"Euphoria" is arguably one of the most visually striking shows on television.
Its bold and stylized cinematography has helped
the series become a culture-defining juggernaut.
So how is the team behind "Euphoria" created such distinct visuals?
This is "Euphoria Cinematography".
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"Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson describes the show's visual philosophy
as emotional realism.
Visually depicting how characters feel.
"- I wanna be with you.
Say something."
- Let's look at three techniques "Euphoria" team use
to make this goal a reality.
"- Yeah."
- Arguably the most crucial aspect of "Euphoria" visual style is its lighting,
which is dynamic and colorful.
Whether highlighting the inner emotions of a character
or the relationship between two characters.
The lighting emphasizes the heightened emotions of these characters.
As "Euphoria" cinematographer Marcell Rev notes,
It has to be colorful to feel that elevation.
Most of the time we are using primary colors and I'm
relying a lot on the orange-blue color contrast.
The show uses a mixture of Tungston and LED lights
to create a diversity of light textures from shot to shot.
In this shot, for example, Rev used a massive HMI backlight
with a cion gel tucked behind the motel
to simulate the cool blue moonlight.
The practicals, meanwhile, have amber gels on them
to provide a warm counterpoint.
Then an LED softbox with cion gel was placed over Jules's head.
The end result is an image with multiple light sources,
emitting multiple color temperatures that
heighten the emotional intensity of the scene.
Many of the night scenes follow a similar approach.
"- I just love mixing colors.
Like you can see here, the idea was kind of like a moonish backlight and then
add tungsten units like there are like street lamps behind the trees."
- "Euphoria" second season had to take a new approach to lighting
because Levinson and Rev decided to shoot on film.
"- You look different.
- I changed."
Roughly half the season was shot on Kodak Ektachrome
and the other half on Vision 3 500T stock.
Ektachrome creates an inherently high contrast image.
So Rev had to rethink how he would light each shot.
As he describes, 'You do the opposite of what you would do
with digital or another film stock.
You create a very flat situation with a lot of light
because it's such a sensitive stock.
Thus onset the lighting would look far from
what they had achieved in their first season,
but the final product would look just as dynamic.
"Euphoria" switch to film is indicative of the lengths
the show's creators will go to, to achieve a unique look.
Just like this next technique.
Another aspect of "Euphoria" visual language is its nearly constant moving camera.
Rev describes the effect they strove for.
We really wanted it to have a certain energy
that ties the different storylines together.
The camera movement is the glue in the show.
The moving camera brings a distinctly dreamlike energy.
It is almost always on a dolly or crane,
creating smooth movements
that simulate the feeling of floating from space to space.
"- The truth was Cassie and McKay were in a really weird place."
- We can see this effect in this mind, bending shot.
Revs use a body double to create the effect of floating through a mirror,
indicating a shift into Kat's other life.
Complex movements like this are made possible
by the fact that most of "Euphoria" is shot on sets,
which are often built to help create this idea of emotional realism.
As Rue enters the hallway under the influence,
the world itself spins around her.
By using a practical spinning set,
it connects us with Rue's experience while grounding,
even the most surreal moments in reality.
The show's penchant for a moving camera
also results in another signature element of its visual style.
Some of the most jaw-dropping sequences in "Euphoria" are one-ers
long takes without discernible cuts.
These shots are often used to connect different characters,
reminding us that while they seem to inhabit different realities
they exist in the same world.
"- Yeah. It's gonna be a good night tonight, man.
Let's get this money."
- The carnival shot is perhaps one of the most
technically impressive feats in the series.
The sequence requires a technical crane.
A dolly.
And four seamless camera stitches to pull off.
The entire carnival set was designed around this one-shot for maximum efficiency.
Because they only had six days to film the entire carnival scene,
the team did extensive storyboarding ending up with about 800 boards.
The shot used about 300 feet of dolly track
using the stitch in order to flip the camera and use the same track
to continue the shot facing the other way.
"- The Ferris wheel. - Nope.
- Why? - Because I don't want to die."
- Then using another stitch
the camera was moved off the track and onto the crane to achieve this.
"- Stop! Stop! Stop!"
- In the end, the complicated sequence wasn't there just to show off.
Like most of the visual decisions it was done in service of the story.
"- Eddie wants to show the space and connect all the actors
and have like a sense of this chaos and the structure of the space."
- You won't see this type of filmmaking on many TV shows as Levinson explains.
Part of the nature of television is that it doesn't usually
allow for a lot of indulgence.
We made the decision in advance not to do a lot of coverage,
which is unusual for television,
but in deciding to shoot that way,
we accepted the fact that we had to really plan the thing out to get it right.
"- Go home, get changed and come back, looking like a person."
- "Euphoria's" lighting, camera movement, and long takes
all serve to create a consistent visual palette that is instantly recognizable.
"- Jules, what are you doing?"
- All of its techniques, work toward externalizing the characters' interiors,
or as Levinson puts it.
How can we create a world that reveals the hopes and wishes of the characters
that exist within it?
To help you create your own rich and emotional world,
sign up for StudioBinder's free storyboard and shot-listing software.
What are some of your favorite shots from "Euphoria"?
Do they use any of the techniques we've discussed?
Let us know in the comments.