first you get an idea, then a model. Once you have the first two, it comes to doing the scene and capturing it on film

of course with a model comes doing the makeup, hair, and nails......

how do you light a scene and are there any tricks you use to get the shadows etc just right ?

I use HMI lighting (extremely bright) with softboxes. The softboxes, with the lighting source inside of them, get rid of harsh shadow lines and let areas of light fade gradually into the shadows. Larger softboxes make softer light. I've tried some single-lightbox techniques like in the attached picture, where all the light is only on one side, and makes a really dark shadow on the unlit side. But the softboxes let the transition happen naturally instead of giving you a harsh shadow line. There are tons of other ways to soften your light, and the one I'm looking to try out next is scrims, which is just a translucent fabric attached to a frame that can really soften your light.

Ideally though, you'd have a lighting source on either side of the model, or even in 3 or 4 different spots. Playing with their relative intensities and the types of softboxes can change the dimensionality of your photos dramatically.

Here's the video for that one if you want to see... http://iwam.com/freesamples/promovids/blackshine_teaser.wmv

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NICE SEXY PIC! Now i'm gonna have to reread the post about them there lights again...

Be WAMMED!
AquaDude

One thing that you didn't mention that is worth pointing out..particularly when you are shooting a dark haired model against a dark background it is important to use some kind of hair light. I noticed that you have some light coming from the left side of the photo as well to light her hair line. Otherwise the dark hair gets lost in the dark background.
This can be accomplished by using an actual light on a lower setting, or as it appears in this case...use some kind of reflector to bounce the light back onto the model. You can use the expensive reflectors or a simple piece of white foam core board available at any art and craft store for a couple of bucks.
Many model shoots use numerous lights, flags, reflectors, scrims, snoots etc to control the light and put it just where and how you want it. It's a skill that takes many years of practice. There are many books available with lighting diagrams and examples...but even a search of the interenet will give you a lot of these for free... here is one book that is highly recommended

http://www.amazon.com/Photographing-People-Portraits-Fashion-Glamour/dp/294037807X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253021646&sr=1-1#reader

Lets start with a simple question, what do you have for lights? There are a number of techniques available but it also helps as to know what you have so that we know how you can best use them. In the mean time you can read some of the things I wrote about lights;

http://www.wetlookforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10914

EdR
asplashofglamour.com

Actually, I didn't use any reflectors for that pic, or any hair lights. That "hair light" that you see was a fortunate result of having a white wall behind her. We did have black fabric up on the wall, but it only reached up to about 2 feet from the ceiling, so that 2 feet of white wall near the ceiling caught some of the light and threw it down on her head. It saved the pics.

The lighting was two softboxes, stacked vertically, with diffusers and egg crates on them. The lights were HMI lighting from imagewest.tv ...so bright they could give you a tan, but after the diffusers and egg crates, you still had to increase the ISO on your camera to get a quick enough shutter speed

I would just like to add, for the video novice, that one of your first considerations is to get enough light. Most people think room lighting is sufficient for video. If you want good color saturation and a professional look, you need at least 500 watts of light ... 2000 is even better, but 100 is not going to cut it. If you have enough light, unless you use a single 1K spot light, it's not likely you'll have dark shadows in a small room. Of course, entire books have been written on lighting, and soft lights are far more flattering than bare bulbs, but we all start somewhere.

One more thing ... the idea of shooting in a room with lots of daylight streaming in is a good idea, when it works for you. However, you should be aware of the color difference between daylight and incandescent light can cause some unwanted color shift. If you're using daylight, you'll probably want all daylight or daylight balanced light sources. Otherwise, pull the shades and use all one type of lighting.

On a related note, it never hurts to set and lock your camera's white balance. It's also a good idea to manually set the exposure so it's not changing as your camera pans across the scene.

If you're using video lights, hot lights, or model lights, a useful tip is to position your model where you want to shoot the scene and place yourself where the camera will be, then with the help of an assistant, have the assistant move the lights around while observing the light and shadows on the model.

It helps to know how many lights you will be using and how much each light produces, and if you're using soft boxes or umbrellas. Are you also planning to shoot stills? All of these things can be very relevant to your lighting set up.

If you do not have soft boxes or umbrellas, avoid pointing the lights directly at the model as it will cause harsh shadows. Instead point the lights at the ceiling. This is very good as most ceilings are painted white. You can also point them at walls but the reflected light will have a color cast, depending on the color of the walls. If the walls are dark or produce bad color, hang a white sheet on the wall and bounce your light off of it.

Bounce light is just as effective as using soft boxes, but you'll also lose a little of that light. Use a higher power setting or more units. Be careful of unwanted shadows, on the set from objects in the room or even from the cameraman.

EdR