When cinematographer Marcell Rév and director Sam Levinson get collectively to work on HBO’s “Euphoria,” they usually have months of prep time to debate guiding ideas for the visible type and plan the present’s elaborate and meticulously choreographed digicam strikes. Their newest collaboration, “The Idol,” was slightly totally different. “It was a reasonably fast one,” Rév instructed IndieWire. “Sam referred to as to inform me he was doing it, and I needed to end up one other present whereas he began capturing. I believe he shot two or three weeks with Arseni Khachaturan earlier than I got here in.” [A third director of photography, Drew Daniels, came in to finish the project when Rev had to leave for a preexisting commitment.]
Leaping onto a practice that had already left the station led to important modifications in Rév and Levinson’s method, but it surely additionally offered a way of liberation. “In a approach, it was a snug place to be in as a result of I felt free to experiment,” Rév mentioned. “I felt like we may discover it within the second.”
Levinson had already adopted a brand new approach of capturing to accommodate co-creator and star Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, who had by no means acted earlier than; as a substitute of working with only one digicam and intentionally designed pictures as was customary for “Euphoria,” he used three cameras and allow them to seize the motion in a way influenced by actuality TV with a view to give Tesfaye most freedom and minimal self-consciousness.
“On ‘Euphoria’ we work our blocking across the digicam,” Rév mentioned. “This time it was extra like we have been working the digicam across the actors. The method was to create one thing actual and movie it versus establishing pictures.” This extra naturalistic methodology manifested itself in a heavy reliance on pure mild, notably within the present’s many extensive pictures that includes lots of people and motion. “While you’re going for close-ups, you may have slightly extra management and that’s extra conventional movie lighting,” Rév mentioned. “The more difficult half is if you’re masking lots of house with lots of motion.”
Fortunately, a number of of the areas offered favorable lighting situations, beginning with the home by which Lily-Rose Depp’s Jocelyn lives — which simply occurs to be Tesfaye’s actual residence, chosen after scrapping an earlier model of the present resulted in cost-cutting measures. “That home had nice structure and was very aware of sunshine,” Rév mentioned. “We had lots of accessible mild there and we took benefit of that loads.”
For the music video shoot that takes place within the present’s second episode, the filmmakers selected a membership that already had a classy lighting system in-built that Rév may exploit. “You see sure lights as props, however we’re additionally lighting with them, utilizing them as key lights. We modified sure issues, however total we simply stored the core look of the nightclub.”
Along with blocking and lighting, Rév and Levinson took a brand new method to lenses, relying closely on zooms. This allowed the digicam operators to be extra versatile in following the motion, but it surely additionally helped Rév lean into the extra ominous points of the sequence’ story. “It was nice for these lengthy pictures masking lots of house and connecting extensive pictures to close-ups,” Rév mentioned. “However there’s additionally a thriller facet to it when you may have a gradual zoom on a face from a distance. I used to be lots of voyeuristic thrillers like ‘Klute’ and ‘The Parallax View,’ these sorts of paranoia films.” These ’70s classics additionally knowledgeable Rév’s selections on the events when he did use prime lenses, as he opted for classic glass from that period. “I used previous Zeiss MK1 B-speed lenses, that are softer and have slightly extra texture.”
Extra texture got here from the choice to shoot in 35mm, one of many areas the place “The Idol” and “Euphoria” are on the identical web page. For Rév, if given a selection, movie is all the time the way in which to go. “With digital, you’re all the time attempting to struggle this chilly and distant look,” he mentioned. “You attempt to fill it up with life and movie already has that. Movie simply appears to be like higher, particularly with one thing like this, the place we’re utilizing lots of accessible mild. I just like the vibe it creates on set — it’s a extra centered atmosphere — and I just like the unpredictable nature of it, that it’s a must to wait a day to see the way it got here out. I’ve been capturing movie for at the very least 10 years, and it surprises me each time… and normally, it’s an excellent shock.”
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