In your Render Tab under the raytracing parameters (Shadows, Reflec, etc) is the Gamma correction. Turn this on and set it around 1.8 to 2.2. You will be horrified by the way it looks on the computer monitor, but it will look better on a CRT televison. Basically a Gamma correction boosts the mid-range while allowing black to stay black and white to stay white. If you later need to repurpose the animations for web or LCD monitors, it is not much trouble to re-do the gamma back down in your NLE or AfterEffects.

Generally the big movie companies are going to shoot overly bright footage and tone it down in post, rather than shooting dark and trying to brighten it up later. Adding brightness will probably add gain noise, but darkening can be done with no harm to the original renders....

holly