# Candlelight — lighting technique | AIM Previz https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/candlelight [Previz](https://aimpreviz.com/) / [Techniques](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques) / Lighting · Advanced # Candlelight Candlelight is a lighting technique: Lit only by flame. Very warm, very soft, and falls off fast — faces glow and everything a metre away is gone. In PREVIZ picking it sets the lighting mood in Keyframe, Director and Infinitum. Published 29 Sep 2026Updated 4 Oct 2026by the PREVIZ team What it does to the frame Lit only by flame. Very warm, very soft, and falls off fast — faces glow and everything a metre away is gone. - **Reads as** — Romantic, Nostalgic - **Difficulty** — Advanced - **Runs in** — Keyframe · Director · Infinitum The control it moves in PREVIZ - Lighting mood Director Candlelight Warm flickering candlelight. Intimate and period-appropriate. Key-to-fill 4:1 · 1800K very warm Best for: Period films, Romance, Religious scenes Picking the technique sets these controls; it does not paste text into a prompt. The setting can be re-run, checked against the settings beside it, and carried into the next shot. ## Also in lighting Where the light comes from and what it leaves in shadow — the setups and the moods of the day and the night. - **[Chiaroscuro](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/chiaroscuro) Advanced · Dramatic, Artistic** — Extreme contrast between light and dark with very little in between. Borrowed from Baroque painting; the darkness does as much work as the light. - **[Rembrandt Lighting](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/rembrandt-lighting) Intermediate · Dramatic, Cinematic** — Key light high and to one side, leaving a small triangle of light on the shadowed cheek. The classical portrait setup. - **[Split Lighting](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/split-lighting) Intermediate · Dramatic, Horror** — The light comes from ninety degrees to the side, so half the face is lit and half is in shadow. Reads as division or duplicity. - **[Butterfly Lighting](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/butterfly-lighting) Intermediate · Romantic, Cinematic** — Key light high and dead centre, casting a small butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose. The classic glamour light. - **[Rim Light](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/rim-light) Basic · Cinematic, Dramatic** — Light from behind that traces a bright edge around the subject, separating them from the background. Almost every night exterior uses it. - **[Silhouette](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/silhouette) Intermediate · Artistic, Dramatic** — The subject is unlit against a bright background, reduced to outline. Identity withheld — shape carries the whole shot. - **[Under-Lighting](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/under-lighting) Basic · Horror** — Light from below the face, inverting every shadow you expect. The campfire-story look, and the fastest way to make a face read as wrong. - **[Golden Hour](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/golden-hour) Basic · Romantic, Nostalgic** — The hour after sunrise or before sunset. Low, warm, and very soft — flattering to almost everything, which is why it is worth the wait. - **[Blue Hour](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/blue-hour) Intermediate · Nostalgic, Artistic** — The twilight window after the sun is gone but before full dark. Cool, even, and just bright enough to hold detail in the sky. - **[Harsh Noon](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/harsh-noon) Intermediate · Documentary, Dramatic** — Overhead midday sun. Short hard shadows and blown highlights — usually avoided, which is exactly why it reads as unglamorous and real. - **[Practical Light](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/practical-light) Intermediate · Cinematic, Documentary** — The scene is lit by lamps, screens and signs that are visible in the shot. Motivated light — the viewer can see where it comes from. - **[Neon Lighting](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/neon-lighting) Intermediate · Cinematic, Artistic** — Saturated coloured light from signage, usually two clashing hues. The look of a city at night in almost every film made since 1982. - **[Moonlight](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/moonlight) Intermediate · Horror, Artistic** — Cool, dim, directional light with deep shadows. Cinema's moonlight is a convention — real moonlight is far dimmer and has no colour at all. - **[High Key](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/high-key) Basic · Romantic, Documentary** — Bright and evenly lit with almost no shadow. The look of comedy, commercials and daytime television — nothing is hidden. ## Reads the same way Other techniques that read as romantic or nostalgic — a light or a lens to pair with this move. - **[Shallow Focus](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/shallow-focus) Basic · Cinematic, Romantic** — Only a thin slice of the scene is sharp. Isolates the subject from its surroundings and is most of what makes an image read as 'cinematic'. - **[Vintage Glass](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/vintage-glass) Intermediate · Nostalgic, Romantic** — Older uncoated lenses: lower contrast, swirling backgrounds and flares that bloom easily. Imperfection used deliberately. - **[Halation](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/halation-glow) Intermediate · Nostalgic, Cinematic** — A red bloom around bright lights, caused by light scattering back through film stock. The signature of tungsten film shot at night. - **[Film Grain](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/film-grain) Basic · Nostalgic, Documentary** — Visible photochemical texture. Reads as film rather than video, and hides the plastic smoothness generated images tend toward. - **[Diffusion](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques/diffusion-bloom) Basic · Romantic, Nostalgic** — A filter that lifts blacks and blooms highlights, taking the edge off digital sharpness. The standard way to soften a face. [All techniques](https://aimpreviz.com/learn/techniques) [The studios](https://aimpreviz.com/product/rooms) [Try the platform](https://aimpreviz.com/signup)