Future Lover

We know for certain that two nights in Mexico were professionally filmed. We very well may be getting a documentary about Rio specifically given that it was a historical moment in her career, but I've little doubt that the actual concert film is coming from Mexico whenever it gets finished (which is god knows when). 

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.  

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

If they’re just filming the audience tonight, then that’s what we’d in the film world call secondary or B-Roll footage. This is typically done either prior to or after a principle photography shoot to be used as inserts or filler shots when cutting away from the main action. 
If they’re doing this now, that seems to me to mean that the full filming of the show will likely take place during two of the upcoming three nights, most probably the last two nights. Jonas is present and likely supervising this, but he’s also still observing the show itself which means they haven’t done the principle photography yet. The night they’re doing that, he won’t be in the crowd, he’ll be in the command center observing all of the camera feeds and directing via headset.
This has been done across pretty much all of her concert films (as it is for all) but its rare she’s camped out in one venue long enough for us to notice the two different types of filming. 

If they’re just filming the audience tonight, then that’s what we’d in the film world call secondary or B-Roll footage. This is typically done either prior to or after a principle photography shoot to be used as inserts or filler shots when cutting away from the main action. 
If they’re doing this now, that seems to me to mean that the full filming of the show will likely take place during two of the upcoming three nights, most probably the last two nights. Jonas is present and likely supervising this, but he’s also still observing the show itself which means they haven’t done the principle photography yet. The night they’re doing that, he won’t be in the crowd, he’ll be in the command center observing all of the camera feeds and directing via headset.
This has been done across pretty much all of her concert films (as it is for all) but its rare she’s camped out in one venue long enough for us to notice the two different types of filming. 

If they’re just filming the audience tonight, then that’s what we’d in the film world call secondary or B-Roll footage. This is typically done either prior to or after a principle photography shoot to be used as inserts or filler shots when cutting away from the main action. 
If they’re doing this now, that seems to me to mean that the full filming of the show will likely take place during two of the upcoming three nights, most probably the last two nights. Jonas is present and likely supervising this, but he’s also still observing the show itself which means they haven’t done the principle photography yet. The night they’re doing that, he won’t be in the crowd, he’ll be in the command center observing all of the camera feeds and directing via headset.
This has been done across pretty much all of her concert films (as it is for all) but its rare she’s camped out in one venue long enough for us to notice the two different types of filming. 

If they’re just filming the audience tonight, then that’s what we’d in the film world call secondary or B-Roll footage. This is typically done either prior to or after a principle photography shoot to be used as inserts or filler shots when cutting away from the main action. 
If they’re doing this now, that seems to me to mean that the full filming of the show will likely take place during two of the upcoming three nights, most probably the last two nights. Jonas is present and likely supervising this, but he’s also still observing the show itself which means they haven’t done the principle photography yet. The night they’re doing that, he won’t be in the crowd, he’ll be in the command center observing all of the camera feeds and directing via headset.
This has been done across pretty much all of her concert films (as it is for all) but its rare she’s camped out in one venue long enough for us to notice the two different types of filming. 

If they’re just filming the audience tonight, then that’s what we’d in the film world call secondary or B-Roll footage. This is typically done either prior to or after a principle photography shoot to be used as inserts or filler shots when cutting away from the main action. 
If they’re doing this now, that seems to me to mean that the full filming of the show will likely take place during two of the upcoming three nights, most probably the last two nights. Jonas is present and likely supervising this, but he’s also still observing the show itself which means they haven’t done the principle photography yet. The night they’re doing that, he won’t be in the crowd, he’ll be in the command center observing all of the camera feeds and directing via headset.
This has been done across pretty much all of her concert films (as it is for all) but its rare she’s camped out in one venue long enough for us to notice the two different types of filming. 

I suppose it would be fair to point out that often in Mexico, Southern Europe and Latin America she does receive a particular verbal enthusiasm that American audiences are less likely to engage in; not because they are less interested, less invested or disrespectful, but because there is a fundamental cultural difference that perhaps leans towards a more measured approach. As fans in America we go all out, but the more casual audience member is less likely to show the type of reverence that was seen at last night’s show in Mexico City. I’d also say that Madonna is a uniquely global superstar in that her influence spans decades and has never really lost its intensity internationally. When she shows up overseas, people pay attention. Whether or not she has been as commercially relevant on the charts in the last decade is insignificant when she has the type of immediate recognizability of her image and her incomparable back catalog of hits. It hasn’t been celebrated by the media and the masses in America in the way that she deserves for many years, but I do believe all of that is changing. I think there’s a conscious awareness that today’s very prolific major stars of the music industry simply don’t have the type of broad spectrum connection to the zeitgeist in a way that will last with the type of endurance that music from a pre-streaming era did. Madonna is so exceptional in so many ways, and everyone kind of knows it, even if they hate on her. 

Her American fans also treat her like royalty.
Really don’t understand why the millions of people who love her, defend her, and show up constantly for her have to get lumped in with the people who don’t. There’s people in every country in the world who hate her and she’s taken a bashing in media from many, many countries that aren’t the US and yet we’re the only ones anyone ever talks about treating her poorly. 
Hardly fair when we all just showed up and showed out for an entire leg full of great shows where she was shown a ton of love and devotion. 

Love how we're still referring to this as the tour DVD when the chances of it getting a physical release in any form, let alone a DVD is slim to none LMAO
This will go to streaming like all concert films do nowadays.

Going to my second and final show of the tour tonight. So excited but sad it’ll be my last. 

Going to my second and final show of the tour tonight. So excited but sad it’ll be my last. 

Going to my second and final show of the tour tonight. So excited but sad it’ll be my last. 

Going to my second and final show of the tour tonight. So excited but sad it’ll be my last. 

Going to my second and final show of the tour tonight. So excited but sad it’ll be my last. 

Going to my second and final show of the tour tonight. So excited but sad it’ll be my last. 

Going to my second and final show of the tour tonight. So excited but sad it’ll be my last. 

I too dabble in fan fiction from time to time 

I too dabble in fan fiction from time to time 

I too dabble in fan fiction from time to time 

If I recall, the full Paris shows Jonas filmed don’t exist. Pretty sure I’ve always read they did the same thing they did with Truth or Dare and only filmed select songs. The only full show that’s been filmed (and is available to anyone who wants it—I even have it on a fanmade blu-ray) is Lisbon. Not HD, but it’s in pretty good quality and is clearly a workprint or a first pass cut as it has complex editing in it. That’s all we’re ever gonna get. 

Expect what you’ll get: nothing.
We already have the complete Lisbon concert available via a leak in pretty good quality, I’m not sure what else there is to gain. 

Expect what you’ll get: nothing.
We already have the complete Lisbon concert available via a leak in pretty good quality, I’m not sure what else there is to gain. 

Love how we're still referring to this as the tour DVD when the chances of it getting a physical release in any form, let alone a DVD is slim to none LMAO
This will go to streaming like all concert films do nowadays.