Black Bridges at Night

I'm trying to photograph black bridges against a dimly illuminated river background and sky at night. There are some lights reflecting in the water surface that will help to establish some overall balance in the images. My question is about how to get the best separation in the deep shadows, rendering the bridge as a silhouette against the dark water. Overexpose and under develop is an obvious starting point. Will slow or fast film yield better results? Any thoughts about developers - compensating types?

I have not done this type of photography myself, but it sounds like a high contrast situation so overexposure and underdevelopment are in order. You must also take into account reciprocity so using a film with good reciprocity characteristics like TMAX or Acros makes sense. For developers, you might try: Dead Link Removed which is also available from Photo Formulary. Some people do stand development for these situations also.