The story of a shy photographer who breaks out of his shell after attending a succession of drag shows, Three Nights a Week offers an honest look behind the veil of personal identity. The movie was co-written and directed by Florent Gou lou, who imbues the story with spirit and wisdom that only experience can bring. For the production, Gou lou reteamed with cinematographer Vadim Alsayed to help ensure the director's debut feature would ring true. Here, Alsayed recounts their creative path and the support they found from Panavision Paris.
Panavision: How did you become involved in the project?
Vadim Alsayed: Our collaboration was born when we made his graduate film Un homme mon fils together at [French national film school] La F mis. Following that short film, we then made three others together, including Beauty Boys, which was the film we shot with Yukunkun Productions before Three Nights a Week. Florent told me about his feature film project as soon as he left La F mis, in 2017, and he called me when the preparation for Three Nights a Week started.
How would you describe the look of the project?
Alsayed: The film deals with several subjects: on the one hand, the world of health and AIDS prevention, the daily life of Baptiste [Pablo Pauly] in his relationship, and his work at Fnac, and on the other the world of nightlife and his discovery of the drag universe lights, colors, sequins and the show. The drag show had to shine, be colorful, bright. Florent voluntarily chose to place his film in the Christmas period so as to never leave the color or the shine in the night. We thus thought of Christmas garlands that we wanted to be present in all non-drag moments, Christmas trees, all kinds of colored or luminous Christmas decorations. If we had listened to each other, we would have decorated all of Paris, Strasbourg and Martigues with hundreds of garlands, fir trees and Christmas decorations! We thought of Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, which excels in this area. Ultimately, I think its a good thing we didn't have the means to put too much on, because I like the contrast between outdoor life and the world of parties and spectacles, allowing a return to reality when leaving the shows.
The challenge of the film was also to find different harmonious colors between each sequence of parties and drag shows. We therefore made choices to create a progressive evolution. My fear was that we might fall into a redundant visual universe from one evening to another.
Regarding the exteriors, as we had started with the presence of warm garlands, I decided to light up every night in blue-green so as to create color contrast.
Were there any particular visual references you looked at for inspiration?
Alsayed: Florent immediately spoke to me about Nan Goldin's way of placing in images these scenes of lives of characters who are made up or disguised in common spaces. We also talked a lot about Almod var, whom we both greatly admire, and then more specific references such as the parade of Jessica Rabbits in Who Framed Roger Rabbit or even Tourn e by Mathieu Amalric for the scenes behind the scenes, the group energy, the entrances and exits. For the semi-final sequence, we had Rob Marshalls Chicago in mind.
We also talked about The Weeknd's Save Your Tears music video for the finale sequence. I found the light effects, the dynamics of the show, very inspiring.
What brought you to Panavision for this project?
Alsayed: Quite naturally, I turned to Panavision, which has supported me a lot since I left school. In addition, we originally wanted to shoot in anamorphic. Florent and I had experimented with anamorphic on previous films, and I wanted to shoot with Panavisions G Series, which I really like. The basic idea was to play with flares and bokeh, which would be very present in the image, in lit garlands, colored sources, etc.
We tested a number of lens series, and finally Sarah Gmach-Goethals at Panavision Paris offered me the PVintage spherical series, which I immediately liked. I really liked the softness and precision of the optics. They offer a round and very soft bokeh, which seemed very beautiful to me. Image depth and color rendition are very nice, and they are slightly golden in the highlights. I was very happy to be able to shoot with the PVintage. They suited the movie perfectly.
What inspired you to become a cinematographer, and what inspires you today?
Alsayed: To answer as honestly as possible, I believe that I have always been sensitive to the poetry of the image. I like photography, painting, the idea of conveying an emotion or a feeling with a frame, a light, an atmosphere. Often, I retain from great cinematographic works a few strong images that moved me more than the story itself. It seems strange because a film without a story wouldnt really make sense, but Im moved by an atmosphere, a look, a reflection, the light of dawn on a waking face, a gust of wind in the curtains of an open window in the middle of the night. It may seem quite banal said like that, but I am quite sensitive to the details of an image.
The profession of director of photography also has the advantage of being very close to the staging and the actors, allowing me to navigate from one universe to another and to make many artistic and human encounters which make me evolve and grow and challenge me to explore new ways of doing things. I like to move from one universe to another, from fiction to a commercial or an art film. I think I need to do as many different things as possible. It feeds me a lot.
I have always been sensitive to the world of cinema by Wong Kar-wai, Antonioni, Kalatozov, Almod var or James Gray, to name but a few. They are very different filmmakers, but they have been able to create distinguished universes with their personal aesthetics by inventing a reality specific to each of t
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
The story of a shy photographer who breaks out of his shell after attending a succession of drag shows, Three Nights a Week offers an honest look behind the veil of personal identity. The movie was co-written and directed by Florent Gou lou, who imbues the story with spirit and wisdom that only experience can bring. For the production, Gou lou reteamed with cinematographer Vadim Alsayed to help ensure the director's debut feature would ring true. Here, Alsayed recounts their creative path and the support they found from Panavision Paris.
