Day for Night

In plain words

Takes footage shot in daytime and makes it dark and blue so it looks like night.

When to use it

Night scenes in places where night lighting is hard to set up, like deserts, seas and fields; low-budget shoots; when you want to keep detail in the shadows even at night.

Example videos

Why It's So Difficult To Shoot Night Scenes During The Day | Movies Insider | Insider — Explainer: See how day for night works and the method Mad Max used.

How to Fake Nighttime in Broad Daylight (Day for Night Lighting Explained) with Nicole Shapiro — Explainer: See a real setup that matches exposure and lighting to shoot in broad daylight so it looks like night.

AI Day to Night Transition for Real Estate Videos — AI: See an example of using AI to turn a daytime real estate video into a night scene.

Will AI handle it well?

Public AI example available — Runway's official introduction says Aleph can change the lighting of footage you've already shot. A Curious Refuge hands-on review has an example of changing the time of day (night to sunset). We could not find an official day-to-night example.

One-click prompt

Day for night look, two campers sit beside a campfire in a desert canyon, filmed in daytime but underexposed with a blue moonlit tint, deep blue shadows and a dark sky, locked-off camera, 35mm lens, cool moonlit mood, 6-second shot.

Tell the AI like this

day-for-night shot, filmed in bright daylight and graded to look like moonlit night, deep blue tint, darkened sky, dim figures with visible shadow detail, cool moonlight

Example films

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) — Shot deliberately bright, then graded dark and blue in post to keep detail in the shadows · Cast Away (2000) — The whole sky was replaced digitally to add a moon and stars

See it in real films and ads

Wikipedia — Day for night

AI-made examples

Curious Refuge — 9 Ways to Use Runway Aleph (changing the time of day)

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