High Key
High Key is a lighting technique: Bright and evenly lit with almost no shadow. The look of comedy, commercials and daytime television — nothing is hidden. In PREVIZ picking it sets the lighting setup in Keyframe. It reads as romantic and documentary, and the library rates it basic.
by the PREVIZ team
What it does to the frame
Bright and evenly lit with almost no shadow. The look of comedy, commercials and daytime television — nothing is hidden.
- Reads as
- Romantic, Documentary
- Difficulty
- Basic
- Runs in
- Keyframe
The control it moves in PREVIZ
- Lighting setupKeyframe
Key + Fill
Classic 2-point setup
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.
Never with
These contradict High Key on a physical dimension; the library refuses the pair rather than letting one silently win.
- ChiaroscuroAdvanced · 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.
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.
- Rembrandt LightingIntermediate · Dramatic, Cinematic
- Key light high and to one side, leaving a small triangle of light on the shadowed cheek. The classical portrait setup.
- Split LightingIntermediate · 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 LightingIntermediate · Romantic, Cinematic
- Key light high and dead centre, casting a small butterfly-shaped shadow under the nose. The classic glamour light.
- Rim LightBasic · Cinematic, Dramatic
- Light from behind that traces a bright edge around the subject, separating them from the background. Almost every night exterior uses it.
- SilhouetteIntermediate · Artistic, Dramatic
- The subject is unlit against a bright background, reduced to outline. Identity withheld — shape carries the whole shot.
- Under-LightingBasic · 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 HourBasic · 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 HourIntermediate · 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 NoonIntermediate · Documentary, Dramatic
- Overhead midday sun. Short hard shadows and blown highlights — usually avoided, which is exactly why it reads as unglamorous and real.
- Practical LightIntermediate · 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 LightingIntermediate · 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.
- CandlelightAdvanced · Romantic, Nostalgic
- Lit only by flame. Very warm, very soft, and falls off fast — faces glow and everything a metre away is gone.
- MoonlightIntermediate · 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.
Reads the same way
Other techniques that read as romantic or documentary — a light or a lens to pair with this move.
- Three-Quarter AngleBasic · Cinematic, Documentary
- Between straight-on and profile. The default flattering angle for faces — it gives the head volume that a square-on shot loses.
- Medium ShotBasic · Documentary, Cinematic
- Waist up. Holds the figure and enough of the room to read body language — the neutral shot most scenes are built from.
- Steadicam FloatIntermediate · Cinematic, Documentary
- Smooth walking movement with none of the jitter of true handheld. Follows a subject through space without calling attention to itself.
- HandheldBasic · Documentary, Action
- Visible operator movement. Reads as immediate and unstaged — the reason news and vérité look the way they do.
- Locked OffBasic · Artistic, Documentary
- The camera does not move at all. A deliberate choice, not an absence of one — stillness reads as composure or as unsettling patience.
- Shallow FocusBasic · 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'.
- Deep FocusAdvanced · Dramatic, Documentary
- Everything from foreground to horizon is sharp. Lets action play out on several planes at once instead of directing the eye by focus.
- Vintage GlassIntermediate · Nostalgic, Romantic
- Older uncoated lenses: lower contrast, swirling backgrounds and flares that bloom easily. Imperfection used deliberately.
- Film GrainBasic · Nostalgic, Documentary
- Visible photochemical texture. Reads as film rather than video, and hides the plastic smoothness generated images tend toward.
- DiffusionBasic · Romantic, Nostalgic
- A filter that lifts blacks and blooms highlights, taking the edge off digital sharpness. The standard way to soften a face.