HIGH-KEY LIGHTING When cinematographers, also known as directors of photography, use a high proportion of FILL LIGHT to KEY LIGHT it’s called HIGH-KEY LIGHTING; the effect is both brighter and more even than when they use a low proportion of FILL LIGHT to KEY LIGHT, which is called LOW-KEY LIGHTING. Bright HIGH-KEY LIGHTING is often used in comedies and musicals to enhance a sense of liveliness or in particularly dramatatic scenes in dramas to emphasize the intensity of the situation.