For this stage of development I have decided to change the lighting to create a greater emphasis towards the center of the scene. I am still deciding if the lighting is too dark overall, if it needs more ambient light that illuminates the entire scene. The most noticeable change for the composition of the following process image though is more predominantly blue lighting, coming from the little streetlights attached to the sides of the buildings on either side of the composition. I have set those to be individually emitting 150 watts, which seems to be about the right lighting strength.

I have kept though the small amount of pink light that is hitting the car from the rear, creating little highlights of the curves that make the design of the car distinguishable.
There is still more materials to add to the scene, as well as more modeling to do to make the scene more visually appealing, with more complex shapes. I am still considering adjusting the lighting of the scene slightly, depending on further changes I make to the composition to polish it further towards completion.
I think that this lighting configuration is more effective in creating the kind of mood I originally was looking for from the reference images of the Japanese streets at night. These reference images I found online have a lot of diffuse pink lighting coming from a non-specific location, sometimes from street sign advertisements. I have been aiming towards keeping this diffuse and somber look throughout the composition, having it be more concentrated at some spots specifically to show the silhouettes of the surrounding shapes. An example of this are the pink light sources that are projecting light towards the road, making the separation between buildings look like a sharp crevice that separates the two shapes.
The way forward from this stage is to keep building the scene up using the current lighting and modeled 3d elements, trying to find areas that could use more detail. I am also intending on adding a set of at least two characters interacting with the environment that surrounds them, without placing too much emphasis on them. The idea I have in mind would be to have them be illuminated by the headlights of the car, trying to find an interesting angle that hits them. I would try to find some sort of focal point in front of the car, or a little sequence of at least two images of the car arriving and then the doors opening, creating a stronger sense of storytelling to develop more intrigue.
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