For instance, in "Skyfall" (2012), there is a scene with Moneypenny shaving James Bond, and the candles in the room are used as practicals.

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That said, practicals are not limited to one mood or effect. In short, if you want your narrative to come across, using this technique is the way.

Most importantly, you want it to feel real. Practical lighting is a good technique for making your audience believe in your story.

Let's say you are shooting the silhouette of a woman dancing, and you backlit her by placing a light above her head, then you must include a light behind her (like a neon led on the wall) so that it looks like that is what is creating such visual effect.

First, make sure the practicals match your studio lights (direction wise, for example). Secondly, consider where dimension and depth are needed (maybe you want to enhance the outfit of your subject, or perhaps your background is not differentiated enough).

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Essentially, whenever there is unjustified light in a scene, the viewer will feel unsatisfied (even if one fails to understand why), and your story will not be as convincing.

Also, at the beginning of the movie "The Impossible" (2012), the family releases paper lanterns, which work as practicals too.

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Unlike your other lights, practicals are deliberately visible to your audience, and they are used to justify your lights and make your shot more visually attractive.

It is part of human nature to justify everything. I mean, even babies want to know where they have come from (storks, obviously).

To properly use lighting without compromising the quality of your work, you must get a better understanding of how it works together with other aspects of filmmaking.

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Once that is covered, ask yourself: What light should I be justifying? And what light source can I use that suits my scenario and narrative?

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Filmmakers use practical lighting to make the audience forget that they are looking at a studio-created fictional scene.

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Since practicals can be used either for motivating lighting or for a pinch of visual interest, you must look at them as augmentations.

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After setting up your studio lights, place light sources that match your scenario and adjust them to create a cinematographic look.

The audience is not supposed to be aware of what is happening behind the camera, so you must make it feel like there is nothing behind it: no studio lights, softboxes or diffusers.

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The same way parents want their kids to believe that uncle Kevin wearing a red costume is Santa, cinematographers wish their viewers to consider that Dr House is in an actual operating room.

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You can produce practical lighting with all sorts of light sources: a fireplace, a computer screen, lamps, traffic lights, light bulbs, etc.