My idea is to do a 3d-shadows for the Character, vehicle and environment. I think Imaginary forces Flashback Cinematics for God of War explain it the best.
http://vimeo.com/10307894
The idea is to underline what you can't see. Everything's black but the dim light catches all the detail of the figures you need to see to understand what it is. It kind of looks like the Indonesian shadow puppetry Wayang Kulit, just in 3d.
http://akhirlusono.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/wayang-kulit24.jpg
The character is this epic skinny warrior kind of guy that has a massive mask like the Guinean baga tribe:
http://www.hamillgallery.com/BAGA/BagaAnok/BagaAnok01s.jpg
The guy doesn't look too intimidating by his mysical appearance but the darkness and scary decorations make him look like someone you wouldn't want to meet.
The concept I have is fantasy. The art I'm using as a reference is from a time when row boats we're the most complex vehicles, so for this shadow puppet I'm thinking about making a plane that mixes Da Vinci's crazy planes and scifi space ships.
http://c0021553.cdn1.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/2979155343_9f82ee2b40.jpg
Because I want it to look scary with as minimalistic things as possible I'm thinking of making it a lot of massive wings that have a lot of bars, making it looks like a skeleton in the darkness of the "scene".
