All groups

Firelight

Warm, flickering, intimate light that moves on the faces.

Use when: Campfires, candles, fireplaces, cosy winter, survival stories.

Prompt instructions

Scene: [your subject] in [your setting]. Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot Light: lit only by a campfire in front of them, warm orange light flickering on their faces, the night behind them dark

Seedance 2.5 reads labelled blocks with timecodes.

SubjectSetting

Say it like this

Lit only by a campfire in front of them, warm orange light flickering on their faces, the night behind them dark.

Watch out

A style word for light does nothing. Name the source, where it sits against the person, and what fills the shadow side.measured: Director Chair field notes on image prompting
In video, say the light flickers; a still fire looks like a lamp.practitioner: Director Chair field notes on video prompting

Practical lights

The light comes from lamps you can see in the scene; warm and lived-in.

Prompt UnderlightPrompt Low-key contrast

Mostly shadow with a few lit areas: drama, mystery, premium.

Prompt

Sources

Own words; the term from general film vocabulary, as also used in ShotDeck's filters Checked 2026-11-13.

ShotDeck: real film examples of this lighting (paid, link only)

Flim: film, ad and music-video stills of this lighting (free tier, link only)

For agents: this card as markdown, as JSON.