Natasha Braier, ASC CDF: Lighting She Said car scenes with LED screens at Carstage NY
Brie Clayton February 3, 2023
0 Comments
Cinematographer Natasha Braier, ASC CDF, is no stranger to making use of unusual lighting in her filmmaking, from the vivid psychological thriller The Neon Demon to the emotionally charged Honey Boy. On her most recent feature, the investigative journalistic drama, She Said (Plan B/Anapurna/Universal), Braier took her propensity for experimentation to into Long
Island City's virtual production facility, Carstage www.thecarstage.com
The She Said team was midway into their shooting schedule when production decided to shoot on a virtual LED stage. We had to do some car work for a scene where they go to the Hamptons, but it was not possible in our schedule to dedicate a day to go all the way there, explains Braier. They needed an alternative. I thought the film had to be realistic and truthful to reality. So we tried to shoot it in a way that it also felt very real. I didn't want to do green screen. Even if you can do a very good green screen; it just didn't feel right with the rest of the approach. So we thought of doing it at Carstage.
It was Braier's first-time shooting driving scenes at Carstage (www.thecarstage.com). Third Law Productions/Plate Pros, which specializes in driving footage, captured the plates for the New York City and Hamptons driving scenes. She says, We found locations in the map that seemed right in terms of orientation and lengths, and they went and shot that.
With limited time to prep and an already packed production schedule, Carstage invited Braier to come to the facility on a weekend prep day and immerse herself in the technology. During her test day, Braier was able to play around with the footage and began to challenge herself to find the most effective way to integrate the LED screens into her approach. I figured out how the size of the screens, with the type of shots that I needed to do in the car, would dictate a certain angle, and a certain closeness of the screen to the cars. That wouldn't leave a lot of room for us to light the talent with any other lights, as I've done in the past.
Related COW News
February 6, 2023Digital Domain's Wakanda Forever VFX reel: Behind the Final Battle and 4 New MCU HeroesDigital Domain was tasked with most of the major effects for the
February 6, 2023Camp Lucky Welcomes Producer Alex BronnerCamp Lucky gives a warm welcome to producer Alex Bronner, a longtime friend
Braier began to experiment with using the screens themselves as primary lighting sources. We devised a way in which we created the lights inside the screen. Everything in the on-camerascreen that was in shot was driving footage. Everything else that was still screen, but not in the shot, became my lighting. If there was too much front lights, I would make half of the screen black, like a black flag. Then instead of adding actual lights, I would create lights.
The dynamic controllability of the virtual environment allowed Braier to create moving and responsive light sources that tracked footage and organically reflected the in-motion scenery. It was really fun to start to play using the image as a lighting source. We started drawing black squares, black rectangles, and white rectangles. We started drawing all these lights.
Using the native Carstage technology became a big time-saver for the production. Instead of taking time to move and adjust lights, the controls were at their fingertips. For the camera it's great, because you get the lighting changes, you get the interaction with the glass and all the surfaces of the car. It's all very, very real.
###
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, a first and last name, and let us know what you'd like to see more of in the message!
-- Sign up: * indicates required
Email Address *
Name
--
Most recent headlines
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
Natasha Braier, ASC CDF: Lighting She Said car scenes with LED screens at Carstage NY 
