Attaining Euphoria, literally and figuratively speaking, describes the collaborative relationship between Marcell Rév. HCA, ASC and writer-director Sam Levinson. For one, they have teamed on all three seasons of the hit HBO series–along with other varied projects over the years. And working together has been a euphoric, creatively fulfilling experience–earning Rév widespread industry recognition along the way.
Back in 2021, Rév earned his first career Emmy nomination for his work on season 1 of Euphoria. The next year he won the Emmy in that same Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (One Hour) category–for the Euphoria episode “The Theater and Its Double.” And now Rév is once again in the awards season conversation for the third–and as it turns out, the final season of the show.
Euphoria, though, was just the revving up for Rév of a deep bond with–and creative commitment to–Levinson that began with the movie Assassination Nation, which premiered in 2018. Next came the first season of Euphoria. And then when the COVID pandemic delayed the shooting of season 2, Levinson and Rév were undeterred. Rather than wait it out, they sought another opportunity to keep creating. Opting to use some of the cast and crew from Euphoria, Levinson had the idea to shoot a movie with just two actors in a house. This led to Malcolm & Marie starring John David Washington and Zendaya as, respectively, a director and his girlfriend whose relationship is tested after they return home from his movie premiere and await critics’ reviews. A small ensemble of Euphoria colleagues came together to bring Malcolm & Marie to fruition.
After his Emmy win for the second season of Euphoria, Rév teamed with Levinson on The Idol, a drama series co-created by Levinson, Abel “the Weeknd” Tesfaye and Reza Fahim. Lily-Rose Depp and Tesfaye headed The Idol cast. Depp portrayed Jocelyn, a pop music performer looking to reclaim her status as a superstar after having her career derailed by a nervous breakdown. Jocelyn’s romantic passions are reignited by Tedros (Tesfaye), a nightclub impresario with a sordid past. From there we are taken on a journey that can lead to new heights or at the other end of the spectrum, the deepest and darkest depths for Jocelyn.
Thankfully the journey for Levinson and Rév has been one that continually reaches for new creative heights. Rév felt this from the outset on Assassination Nation, recalling that he just “clicked” with Levinson, describing him as “a very visual director” and “a treat to work with.” Rév said that he saw early on that Levinson wrote a lot of his visual ideas right into the script or at the very least provided “a very visual description of everything.” This made for “a good starting ground” from which to build the visual language for a film or series, making sure it did justice to the narrative and its characters.
Rév related that Levinson is continually pushing forward, seeking to break new ground, aspiring to something you don’t see much or even better, have never seen before on screen. “That’s applied to each season of Euphoria,” related Rév. “It’s been a different beast every time.” It’s an evolution that keeps crew and collaborators excited. Rév described Levinson as “a good mixture of concept and gut feelings,” seemingly always coming to the table with an idea yet remaining open to other people’s ideas. Rév added that “especially with elaborate tech sequences, we have a really strong plan.” Yet at the same time, continued Rév, Levinson is “ready to change that on the day of the shoot for something better or if something [as originally planned] doesn’t quite work out.”
Euphoria has evolved visually, observed Rév, noting that he and Levinson wanted to shoot on film right out of the gate. But at the time Rév noted that he and Levinson were new to television and didn’t have the clout or trust to get the powers that be to approve shooting on film. Rév said he and Levinson weren’t happy at the time that they had to shoot season 1 digitally but in retrospect the cinematographer believes that given where the show was–conveying a contemporary feel of teenage life–it “kind of made sense to shoot on digital.”
But by the second season, Levinson had earned the trust to use the tools he thought were best–so the switch was made to celluloid, getting Kodak to bring back the 35mm EKTACHROME film format. “That was a big deal for us and Kodak too,” said Rév who added that the film stock was hard to shoot at first but they eventually “nailed it. It was really something, very special to experiment with.”
Then for season 3 of Euphoria, not resting on their laurels, Levinson and Rév pushed for a mix of 35mm and 65mm film, working closely with Kodak’s team to realize a new color negative motion picture film–initially referred to as “pilot stock” and which ultimately became Kodak’s VERITA 200D 5206/7206, now available in 65mm, 35mm, and 16mm. “We wanted to feel a larger scope, a wider look at American society” for season 3, explained Rév, noting that Levinson wanted to take a more objective look at the characters as they grow up well beyond high school–and the world surrounding them. “It was a wider scope, more of a tableau presentation. That’s why we went with a combination of large format 65mm and anamorphic 35,” stylistically inspired in part by classic Westerns and their rich landscape imagery.
Yet while Rév said that on every movie and show he learns a great deal from a technical standpoint–and it’s “amazing” to be able to develop a different visual language every time out–perhaps the greatest lesson derived from his experience on season 3 of Euphoria is both internal and collaborative. “On long projects like this [Euphoria], the process of prep and everything else over a year, I feel there’s a personal aspect. You get to learn about yourself on a marathon like this. You also learn about your collaborators, your colleagues–the more time you spend on set with these people. Some of my collaborators date back from season 1 or 2, and you appreciate your time together. Even if they’re not my close friends, there is a very warm and close relationship with these colleagues.” And an invaluable shorthand develops, most notably the one he enjoys with Levinson.
As for life after Euphoria, Rév recently wrapped shooting on a movie in London–Séance on a Wet Afternoon, a psychological thriller directed by Tomas Alfredson.
Pepe Avila del Pino
The range of cinematographer Pepe Avila del Pino, AMC extends from short to long-form fare and in some respects is reflected in the recognition he has received from the ASC Awards. In 2018 he earned an ASC Award nomination for the pilot of The Deuce. And last year del Pino won the ASC Award for outstanding achievement in music videos on the strength of the Residente-directed cinematic clip, “313,” featuring performances by Residente, Silvia Perez Cruz and Penelope Cruz.
The cinematographer’s body of work also includes the first two episodes of Ozark; the feature The Kindergarten Teacher which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival (with Sara Colangelo winning the fest’s Directing Award); episodic work on the Emmy-nominated limited series Mrs. America; and the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon.
Now del Pino is gaining further recognition for his work on multiple episodes of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. He was one of three DPs–along with Jason McCormick (who shot the pilot and teamed with del Pino on episodes 2 and 3) and Andrei Schwartz–on the first season of the Ryan Murphy-created anthology series. The contributions of del Pino included lensing the much talked-about, Gillian Robespierre-directed sixth episode, “The Wedding,” re-creating the nuptials of JFK Jr. (portrayed by Paul Anthony Kelly) and Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon).
The wedding itself was crafted as close to the actual ceremony as possible. In real life, Bessette arrived late and the sun was lost. The small quaint chapel had no electricity, so candles and flashlights became sources of illumination, making for an intimate, romantic feel as family and friends came together in celebration. There were only a handful of photographs showing what the event was really like but from them del Pino re-created the proceedings, imagining how it looked while being lit primarily with candles. He deployed candlelight to great effect, capturing an emotional sensitivity through artful, technical precision.
The cinematographer found writer Juli Weiner’s script for “The Wedding” to be quite inspiring, including her description of the just-married couple’s first dance. Weiner wrote, “The golden couple levitates onto the dance floor,” a description for which del Pino took some creative license with a literal translation visually. He asked Robespierre, “What if we make them float and levitate from joy?” He wound up devising and utilizing a hydraulic lift with a turntable on it so that the bride and groom appear to be floating above those around them, making for a magical moment with a Camelot-esque sort of aura.
Robespierre’s openness to new ideas, like embracing the notion of the couple levitating, meant a great deal to del Pino, building “a confidence” that new possibilities could be brought up, considered and even tried, part of a collaborative relationship that he said just “got better every day.”
The DP also enjoyed that kind of positive creative bond with director Jesse Peretz on episode 8, “Exit Strategy,” in which tensions between JFK Jr. and Bessette escalate. Peretz, recalled del Pino, was open to suggestions for deployment of a dolly and long lenses for a kind of compressed, claustrophobic feel as the married couple’s arguments ramped up.
Love Story was shot on the ARRI Alexa 35, which brought high dynamic range and desired rendering of skin tones. With a lens package primarily from Panavision and custom LUTs, a painterly quality was attained, akin to film stock and reflecting a soft, grainy 1990s’ texture in line with the look and feel of Manhattan during that time period.
This is the sixth installment of SHOOT’s weekly 15-part The Road To Emmy Series of feature stories, connecting with directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, production designers, VFX talent and assorted other artisans to gain insights into their work and their collaborators. Emmy nominations will be announced and covered on July 8. Coverage of the Creative Arts Emmy winners will appear on September 5 and 6, and we will report on winners at the primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on September 14.
