A fun art problem (maybe) - Change camera & lighting settings dynamically in a sequence.

I need to change camera & lighting settings dynamically in a sequence. The scenes need to shift from a dark, harsh world to a warmer hazyish one. The context is a sppken word poem of an alcoholic father & son. It’s in VR with a ceramic sculptural Scotch bottle as the interface. Grab the neck of the Scotch bottle and the harsh world fades into the warmer hazy one. Tap the bottom for a replay, touch inside to trigger the next sequence, etc…

Technically, I’ve got some of the bits worked out. I can fade post processing in and out, trigger lights etc - but I’m new to cinema and only ok with Unreal.

Any suggestions are welcomed - specifically on Camera Settings / Effects to explore to try to push the different world vibe (Harsh without Alcohol, Warmer with Scotch?). Also, it is possible to adjust the camera to darken images in the distance - The images (materials) are currently set as Unlit, so lighting is out for the moment.