,” Panayi added.
One of the most complex sequences involved a high-energy performance with overlapping dialogue, music, and background noise, requiring meticulous balancing. “I selected the cleanest and best-sounding dialogue takes and minimised 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, minimising 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 customised 5.1 template in Resolve’s Fairlight page made it simple to adapt to the client’s specifications for both theatre 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 emphasise bright, saturated colours 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. “Customising 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.
