Cinematic Looks & Lighting
27 lighting setups, film stocks and color grades you can call by name, each with a copy-ready prompt phrase.
A look is a combination of light, color and texture that viewers recognize at a glance. Naming it gives a model a whole set of decisions at once: where the light comes from, how hard the shadows are, which colors dominate and how much grain there is.
Copy any phrase below into your prompt, or open the Prompt Builder to pair a look with a shot and a lens.
Lighting 8
High Key
Bright, even light with almost no shadow. Clean, friendly and commercial.
high-key lighting, bright and airy, soft shadows, low contrast, clean white tonesGolden Hour
Low warm sun just after sunrise or before sunset. Flattering and nostalgic.
golden hour, low warm sunlight, orange haze, long shadows, backlit subjectBlue Hour
The cool, even light just after sunset. Calm, quiet and a little melancholy.
blue hour, twilight, deep blue tones, soft cool ambient lightCandlelight
A single small warm source. Faces glow and the room falls into darkness.
candlelight, flickering warm glow, deep shadows, intimate atmosphere, chiaroscuroSilhouette
The subject is a black shape against a bright background. Shape tells the story.
silhouette, strongly backlit subject, black foreground figure, bright background, high contrastSodium Vapor
The orange glow of old street lamps. Empty streets, docks and industrial nights.
sodium-vapor street lighting, monochrome orange glow, urban night, industrial atmosphereUltraviolet
Blacklight makes paint and fabric glow against a dark purple room.
ultraviolet blacklight, UV-reactive paint, fluorescent glow, deep purple darknessBioluminescence
Light that comes from living things: glowing plants, fungi and sea life.
bioluminescent glow, luminous plants and fungi, deep blue night, magical atmosphereFilm stock & color grade 9
Kodachrome
Rich, warm mid-century slide film. Family archives and vintage travel photos.
Kodachrome film look, saturated warm colors, vintage 1960s photography, analog grainCineStill 800T
Tungsten film famous for red halos around lights. Neon streets at night.
CineStill 800T, red halation around lights, tungsten balance, cinematic night, 35mm filmTechnicolor
The hyper-saturated color of classic Hollywood musicals.
Technicolor, three-strip color process, hyper-saturated, vivid primary colors, vintage cinemaBleach Bypass
Silver left in the film: washed-out color, harsh contrast, gritty texture. War films.
bleach bypass, desaturated color, high contrast, crushed blacks, gritty textureSepia
A single brown tone over the whole image. Old photographs and Westerns.
sepia tone, monochrome brown tint, aged photograph, Western film aestheticTeal & Orange
Warm skin against cool shadows. The modern blockbuster grade.
teal and orange color grade, warm skin tones, cyan shadows, complementary colors, blockbuster lookCross-Processed
Film developed in the wrong chemicals: shifted greens and yellows, high contrast.
cross-processed film, shifted colors, green-yellow cast, high contrast, lomography styleDuotone
The whole image mapped to two colors. Posters and pop art.
duotone, two-color image, [Color A] and [Color B] palette, halftone pop artSelective Color
Black and white with one color left in. Draws the eye to a single object.
selective color, black and white image with a single red accent, color isolationGenre aesthetic 7
Film Noir
Black and white, hard shadows, rain and venetian blinds. Crime and mystery.
film noir, black and white, hard shadows, high contrast, dramatic low-key lighting, rainNordic Noir
Cold, overcast and drained of color. Bleak landscapes and slow crime drama.
Nordic noir, desaturated blue-grey palette, overcast light, bleak coastline, muted tonesPastel Symmetry
Candy-colored sets framed dead center. Whimsical and storybook.
pastel color palette, perfectly symmetrical composition, flat frontal lighting, storybook set designCyberpunk
Neon signs, wet streets and high-tech clutter. Magenta and cyan dominate.
cyberpunk, neon signs, magenta and cyan lighting, rain-soaked street, reflections, night citySolarpunk
An optimistic future where architecture and nature grow together.
solarpunk, green futuristic architecture, lush vegetation, bright sunlight, white and green paletteSteampunk
Victorian machinery in brass and copper, with steam everywhere.
steampunk, brass and copper machinery, Victorian workshop, warm golden light, steamDigital Green
A green cast over everything. Hackers, code and simulated worlds.
green color cast, monochrome green monitors, dark room, dystopian tech aestheticSensor & imaging 3
Night Vision
Bright green monochrome with heavy grain. Surveillance and military scenes.
night vision, monochrome green, heavy grain, glowing eyes, surveillance footageInfrared
False-color film that turns foliage pink and red. Surreal landscapes.
infrared photography, false color, pink and red foliage, surreal landscapeThermal Imaging
A heat map: hot objects glow against a cold background.
thermal imaging, heat map colors, infrared camera, targeting overlayNothing matches that filter.
How to combine looks
Pick one look as the base and add at most one modifier. “Golden hour” plus “silhouette” works because both describe the same sunset. “High key” plus “film noir” asks for bright even light and deep hard shadows in the same frame, and the model has to ignore one of them.
Lighting looks describe the light in the scene. Film stocks and color grades describe how that light is recorded. One of each is a safe pair: candlelight graded as bleach bypass, or blue hour shot on CineStill 800T. For Duotone, replace [Color A] and [Color B] with your own two colors.