Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked

ABC documentary series “Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked” used DaVinci Resolve Studio editing, grading, visual effects (VFX) and audio post production software. The three part series was mixed by Mark Tanner, who used DaVinci Resolve Studio’s Fairlight page and a Fairlight Desktop Console for post production sound mixing and mastering.

“Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked” follows Miriam Margolyes, a British Australian actress, writer, political activist, and Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire as she travels Australia looking to understand what the notion of “a fair go” means today and how it is playing out in the diverse lives of her fellow citizens. The program sees Margolyes talk to students, the homeless, nudists, comedians, first peoples and LGBTQI+ community members.

“Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked,” which won the 2022 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Award for Best Documentary or Factual Program, acts as a follow up to “Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian,” an award winning 2020 documentary series. The two series are the creation of production company Southern Pictures, and both were commissioned for the ABC.

Sound mixer Tanner used DaVinci Resolve Studio for recording, track laying and mixing. “Fairlight is the main page I used, and I dip into other pages, like the edit page, to organize media. I used the Fairlight 12 channel fader console and LCD monitors, and all sound effects, plugins, etc. are sourced within DaVinci Resolve’s Fairlight page,” he said.

Being a legacy Fairlight user, Tanner said he has experienced several significant upgrades on the previous versions of the program since it was folded in as part of DaVinci Resolve.

“The improvements include speed, the elegant new bussing and improved sound effects management. The output system is fast and easy to manage; I’m quickly able to output any number of stem configurations,” explained Tanner.

“The timeline system is a delight, enabling management of project changes with confidence. Management of automation is very easy, allowing for recuts to be done easily. These things have been enhanced on DaVinci Resolve. It just seems to create the feeling of ease, speed, freedom and confidence,” he added.

Tanner said he had been worried about losing the high level technical support he had experienced when the Fairlight company was purchased by Blackmagic Design. “Those fears are totally gone. I receive replies to email inquiries within minutes. The technical support team is committed to sorting issues quickly and with great attention to detail.”

“Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked” is available to stream on ABC iView.

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