Popular Post Future Lover 1,004 Posted February 20, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted February 20, 2017 It is now a wide shared opinion that the official MDNA Tour film is nothing more than wasted potential. Horribly edited, color saturation turned up the max, over edited vocals, added crowd reactions taking away from the performance. All things that are accurate. However, many fans only complain about the shortcomings of the film. In reality, we should feel lucky it turned out the way that it did. Join me on the long journey it took to get the MDNA Tour on film. Background The MDNA Tour was the ninth concert tour undertaken by Madonna in support of her twelfth studio album, MDNA. The tour was one of Madonna's largest and most intricate performances to date. Played in predominately stadiums in Europe and South America, and mostly in arenas in North America, the tour was a critical and commercial success. The show did find some controversy for the usage of firearms in the performance, Madonna flashing her breasts, and accusations of lip syncing. Madonna did not let this deter her and she gave 110% each and every night. The Initial Film Plan It was decided early on that the team wanted to film at least part of the show during the July 14 stop of the tour in Paris at the Stade de France. Indeed, crane cameras and hand held cameras found their way inside the stadium. However, deciding to film the show here created a scenario rarely used in modern concert film production; it was one night only show. Usually, the selection of the venue to film a concert goes to venues that will be getting the show for multiple nights in order to make sure the show is completely captured and there is footage to fall back on should something in one show go wrong. So the filming here as you can see was strange. The show in Paris went off mostly without hitch (and even included the nipple flash from M) and the crowd was mostly into it. However, the footage that was captured didn't suit Madonna completely. Some rumors say that she felt the footage was shot from too far away and that not enough of the performance and energy on stage was captured in the footage. So, the choice was made to cut this footage and start from scratch. South America? Yes! No! Madonna found incredible success with the filming of her Sticky & Sweet Tour in Argentina. It is a very well known fact that crowds in South America are some of the most energetic in the world. Madonna planned to film the first two shows of the South American leg and her first ever shows in Columbia. It was all perfect. Amazing crowd. Beautiful stadium. Incredible show. Except...the director that M so desperately wanted to film the show was unavailable to shoot in Columbia. So, instead of not using the team she wanted, she decided to axe the filming in Columbia and looked for another place to film. However, cranes were placed in the stadium in Buenos Aires for extra crowd shots. Miami Life Saver Madonna decided to film the last two shows in the US at the American Airlines Arena in Miami on November 19th and 20th. The venue is a mid-size arena (not a small arena, but far the biggest arena she brought the show to) and the arena always looks great on film. So, all the equipment was loaded in. The shows were sold out and the crowds in Miami usually promised to be energetic. However, on the 19th, Madonna was much later arriving on stage than usual and by the time the show began, there were very noticeable empty patches in the venue. The same happened the following night. While the show footage that was captured was exactly what M wanted, the empty spaces and lack of energy by the third act of the show rendered much of the Miami footage unusable. A Brilliant Solution Faced with the issue of having two less than satisfactory shoots, less than a month left in the tour and no time to organize another shoot. It was time for M and her team to make a choice. Which footage was going to be used in the final film? After some deliberation...obviously it was decided that they would blend the footage of the two shoots and throw in some of the club show for good measure. That is what we ended up with. So, my point? Maybe we should all spend less time picking out the faults of the DVD and just be grateful that we even got one. MadMark, Alm47, BringUrLUV and 17 others 17 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unruhe 1,431 Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Great Timeline!! Also I'd like to add that in the Buenos Aires shows there were cranes set up for the general wide shots and some audience shots as well. So probably by December when she got here they had already checked the footage and decided some things were missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fighter 28,797 Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 Where did this info come from? I didnt know most of it. Honestly I think the film is pretty poor. Even if they had different stuff they had to blend together if these reasons are true, It's not just that they used footage from different shows but that a big deal of the footage is poor, even the Olympia footage was poorly shot. Ideally I would've liked the show to be filmed on a stadium show possibly in Brazil. Maybe one day the full Stade de France will leak. Enrico, WopaelWopael, Roy and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Future Lover 1,004 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Where did this info come from? I didnt know most of it. Honestly I think the film is pretty poor. Even if they had different stuff they had to blend together if these reasons are true, It's not just that they used footage from different shows but that a big deal of the footage is poor, even the Olympia footage was poorly shot. Ideally I would've liked the show to be filmed on a stadium show possibly in Brazil. Maybe one day the full Stade de France will leak. I got the information of the desire to film in Columbia via some fans in attendance to various shows and their talks with Guy. The Paris shoot, as I'm sure you know, it fairly well known except for the reason why it was axed, so that I included was just a popular rumor. I don't quite remember the name of the director M really wanted to work with, but he said somewhere the reasoning behind moving to Miami. And the rest, as they say, is history I have actually been working on this post for about a week and a half. I studied up a lot of information about the film and the process of making it. I wanted to present as many facts that were reliable as possible. If I discover something in there isn't accurate, then I will amend it. The things we do for M haha Stephen George, Fighter, BringUrLUV and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Future Lover 1,004 Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 Great Timeline!! Also I'd like to add that in the Buenos Aires shows there were cranes set up for the general wide shots and some audience shots as well. So probably by December when she got here they had already checked the footage and decided some things were missing. Nice info! I'm adding that to the original post! Unruhe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me1981 1,358 Posted February 22, 2017 Share Posted February 22, 2017 I swear I remember the reason she was late in Miami was techinical. There was a glitch, either to do with filming or something else, and she had to wait until it was fixed. Can someone remember this? Craigypants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Future Lover 1,004 Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 I swear I remember the reason she was late in Miami was techinical. There was a glitch, either to do with filming or something else, and she had to wait until it was fixed. Can someone remember this? I believe this was the reason that was given if I remember correctly. If not, then I don't guess that they ever gave reasoning behind it. I think, as we learned on the RHT, the less she comments on her lateness, the less trouble she gets into haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ArthurBadin Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 I do believe the main problem with MDNA World Tour (despite of me believing it was a very bad register for the worst tour ever of hers, but anyway this is a question of personal taste) is the authoration. Very amateur-ish problems during it made the DVD being unwatchable. Especially when trying to see it through a PC: after the warning ads, right when the meny starts, it tilts and shackles the PC, forcing anyone to reset the computer. However I believe it's a local problem: Brazil has faced various problems with this DVD, with consumers demanding exchanges of copies all the time. Astonishingly Universal Music Brasil has never cared to solve the problem, since every single new priting keeps the authoration problem. Besides, I had seen a fanmade full edition of MDNA Tour on YouTube uploaded days before the EpixHD premiere and then removed in a question of days. That fanmade edition was miles and miles better than the official register (in spite of not having the Celebration remix mixed with Give It 2 Me but the original one, but it was a very minor mistake), just for the edition and the choice of speeches (such as the one in-between Sagarra Jo and Masterpiece, while the Miami one we can see on the official DVD was awful as f., the one in that fanmade edition was, although shorter, excellent, very fitting to those times we face and even kind of more professional; she talked during the plurality of people who worked for her at the time, like Christians, Jews, Muslims; black and white people; gay, straight, bi, transgender people; etc., and all of them were equally important for her and for the world and all of them, including her, felt themselves as a one: such a very positive thing in those days when everyone feels threatened and intolerant with the plurality of people around (instead of that horrendous "I-am-blessed-for-having-a-job" speech from the official DVD). So I don't feel blessed for having THIS specificly official register. M's team could do so much better with the editing and the authoration. A couple of months ago I decided to finally see the full concert in Rio de Janeiro (the one I hadn't attended due to the anger I had for the tour) and finally I see the grace in the concert, as if suddenly I started liking (not loving however) it. It made me feel the need for watching the official DVD I bought twice (the first I broke in pieces when I saw I couldn't watch it through my PC), but, I couldn't watch the second one I bought on my PC either due to the shackle, so... Sorry for this opening of my heart and for those who believed it was kind of a trollage, but I really wished M's team did a better work on the DVD, even they wouldn't be able to do a great job with the tour as itself. If they follow the pattern of that full concert once uploaded on YouTube and then removed, sure most people would see the tour with better eyes comparing to the actual time it happened (including me). It was kind of a full awful package: the tour was problematic, and the official register only worsened it, instead of making it an excellent thing to be reminded of. For sure that MDNA World Tour problem has inspired RHT DVD trajectory so far. See you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ArthurBadin Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 And adding to my statement: even if M's team had chosen M's speech at l'Olympia, it would be miles better than that Miami one. Even because her speech in Paris is current as no other thing in this world and it deserved to be rememebered everytime we face days like these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G House 1,952 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Especially when trying to see it through a PC: after the warning ads, right when the meny starts, it tilts and shackles the PC, forcing anyone to reset the computer. Never happened to me. This is the first time that I read something like this. However, being the MDNA Tour DVD, anything is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ArthurBadin Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Never happened to me. This is the first time that I read something like this. However, being the MDNA Tour DVD, anything is possible. I guess Brazilian copies of the DVD were the most problematic. I know friends of mine who had to went many times to the stores they bought it to exchange the copies they had for another ones from newer printings. I know the first three here (AA, AB and AC) have the same shackle-inducing authoration problem. Don't know about AD and AE but I won't risk in buying a third copy of it. However, this DVD was one of the most sold ones in Brazil in 2013 and 2014. I don't understand, maybe Universal Music Brasil has been counting the returned copies by customers as separate sells to inflate the numbers and get more visibility. EDIT: Indeed there was a rumour about the damaged European copies returned by customers being shipped to Latin America to not increase the financial harm. Most fans noticed the discs were slimmer than the usual ones sold here and that helped to spread the rumour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMark 117 Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Thank you OhMadonna for this wonderful explanation. When the tour film first came out I don´t liked it that much but now I love it. MDNA Tour is my favorite Madonna tour of them all. Her biggest artistic masterpiece for me. The journey of a soul from darkness to light was incredible <3 fernando2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ArthurBadin Posted April 13, 2017 Share Posted April 13, 2017 Thank you OhMadonna for this wonderful explanation. When the tour film first came out I don´t liked it that much but now I love it. MDNA Tour is my favorite Madonna tour of them all. Her biggest artistic masterpiece for me. The journey of a soul from darkness to light was incredible <3 Not being boring, but Blond Ambition Tour, which makes its 27th anniversary today, says hi. Anyway, it's a question of personal taste. All ones should be respected. Sorry for my fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Jean 15,114 Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 I thought it was good. Not as good as Rebel Heart Tour though but overall not as bad as fans say. I think fans see so much on YouTube these days they have their own vision of what DVD's should be now (some even make their own from fan footage) so their expectations can never be met. But if you compare the last 4 tour DVD's to the earlier ones it's very sophisticated editing and filming similar to watching a film. Drowned World Tour or The Girlie Show are very simple in comparison. But only the people that saw those in person will complain about those. Talk to any fans that saw DWT in person and they say the "DVD doesn't do it justice." Can a DVD ever really be the same as being there? Probably not. Juan Schmidl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turuncan 737 Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 On 4/15/2017 at 2:59 PM, bluejean said: I thought it was good. Not as good as Rebel Heart Tour though but overall not as bad as fans say. I think fans see so much on YouTube these days they have their own vision of what DVD's should be now (some even make their own from fan footage) so their expectations can never be met. But if you compare the last 4 tour DVD's to the earlier ones it's very sophisticated editing and filming similar to watching a film. Drowned World Tour or The Girlie Show are very simple in comparison. But only the people that saw those in person will complain about those. Talk to any fans that saw DWT in person and they say the "DVD doesn't do it justice." Can a DVD ever really be the same as being there? Probably not. I watched Drowned World Tour a few days ago (for about a millionth time) and once again I was amazed to see how small the stage was, especially when compared to the three following tours. Juan Schmidl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ArthurBadin Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I watched Drowned World Tour a few days ago (for about a millionth time) and once again I was amazed to see how small the stage was, especially when compared to the there following tours. I personally find DWT with less flaws than most of the following tours. At least it was a representation of M's artistry point of view at that time. Minimalist, present-focused, voice-emphatic and even a very interesting way to say "I'm not dead for touring" after 8 years of absence. I do think she regards this tour with some care after more than 15 years. Unlike it seems to be with Rit, for instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turuncan 737 Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 @@ArthurBadin It's my favorite tour, and to me it is one of her most daring as she sings almost no classics from the '80s or '90s. But the performance stage is so small, I motive it especially during the first segment. Juan Schmidl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ArthurBadin Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 @@ArthurBadin It's my favorite tour, and to me it is one of her most daring as she sings almost no classics from the '80s or '90s. But the performance stage is so small, I motive it especially during the first segment. For me, @@Turuncan, DWT is very special too, as much as Rit (despite my current disgust for this one). I became a fan of hers during it. Taping it on VHS on HBO premiere was like a feast to me. The very beginning of several another things I'd do for her. #HowIMissGoodTimes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlittler81 1,601 Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Interesting post, thanks for sharing. My main annoyance with the MNDA release was the too-quick editing. It ruined it for me. realityisalways 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan Schmidl 83 Posted September 12, 2018 Share Posted September 12, 2018 Amazing Topic - Amazing explanation - I don't want to be rude - But it´s not "ColUmbia" - It´s "COLOMBIA" - For me the crowd it's an important part in a DVD filming finished product - But If the Show is well filmed it doesn't matter so much at last, like on the Confessions Tour DVD, the crowd was dead (?) But the concert was filmed and treated with respect. I know that Madonna likes to put her hands on everything, but in all the editions that she worked on, we got really bad results, like the MDNA Tour DVD or the Rebel Heart Tour DVD. One thing that I hate the most in the MDNA Tour DVD is the Packaging, withe the same image repeated on every face of the container cage, so boring, so selfish, there was this big concert with so much important moments and iconic photographic moments, and it was unused, kinda sad. I remember being in the golden triangle at Buenos Aires and I see the DVD final product, and it doesn´t makes any justice. G House, dylanlioncourt and realityisalways 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robder 368 Posted September 13, 2018 Share Posted September 13, 2018 It was annoying but this debate pales into insignificance when put next to Rebel Heart which is completely unwatchable and cringeworthy. She really showed a human side on Rebel Heart and it was really accessible to watch live. The DVD however just looks horribly sanitised and over processed/headachey. alanuk, realityisalways and Juan Schmidl 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bedtimestory 758 Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 In my opinion, the footage was very far away. I love seing a variety of shots at the right moments, like : closeups, backdrops, crowd singing / reactions etc... The image was overly edited, with too much contrast, making it look amateur. The scene cuts /transitions where too hard and sudden, fit for seizures lol. They have to contact whoever did Confessions dvd, now those where cinematic scenes! Everything is perfect about that footage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricky ricky 580 Posted January 23, 2019 Share Posted January 23, 2019 2 hours ago, bedtimestory said: In my opinion, the footage was very far away. I love seing a variety of shots at the right moments, like : closeups, backdrops, crowd singing / reactions etc... The image was overly edited, with too much contrast, making it look amateur. The scene cuts /transitions where too hard and sudden, fit for seizures lol. They have to contact whoever did Confessions dvd, now those where cinematic scenes! Everything is perfect about that footage. the man who made ray of light video did confessions tour - jonus aukland ..i think - prob very expensive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bat-Fan 1,167 Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 What I hate the most is the screaming off-tune fans ruining Like A Prayer. I hope she gives us a decent Like A Prayer on her next tour not sung by her fans. Also the the low quality footage mixed in with good quality footage is terrible to watch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie 8,023 Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 lol 'she came on later than usual' - she was late every night of the tour! Like Rebel Heart, Birmingham - were she unleashed to those who complained about her being late - I don't understand why she doesn't just put the start time on the tickets as 11pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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