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Are you using actual film or doing it on a digital camera?
If you're using film, your light meter will tell you how much light you need for the image to show up. Use this in conjuction with your depth of field chart.
Also, just adding a blue filter (gel) will not give you a blue effect, it will make it look orange. The gels are used to color correct. You typically use a blue gel when you want you outdoor lighting to match indoor lighting (they have a different temperature).
For digital you don't have to worry about any of that, but what you see is what you get.
In general, use at least two light sources so that you don't get such a spotlight effect. If you're doing the bonfire thing, you still need lights, fire doesn't show up on film/digital as much as you would think.
Lastly, just remember you can always fix it in post, just the more that you need to fix, the longer it takes and the more you wished you did it right in the first place. With the editing software out there now, it is typically very easy to just darken your shots or add a blue tinge.
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