Gold Deep-Light Cinematography: Natasha Braier, ASC, ADF

https://deep-light.com/mentorships/

PART 1
Module 1: Point of View
01. Finding Your Voice
Your unique way of seeing is your biggest asset. How to find it, tune it, and use it to tell the stories that matter to you.
02. Finding Resonance
Develop your vision to attract the projects you want. Be seen, find your tribe, and grow together to the next level.
03. Meeting for Projects
Interview myths that most starting DPs believe (and can actually cost you the job). How to use the meeting to get the information you need in order to choose wisely.
Module 2: Working on Script and Concept
04. Finding the Essence
I share the exact system I use to break down scripts with directors — uncovering the heart of each scene before we even talk about shots.
05. Essence Script Pass (Demo)
Get a fly-on-the-wall look at how a director and DP break down a scene, before a single shot is planned.
06. Genesis and Conceptualisation
Grounding the script pass in visual ideas, and building a shared language with the director to uncover the film’s visual DNA.
Module 3: Selecting Locations
07. The Location Meeting (Demo)
The office meeting with director and production designer, where we can’t afford the location we like, so we make the affordable one work.
08. Casting Your Locations
Key make-or-break points you need to consider when choosing a location, which often go unseen when you fall in love at first sight.
09. Director’s Scout (Demo)
Shadow me on location with the director and the production designer as we find the best way to cover the scene.
Module 4: Finding the Look
10. Building the Visual World
Working in collaboration with the production designer, costumes, lab, and colorist to create the visual world. (And how to get the art department to paint those white walls!)
11. Building Your Own LUTs
Watch real footage of LUT tests I designed with my DIT and colorist for Honey Boy, while I talk you through the process.
12. Color / Texture Test (Demo)
Observe how I film color and texture tests, designed in collaboration with art and costume departments.
Module 5: Pre-Production Strategy and Negotiations
13. Breaking Down / Negotiating Equipment
Dancing the dance of negotiation. How to get everything you want, one battle at a time.
14. Scheduling
Mastering your collaboration with the first AD on the one thing that can make you fail or succeed. (Rarely properly taught in film school and usually learnt the hard way.)
15. Aces in Places (Finding Your Crew)
You are only as good as your crew. How to find the right people who will support you, help you grow, and up your game (even if you can’t afford their rate).
16. Building and Sharing Your Prep Document
Share my method to organize ideas and data during prep, and how it helps me communicate effectively with other departments.
Module 6: Choosing Lenses
17. Lens Test (Demo)
18 key things I check when testing and choosing lenses. Keep the cheat sheet to do it yourself.
18. Lens "Field Test"
Watch real footage of the final stage of testing for Honey Boy, where I take shortlisted lenses out of the testing bay to see how they perform in real shooting conditions.
PART 2
Module 7: Tech Scout and Creative Problem Solving
19. Prepping for the Tech Scout
Learn my system to organize all the prep information and share it with my crew, so that they can start prepping with me way ahead of the tech scout.
20. The Tech Scout (Demo)
Shadow me and my crew as we tech scout. See how I communicate my ideas, how we discuss challenges, and find solutions together.
21. Adapting to the Unexpected
The one thing that can make you a great DP and enjoy the ride, or turn every shoot into suffering. Learn how to turn your limitations into liberation.
Module 8: Observing Light
22. Light as Emotion
The first and most important thing you need to learn about lighting. And it’s not about equipment, contrast ratios, or light meters.
23. Lighting Assignment
A simple exercise that will transform your way of lighting. No special equipment needed.
24. Exploring Light
3 different qualities of light with one fixture. You don’t need fancy equipment to achieve great lighting, only an eye to make the best of the resources you have.
25. Eye Light
The one light you may realize is missing when it’s too late. The portal to the character’s soul. How I built my own to make sure it’s always there.
26. Color Light
Things I learned exploring color during The Neon Demon, and how I develop my own toys and techniques to take them further in every new project.
Module 9: The Shoot
27. Filming the Scene (Demo)
Watch us film the demo scene and see how everything from the previous chapters comes together.
Module 10: The Grade
28. Color Correction
Join me at the Picture Shop theatre while I grade the demo scene with legendary colorist Michael Hadzer (The Revenant, No Country for Old Men, The Fabelmans).
Module 11: Politics on Set
29. Replacing Crew Members
What to do if you ever find yourself needing to replace someone on your crew.
30. Navigating Gender Bias
How trying to assert your "authority" or play "the boss" can backfire — and what to do instead to bring out the best in people.
31. Running a Positive Set
Your frequency is your currency. The invisible force that can get you hired again, or fired. Be a better leader: tune to the best of you and inspire the best in others.
32. Politics in Commercials
Understanding how commercial protocols, expectations, and demands are completely different from narrative films, and how to navigate them successfully.
33. Compromising
The art of picking your battles and delivering great results at the same time.
34. Disagreeing, Done Right
What you should never say to a director. Techniques to question, challenge, and resolve communication issues you don’t want to learn the hard way.
Module 12: Life/Work Balance and Human Relations
35. Remembering You Have a Life
The truth about a successful career and its effects on my personal life. Some things I’ve learnt through overwork, burnout, and divorce. How I shifted and achieved a happy balance.
36. Diversity at Work
How you can help plant seeds for more diverse voices in the industry, at any stage of your career.
37. Power Dynamics, Part 1
Uncover hidden defense mechanisms that might be causing friction, and learn how to shift them.
38. Power Dynamics, Part 2
A guide to dealing with challenging people on set. Tools and techniques I learned through years of studies on psychology, human behavior, and energy dynamics.
39. Making Friends with the Critic Who Lives in Your Head
What’s really behind the panic that comes with growth — and how to shift it into power.
40. Getting Started in the Industry
What are agents looking for, and why showing all your experience in your reel won’t work.

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