A DeLorean on the cove, doors up

By James Jones, founder of Granary Digital · September 2026

The car and the brief

A DeLorean DMC-12: stainless steel body, gullwing doors, and a set of references every viewer carries in their head. The brief was a themed editorial shoot around the car with models in period costume, lit for drama rather than for a catalogue. That meant the black-box setup, haze, and colour.

Getting it in

Through the 2.4m doors at ground level and onto floor protection on the cove. The doors of the car are the point of a DeLorean and they open upwards; with 4.5m to the grid they went fully up with room for a light above them.

Lighting it

• Curtain track drawn, so the white cove became a black stage and stainless steel reflected only what we placed.
• Haze in the room, so backlight from the grid read as beams through the open doors.
• Colour from the Arri L3-C LEDs: orange and teal on the front, blue and green for the wider frames, cued on the desk between setups.
• A hard source low on the front for the headlamps and grille, with the models lit separately so they did not pick up the car's colour.

What it shows

A drive-in stage is only as useful as its height and its blackout. The height let the doors go up under a light; the blackout made a mirror-finished car controllable. Both are the reason a stainless steel car with its doors open could be shot in a barn near Chichester rather than a London stage at four times the day rate.

Want your car on the stage? Check it fits, read how we light cars, then book the White Space from £295+VAT a half day.

Related guides

• Vehicle shoot studio: hire the stage
• Will my car fit? Door, floor and turning room
• Lighting a car in a studio
• Done-for-you content for the motor trade