We set out to see if we could reverse engineer the brilliant cinematography and coloring of HBO's Euphoria. These are the results!
Special thanks to the cast and crew that made this possible!
Talent - Caprianna Boyd
Director - Stefan Buhr
Gaffer/AC - Brennan Colahan
Party Squad - Sean Clark, Zoya Hasib Colahan, Jessica Munguia, Manny Delgado
While the first season of Euphoria was shot digital on an Arri Alexa 65 with Arri prime DNA lenses, the second season switched to film, shooting on an Arricam LT and an Arriflex 416 in some cases. Among some of the lenses in the second season were the Cooke S4s, Cooke Speed Panchros, and Zeiss Super Speeds. Working with a significantly lower budget, we shot our replication on a Sony FS7 with a Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 Art E Mount as well as the Sirui 50mm f/1.8 Anamorphic 1.33x Sony E Mount.
The two main shots we replicated utilized the Sigma so that we could create the same 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the show. Digital grain was added in an attempt to simulate the film look. While Euphoria is mostly shot on spherical lenses, we saw an opportunity to create a visually stimulating improvement with a low budget anamorphic option. This lens gave us surreal blue flaring reminiscent of the emotional realism as described by cinematographer Marcell Rév.
Among our lighting kit were a number of alternatives to popular sources including the following:
-Yidoblo AI-3000 Sky Panel Full RGB / 95CR
-Godox VL150
-Nanlite pavotube 30c Led light tubes
-Paper lantern with 60w 2700K Bulb
As mention, Euphoria's cinematography is based on the idea of emotional realism: the depiction of the characters' emotions rather that the way the world around them truly looks. This is created through saturated color palettes (Colorist - Tom Poole) and sophisticated camera movements according to Director of Photography Marcell Rév.
Source:
Grobar, Matt. “Cinematographer Marcell Rév on Cultivating the ‘Emotional Realism’ of 'Euphoria'.” Deadline, Deadline, 7 July 2020, [ Ссылка ].
We also took into account the high contrast, shallow depth of field, and the way the lighting changes in the same scene based on the action. All of these characteristics contribute to the experience of an altered state of mind, drug use, trauma, sexuality etc. in a nuanced way for the audience to humanize and relate rather than explicitly demonize.
Our respect to all the cast and crew that came together to make this series which we have found so inspirational to our generation!
