Cinematic Lighting Techniques

Cinematic lighting is a decision about shadow as much as light. Name a motivated source (window, practical, sun), then key side, hardness, and color. The eye goes to the brightest readable thing.

Rembrandt Lighting and Split Lighting are portrait patterns. Chiaroscuro and Low-Key Lighting build night as contrast, not mud. Motivated Lighting keeps every lamp honest to the room. Golden Hour and Blue Hour are timed daylight, not filters. Write the source, the key side, and what must stay readable. If you only write "cinematic lighting," you get a poster.