what is a good way to light a scence in the dark

ewk9

That's kind of a catch 22 now isn't it? Personally I like to take any light source I can justify and exploit it. If there is a window you can take liberties adding moonlight or cars passing by. If there is a crack in a door use it. The trick is to shape it and keep the quality consistant with the motivating source. You can always use a soft diffuse light as ambience over top of the harsher stuff to bring out detail.
If you'll allow me to exploit the easy image add in function, here are some screen caps of some of some good looking dark scenes that may spark some ideas(Photographed by the likes of Roger Deakins, Christopher Doyle, the late Jordan Cronenweth and myself ).







You'll notice none of these are really all that dark in actuality, but the darkness of the environment is conveyed nonetheless. What's the context of the scene, and where specifically does it take place?