Hi Lies,
Welcome back! I am happy that the other posts have helped, and it is good to see that your using Nuke to do some compositing. I can see lots of work has gone into your excellently detailed model, it deserves some lighting to match it.
Horror movies tend to use muted (desaturated) or monochromatic colours, duller lighting and atmospheric fog. I think this is what you mean when you say your image looks gothic. In some ways this is a more realistic portrayal of a night time lit scene, in film this might be used to show the harsh reality of a situation, but I don't think that is what your looking for. To get a sickly look they tend to use greener blues for mid-tones and yellows or pale greens for highlights. They often use black, either by having strong key lighting, casting black shadows, using black sets, costumes or props, or just to have darkness surrounding to frame the action. Darkness is the unknown and it can be scary! Any other more vibrant colours are used to attract the viewers attention, red is particularly good in horror, especially is it contrasts brilliantly with green, and it is the colour of blood!!! You need to avoid some of these filmic devices to move away from the gothic feel you have at the moment.
Volumetrics are often used to create atmosphere, but make sure that you think about what it is saying, and use it for a reason. In the Gladiator reference there is a shot when the protagonist is just about to (but consequently doesn't) kill his enemy in the colosseum, I think the use of god rays is to show the almight and righteous nature of his role, as he is also defying the wicked emperor at the time. In the Lord of the rings poster, it adds mystery, along with the green cast and puts emphasis on Gandalf, who was previously killed, which in my mind glorifies him (is he the saviour?) In Citizen Kane, the volumetrics are used to add atmosphere and intensity to what would have ordinarily been uninteresting. You can sense the pressure in the small enclosed cinema, where these men have been trapped working and smoking. In the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' film, there is an eerie blue fog, we associate fog or mist with scary films, possibly because, like darkness it represents the unknown.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbungle/339646825/
http://www.worldofstock.com/closeups/NTR1857.php
In an outdoor lit scene you would normally only see volumetrics if there is fog, or city smog, another unsavory thought. For your project I think that a glow would be more appropriate, as glows add warmth to a light rather that mystifying it.
For a warmer, more romantic feel you might want to try using the contrasting colours orange and blue. I have done a quick rough paint over, to show you the instant difference it can make. I have not been subtle, I want to show you a dramatic change, and I think it really does add happy warmth and 'Disney' innocence to it. The more saturated you make the lighting, the warmer and happier it's going to feel. Although this is not very realistic it does feel believable to me and I think this is much more like your reference. You can still use darkness, but contrast it with warm vibrant key lighting. As this is a modelling project, and you are going to want to see the model from all angles, you probably want to light it so that you can see the detail on the model.
To really feel the key light source you will need to make it stronger, and then you can pick out the details of the dress with a well placed directional fill light. I would bring your rim light around a tad more to accentuate the shape of the model. You probably want to light each shot separately taking one rig and then tweaking the lights on a shot by shot basis, remember what I said about lighting to camera. You might feel that you need some context for the rim light, as currently the black background implies there is no other light source. Even just a hint of a moon should do the trick. When lighting keep everything exposed (that means no big areas where it is burning out, and no black areas) so that you have some control in comp, but also try to keep the light/dark contrast.
As you have so few lights you might want to consider rendering your lights out on separate passes, and colourising them in comp. I find it quicker but it is not for everybody, so don't feel you have to. Also render out an occlusion pass to remove any unwanted fill or rim light, another option is to have those lights casting soft shadows.
Your floor is looking flat at the moment but when you a put displacement map on it, to define the slabs and add variation, the light should pick it out nicely. You also might want to consider using a specular map on the floor so that you get a different quality of shading on the slabs compared with the cracks.
I would think about rendering the lantern separately, so that you can experiment with it a bit. I would also look at turning off shadow casting on the lantern, and just use occlusion to make it sit better on the ground. Modern street lighting tends to be bright and when you take a photo all you see is the glow of the light. Old victorian gas lamps may have created more of a sillouette, you might want to look for some reference. Possibly the scale of the texture is a little big in places, making the lantern base look a bit like a miniature compared to the character.
One final note on composition. I think you will create a better frame for your models if you move them slightly to the left. Because you have two objects of interest, the lantern and the character, you want to make clear which is more important, and I think that keeping your character more central works better.... although it is best that she is not actually central as that can seem unsettling (see "The Orphanage", and 'There will be blood" posters on the earlier reference)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_(visual_arts)
I know you intend to use more that one camera angle, so think about making an interesting composition for every shot. As you have such strong lighting you do not need a central composition, as you are directing the audiences eye to the character. Use your imagination and see what you come up with.
Hopefully that is enough to get you inspired.
Tessa
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