[rixrex]

Yes that will take some time, as I'll make a list while I view things the next few weeks.

But in order to get the idea of what I mean, I think you can watch almost any modern dramatic TV series (I include TV productions as well), and whenever you see a window to daylight or some sort of background light sources in an office or home setting, and you're supposed to focus on the person in the foreground, you should notice if you can see the person's facial expressions.

If you can, that's good lighting. If you cannot, that's either because there's no fill-light on the person, or not enough, or the camera is set to expose for the background or for a mid-range. The DP and director can see the expressions most likely, because film exposure is more limited in range than a person's eye. This is where many inexperienced DPs make errors, until they've had the experience to see how the film actually looks when processed, and it won't look like the video preview of the same scene.

If it's not purposely intended to be this way (and why would it be?), then it's often the result of poor attention to lighting and light meter readings, somebody lighting who's not really adept at such, and often the result of having to work quickly on a limited budget. Though in my experience, it isn't really that hard to provide some sort of fill to get a proper exposure.