Shooting In The Dark

One of the issues that has arisen with this reality TV project is how am I suppose to film in the dark? I have researched into some ways and obviously the best way is with night vision cameras but unfortunately they are quite costly. Some cheaper ways are by using low lighting or artificial lighting when filming or to film in the day time and then use a filter to make it look as if it was dark.  There is also the option of filming in black and white. Other options include the 'day for night' technique where you film early in the morning or just before night where it is dark but still light enough to see everything clearly through the camera.