Day-for-night vs actually shooting at night — which should I do?

Both are legit; they fail in different ways.

Shoot real night when you have actual sources to motivate (streetlights, neon, windows, car headlights) and the gear to expose them cleanly. Night exteriors live on practical sources — a dark frame with nothing glowing in it reads as underexposed, not as night. Real night costs crew energy, permits patience, and slow setups, but nothing fakes the look of true deep blacks with hot practicals.

Go day-for-night when you can't light a night exterior properly — an honest day-for-night beats a starved real-night every time. The rules that sell it:

1. Never show the sky. A bright sky is the giveaway — frame it out completely.

2. Shoot in shade or overcast, backlit if possible. Direct hard sun reads as sun no matter what the grade does.

3. Underexpose 1.5-2 stops in camera — don't rely on pulling it all down in post.

4. Grade cool and crush gently: shift toward blue, pull highlights down, keep faces a stop above everything else so the eye knows where to live.

Decision rule: sources available → real night. No sources, no budget → day-for-night with the sky framed out. Underlit "real" night is the only wrong answer.