Euphoria Season 3 TV Promo
Recreating the World of Euphoria in a Single Day
One of the things I love most about TV promo work is that you're often asked to capture the essence of something audiences already know and love—without simply copying it.
That was exactly the challenge when we set out to create this HBO promotional campaign for Euphoria Season 3.
The concept was a tongue-in-cheek homage to memorable moments from Euphoria Seasons 1 and 2, with Chloe Cherry and Martha Kelly stepping into a variety of playful recreations before settling in for a rewatch party at Chloe's house. Along the way, Marshawn Lynch provided the narration, bringing his own unexpected energy to the project.
Directed by Allen Colombo and produced by Effie Studios, the goal wasn't to perfectly replicate the original series. Instead, we wanted to capture the spirit, mood, and visual language that fans immediately associate with Euphoria while having fun with the concept.
Like many TV promo productions, we had limited time, ambitious creative goals, multiple setups, and only a single shoot day to bring everything together.
Fortunately, those are usually the projects I enjoy the most.
Building a Visual Language Inspired by Euphoria
We chose the Canon C400, which proved to be a perfect fit for the project. The camera gave us:
6K acquisition
Excellent low-light performance
Flexible frame rate options
Efficient workflow for television production
A budget-friendly solution that still delivered premium image quality
Because we needed to move quickly and cover a lot of material, I wanted to operate with two cameras.
One camera lived on a Steadicam, expertly operated by Ross Coscia, while I worked with the second camera on sticks.
This allowed us to efficiently capture both the dynamic movement and more deliberate compositions that are such a large part of Euphoria's visual identity.
The result was a workflow that felt nimble without sacrificing quality
When you're creating a promo tied to a show as visually distinctive as Euphoria, the challenge isn't simply making something look beautiful. The challenge is understanding what makes the original feel the way it does. One of the defining characteristics of Euphoria's cinematography is its willingness to mix styles. The series regularly combines:
Static compositions
Fluid camera movement
Vintage lenses
Modern optics
Experimental visuals
Deep shadows
Bold color
Stylized lighting
It's constantly evolving. For our promo, I wanted to embrace that same creative flexibility.
Vintage Lenses and Imperfect Beauty
One of my favorite creative decisions on this project involved the lenses. While the original series often works with a mix of modern, vintage, and specialty optics through Panavision, I wanted to bring a similarly organic quality to the images.
For this shoot, we shared a set of vintage Pentax Takumar primes, particularly the 25mm and 50mm. These lenses are absolutely gorgeous. Originally manufactured in the 1970s and rehoused for modern production workflows, they have a grounded, imperfect quality that I love. They don't feel overly clinical. They don't feel digitally perfect.
Instead, they introduce:
Character
Texture
Organic falloff
Gentle imperfections
Unique flare characteristics
For a project inspired by Euphoria, that roughness felt appropriate. The lenses helped create images that felt emotionally connected to the world of the series without trying to become direct copies of it. Sometimes the best way to honor an aesthetic is to understand the philosophy behind it rather than imitate every technical choice.
Lighting the Darkness
One of the things people often associate with Euphoria is its willingness to embrace darkness. As a cinematographer, that's always fun. In fact, my usual instinct is often:
"It's dark? Let's go darker."
Sometimes people let me get away with that. Sometimes they don't. On this project, we found a really enjoyable balance. Working alongside Gaffer Ron Arredondo and the team from Express Lighting and Grip, we created several different visual environments that referenced various moments from the show while still feeling fresh for the promo.
The standout sequence for me was probably the pink party scene. The saturated color palette immediately feels connected to the Euphoria universe while giving the promo its own identity. Another technique I absolutely loved revisiting was the overhead flash effect. It's a look that feels almost like someone unexpectedly firing a Polaroid camera directly above the action.
Except this isn't photography. It's motion. The result creates these brief moments where the characters feel frozen in time before immediately returning to movement. It's simple. It's effective. And honestly, I'm definitely going to steal that trick again on another project.
Production Design Made the Difference
One of the realities of TV promo production is that cinematography can only succeed if the environment supports it. For this campaign, Production Designer Theo Zaleski played a massive role in making the entire concept work.
Because we were recreating various visual references from across multiple seasons of Euphoria, the amount of set dressing, environmental detail, and prop work required was significant. Theo and the art department absolutely delivered. Every setup felt intentional. Every environment felt lived in. Every scene provided the camera with something interesting to explore.
The visual density of the sets elevated every frame and allowed us to maximize production value throughout the day. That's one of the reasons I enjoy collaborative commercial and television production so much. The best images almost never come from one department. They happen when every department is firing on all cylinders.
The Result
As a Director of Photography, projects like this remind me why I enjoy television promo work so much. It's a category that sits somewhere between:
Commercial production
Narrative filmmaking
Comedy
Marketing
Entertainment
You're constantly balancing storytelling, brand identity, audience expectations, and production realities. For this Euphoria Season 3 campaign, the challenge was creating something that felt visually connected to the show while still standing on its own. Through a combination of:
Vintage cinematography
Dynamic camera movement
Stylized lighting
Thoughtful production design
Strong performances
Efficient two-camera coverage
We were able to create a promo that celebrates the world of Euphoria while having a little fun with it. And honestly, those are usually my favorite kinds of projects.
One Day, Many Worlds
The thing I'm probably most proud of with this project is what we were able to accomplish in a single day. We moved quickly. We covered a lot of material. We recreated multiple visual worlds. We balanced comedy, nostalgia, and fan service. And somehow we managed to keep the entire day fun. That last part matters. Working with Chloe Cherry, Martha Kelly, Marshawn Lynch, Allen Colombo, the team at Effie Studios, and everyone involved made the production feel collaborative from beginning to end. There was a genuine sense that everyone understood the assignment.
Have fun with the material. Respect the original series. Create something entertaining. And make sure fans of Euphoria immediately recognize the references.
Production Credits
Project: Euphoria Season 3 TV Promo (HBO)
Director: Allen Colombo
Director of Photography: Drew Lauer
Production Company: Effie Studios
Talent: Chloe Cherry, Martha Kelly, Marshawn Lynch
Steadicam Operator: Ross Coscia
Production Designer: Theo Zaleski
Gaffer: Ron Arredondo
Lighting & Grip: Express Lighting and Grip
Studio: FS Studios, Los Angeles
Camera Rental: Mediabox Camera, Culver City
Camera: Canon C400
Lenses: Rehoused Vintage Pentax Takumar Prime Lenses (25mm & 50mm)
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