FMP Research.pptx

1. FMP Research

2. Subject Research

3. The Weeknd- Album Eras and Aesthetics
Born in 1990, The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) is a musical artist and producer from Scarborough, Canada. He made his start in music on YouTube in 2009, in which he anonymously released in music. However, his career really
started to develop two years later with the release of his first mixtape 'House of Balloons'. Following that mixtapes 'Thursday' and 'Echoes of Silence' followed soon after. After signing to Republic Records in 2012, these
were re-released into a compilation album called 'Trilogy'. The genre of this music was Alternative R&B with dark themes within his lyricism as he talks about his limited world view whilst growing up in Toronto. This is
reflected within the overall aesthetic of Trilogy. It has a monochromatic color scheme throughout promotional images and music videos. The images have the style of film or Polaroid with the grainy texture and light leaks
displayed. He worked with designer La Mar Taylor for these releases, and he has continued on to be his creative director and work alongside him since then. This received a 79 from MetaCritic, and Oliver Keens from Time
Out states "it's riveting when he juxtaposes debauchery with a delivery that finds him numb and on the verge of tears". The release of his first studio album Kiss Land still follows the darker themes within his lyrics, but
style wise is a contrast as he is inspired by a futuristic Japanese anime style. He uses neon text and logos to contrast with the darker background, the main colour scheme throughout is neon green and yellows along with
black. Tesfaye says 'Kiss Land is a world created in my head, a world of terror and unfamiliarity'. The bright colors trying to distract from the darker background and lyrics gives an eerie feel as it is unexpected after his
mostly monochrome style previously. This album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and received mostly positive reviews from critics. For Beauty Behind The Madness, artist Kalen Holloman states the
inspiration of this release came from 'vintage Italian horror films'. The images taken on 35mm film, and the album cover was designed into a collage style which gives it a rough around the edges feel. Within these music
videos, Tesfaye begins to express himself more creatively by incorporating his passion for films into his work. These videos are heavily inspired by 90s and early 2000s horror films. The color scheme is monochrome along
with yellow, fire is a feature throughout which is consistent with the yellow shades that contrast within the images. This album was very successful as it was his first number one album in the US and being the tenth best-
selling album of 2015. This album is noted as it shows a shift in The Weeknds music style as he moves to a more mainstream/ pop sounds whilst still maintaining elements of his old sound. It scored a 74 on MetaCritic and
was ranked number 2 on the ‘20 Best R&B Albums of 2015’ by Rolling Stone. The release of his third album Starboy had a more vibrant colourful aesthetic. The colour scheme was mainly red, blue and yellow with a bold
block font used throughout. This album starts straying away more from his roots as he portrays this character of Starboy. Inspired by David Bowies ‘Starman’ he writes about his celebrity lifestyle and how he handles this
fame. Starboy is very visuals based with numerous music videos released, along with a 12-minute short video that has references to movies throughout. With this album release and tour, the audience is taken on a
journey of Tesfaye’s evolution from his life in Toronto to dealing with his fame. This album was rated 67 by MetaCritic. Alexis Petridis from The Guardian says ‘Starboy sounds like Tesfaye’s most accomplished work’. The
EP My Dear Melancholy brought the return of The Weeknd’s darker style. The colour scheme is darker shades of blue and red, along with flames to go with the theme of darkness, heartbreak, and despair. The lyrics
mainly centre around anger and heartbreak and are inspired by his previous relationships. This was a short-lived era as it is only an EP, however it still received generally positive reviews. MetaCritic rated it 63/100. Ryan
Patrick of ‘Exclaim!’ says ‘the project serves as a soft reset of sorts, a musical palette cleanser that takes stock of what The Weeknd has accomplished thus far. Finally, we reach The Weeknd’s most recent pieces of work
After Hours and Dawn FM. After Hours, released in 2020 an album that combined his darker roots with a new wave and pop sound. Mark Chinapen on Medium states, ‘the production will surely take listeners for a ride
and makes for one of Abel’s most diverse sounding albums to date, solidifying his versatility as an artist’. This album release is one of his most consistent visually as he portrays this character in a red suit, we are taken
through the journey of this character throughout not only his album, but music videos and live performances, the timeline remains consistent. Throughout these visuals, he makes lots of references to movies such as
‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, ‘The Joker’ and ‘Uncut Gems’ through the cinematography in the music videos. The colour scheme for this is made up of mostly reds, greens and gold tones. The consistency of this album
compared to his previous work is why many consider it his most monumental release, Gridfiti names it his ‘magnum opus’. With his newest release Dawn FM, he wraps up the After-Hours storyline. It was released this
year in January 2022 and is a dance-pop/ synth-pop album with an 80s influence. The overall aesthetic is a futuristic cyberpunk theme. Overall, it follows a futuristic aesthetic with retrowave influences. The colour scheme
is mostly blue and black but features red shades that contrast with this colour palette. The Weeknd describes the feel of the album as ‘being trapped in a purgatory state, like being stuck in traffic waiting to get to a tunnel
of light with a radio host guiding you to get to the other side’. The feel of this release throughout the listening experience and the visuals is very immersive to the audience. The sound is a contrast to his earlier work. With
the synthwave/disco sound, he also samples Japanese city pop which is different compared to his moodier R&B sound he adopted previously. It acknowledges his history and how he is trying to ‘get to the other side’ or
be in a better place. This album was successful and received mostly positive reviews from critics. It received a score of 88 from MetaCritic. Music critic Rhian Daly from NME said, ‘Dawn FM feels like the first steps on a
journey for The Weeknd to find peace within himself, perhaps next time we hear from him, he’ll be fully embracing the light of day’.
Overall, throughout The Weeknd’s releases you can see a clear and consistent theme throughout each album that differ from the other. The clear difference between these means that you can look at promotion or an
image from each time and be able to differ what album era it was from. This means that when creating my tour concept for Dawn FM, I must make sure to maintain a consistent theme throughout that matches the album
aesthetic. Whilst also using inspirations from other albums it must be a clear contrast to his previous releases. As this artist likes to tell a story throughout his albums, even more so with his release, I should make sure to
create an immersive experience for the audience that follows a storyline which I will plan out in the later planning stage.

6. Tours and Set Design
One of his earlier tours was across North America and Canada and followed the release of his album ‘Kiss Land’ along with his trilogy of mixtapes, it was named the ‘Fall Tour’. As this was one of his first tours, the
stage design and venues are smaller compared to his more recent tours with extravagant visuals. However, with the use of LED video screens, he is able to bring the world within Kiss Land and Trilogy to life. The
tour opens with him performing some songs from Kiss Land. The background visuals of these are neon lit Japanese street signs that flash between different colours. Behind the “vents” are flashes of clips from his
music videos. This helps him create a visual to the audience of the futuristic Japanese feel that he wanted to portray within the world of Kiss Land. The screen also switches so there are multiple shots of The
Weeknd performing on stage giving a mirror effect. Throughout the show he also has a band behind him to play drums and guitar. Although this is one of his earlier experiences touring, he was still able to create
an entertaining experience for the audience and live perform his newest releases to his fans. The bright colours from the lighting and the video screens is eye catching to the audience and visually appealing to
create this neon lit and sometimes eerie experience that contrasts with his darker lyricism throughout the show. Following ‘The Fall’ tour, in 2014 he then began the ‘King of The Fall’ tour in which he also
performed a setlist of songs from Trilogy and Kiss Land. He toured the US and Canada with ScHoolboy Q and Jhené Aiko as supporting acts. The stage design for this tour is slightly similar to the previous. The
Weeknd performs in front of a large LED video screen that projects visuals, or sometimes himself or the audience. It differs from the previous tour has he presents different visuals that aren’t solely fitting with Kiss
Land, and there is also just one large screen instead of multiple. The screen also flashes between visuals and also showing the band that are performing behind it, this flashes back and forth depending on the song.
There is also a lot of lights that flash to white, red or blue. The visuals show clips such as flames, birds or movie references, these usually are presented depending on the song he is performing. For example, whilst
performing ‘The Birds Pt. 1’, he presents visuals of flocks of birds flying, whilst also flashing between the band playing the song, this connotates to the lyrics and the beat of the song. Although these visuals don’t
stand out as much as the previous tour, it also allows The Weeknd to showcase himself and just perform live to his audience, it is less of an immersive experience in comparison. November 2015 brought ‘The
Madness Fall Tour’ in support of his album ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’. The tour name refers back to the album title, as well as referencing back to his previous tours also titled ‘The Fall’. He toured the US and
Canada, with supporting acts Travis Scott, and Halsey and Banks alternating at different tour dates. This stage also consists of video screens for visuals, however there is more variation in lighting and stage design
compared to the previous tour. The stage consists of the main stage, and then a higher stage in which the band are performing. He first starts off the show on the lower stage with the visuals making it appear as if
he is performing behind a glass box, immersive visuals flash throughout as he is performing. Although some of the visuals appear simplistic at the beginning, they are hypnotic to the audience, as well as keeping
the attention on the artist. After the interlude, he is raised onto the higher stage where he performs above the visuals, the lighting surrounding him and the screens flash down onto the audience. He uses a variety
of visuals and shapes with the lighting, there is a multitude of colours which connotate to the theme and feel of the song he is performing. This is a level up from his previous tours and he created an enhanced
immersive experience with his performance. This tour did well and ended up grossing $24 million from just 23 shows. It was also listed as 43rd on “2015 Top 200 North American Tours” by Pollstar. According to an
interview from Fader, The Weeknd felt that vocally, he was doing well from his King of The Fall tour, he was beginning to accept himself as an artist and his rising fame, this is demonstrated clearly with his
impressive live vocals and visually appealing shows. Starboy: Legend of the Fall tour started in February 2017 until December and was in support of his album Starboy. This is his biggest tour to date with 95
shows. He toured North and South America, Europe and Oceania. His opening acts included Lil Uzi Vert, Bryson Tiller, Gucci Mane, Nav and more. The stage design for this tour was unique in comparison to his
previous shows in which he used video screens to display his visuals. For this tour, he also has an LED piece that hangs above the stage in the shape on an aircraft. Throughout the show, this piece folds from
different shapes into an origami style pone shape. This is meant to symbolise the journey he is taking the audience on throughout the show. La Mar Taylor compares the show to a flight path, ‘preparation, lift off,
cruise, mid-flight complication, crash, relaunch’. Along with the use of lighting, the performance takes the audience on a journey as The Weeknd deals with his newfound fame, which he displays through the
character ‘Starboy’ that he is playing throughout this album era. This tour was extremely successful and ended up earning him over $77 million in total. His latest tour was in November 2018 following the release
of his EP ‘My Dear Melancholy’. With only 6 shows, ‘The Weeknd Asia Tour’ was much smaller than his previous run, as said in the title, he toured around Asia for these performances and had Kenshi Yonezu as the
opening act for his Japan show. The visuals for this tour were also less extravagant than his previous tour. He had LED video screens that displayed visuals for each song, as well as a multitude of lights and smoke
machines that flashed various colours corresponding with the song theme and beat. The artists live vocals were the focal point of these shows rather than a massive visual display like the Starboy tour. However,
these shows were still visually appealing and entertaining, and The Weeknd was able to keep the audience engrossed in the performance throughout. The ‘After Hours Till Dawn Stadium Tour’ was previously
named ‘The After Hours Tour’ and was intended to support his album After Hours in June 2020. However, this was cancelled due to COVID19 pandemic and lockdown. But, following the releases of his latest
album Dawn FM, The Weeknd plans to tour both albums in July 2022 with supporting act Doja Cat.
His latest release Dawn FM, is the album that I will be basing my tour concept around. I will be taking inspiration from his visuals on his multiple tours to create my own in After Effects that correspond with
different songs. Using inspiration from the Starboy tour, I would also like to have a stage set up that is more extravagant and create a visual display. As the album feels very immersive, almost like falling into a
wormhole, I will be hoping to create visual material that will also give this feeling in order to have a consistent theme with this album era.

7. Production Research
I will be making my tour poster, album cover, tickets, and any other print based product using Photoshop. In order to create the album cover how I've planned, I'll have to do photo
manipulation and use 3D tools. This shouldn't be too difficult as I have a tutorial to follow to help me with my own image. I will use the pen tool, and transform warp to open up the face
in the centre ready for the eyes to be added. To create the eyes, I will select spherise on a template eye in the 3D window and then copy multiple layers at different angles to make the
main artwork for the album cover. To adjust the colours or recolour the image I will use a variation of adjustment layers. The main ones I can use are the hue/saturation, levels, and
curves layer. Levels adjusts the brightness of each shade, whilst curves adjusts the brightness and shade of the colours. To finish off the overall product, I can use the camera raw filter to
adjust each of the colours in the image, along with the brightness, contrast and temperature of each shade. To create text logos on Photoshop I will use the blending options, most
specifically the bevel and emboss and contour setting. This adds shading to the text and creates a 3D effect.
I will also be using Photoshop to create the merchandise and zine. Because I plan to have each page cohesive with different album themes, I will be using a variation of tools to create
different styles. The pen tool will be useful when creating a collage style image as it will allow me to specifically select which parts of the photo I would like to cut out in comparison to
the quick selection tool which often ends up selecting the whole subject. If I want to create any glitch effects for images or text, I will have to adjust the RGB settings in blending options.
Adjusting the RGB channels allows me to change the layers to red, green, or blue. Combining this with the original layer will allow me to create a glitch style effect. To add to this, the
rectangular marquee tool enables me to select parts of an image and move it to further add to the glitch effect. I learned how to create this style during the experiments stage of my
factual project earlier this year so I will be able to recreate this with ease. I can create a double exposure effect by combining multiple images and changing the layer style to screen to
make both the images appear at the same time, screen also brightens the image. After I've finished making the zine, I will export and upload the pages on PowerPoint. Then, it can be
uploaded to Issuu just like my previous fanzine.

8. Audience Research
The Weeknd has become a well-known mainstream artist. Following the release of Dawn FM, he broke the record for monthly listeners and became the most listened
artist on Spotify with 86.34 million listeners. He is currently 3rd in the world behind Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber with 77.5 million monthly listeners. Like many other
artists, he has a nickname that himself and fans of the artists refer to themselves as. The Weeknd refers to this fanbase as the ‘XO crew’. This originates from the beginning
of his career when he used to sign the end of his social posts with an ‘xo’. It caught on to the fanbase and became the name of the fanbase, he even named his own record
label trademark XO. His strong fanbase is what has kept his career gaining and his music in the charts. Fans will be faithful to the artist, streaming any releases and
supporting his rise to fame. Due to the nature of his lyrics, the age category of his songs spans quite large from ages 16-30 but I think he targets his music to 18-21,
especially during the earlier days in his career and lyricism within his mixtapes. His lyrics and themes throughout his music videos are not child friendly so he wouldn’t
attract a younger audience. However, ages 16-25 is where you would most likely find the more dedicated fans who have more time to spend streaming his music to get it
into the charts. XO is a prominent part of his branding now and has also been referred to in a number of songs.
According to a survey of Facebook users, 41% of ages 18-24, and 43% of ages 25-34 have an interest in The Weeknd and his music. The top percentages were Lil Uzi Vert
and Nicki Minaj which are also similar genres to The Weeknd of Hip-Hop/Rap and R&B. This shows that the younger age group are more interested in this genre of music
so my project would attract this age group as they would be more likely to want to attend the tour. There is also an almost even split of single people (49%) , and people in
a relationship (51%) would listen to his music. Overall, my target audience would be a young person ages 18-25 that has an interest in Hip-Hop and R&B music.

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Bibliography- Album Eras and Aesthetics

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Bibliography- Tours and Set Design

11. Existing Products

12. Taylor Swift- Reputation Stadium World Tour
Baz Halpin of Silent House Productions was the creative director and designer for Taylor Swift’s Reputation Stadium Tour. This show was taken globally to North
America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania and is her most successful tour to date. The set design consisted of an LED wall and LED video stage floor with other 10,000 sq.
feet of screens and the floor being 2500 sq. feet. Other features of the set design include huge custom props including a snake, over 1200 lights, and special effects
such as flames. Themes throughout her tours has always represented where she is at, as well as creating a visual presentation of each song and the album aesthetic. As
this tour was for stadium only it had to be more extravagant and visually appealing in order to make a statement. Halpin and the Silent House team often build their
stage designs around a specific theme relevant to the artist. With snakes being a common theme throughout this era of the album and how she was presented in the
media, led to the creation of the snake prop. Halpin says, ‘You need to make far bigger statements in a stadium than you do in an arena. To have a 60ft cobra suddenly
appear is visually striking’.
The stage design also allows Swift to tell the story of her album Reputation, and her journey to getting to that point. These are all presented to the audience effectively
through the LED video screens and floor. Videos in between the show with glitch effects between clips helps demonstrate her journey whilst voiceovers throughout the
acts help guide the audience to know what stage she is at throughout the concert. The show starts off with more darker and red lighting and then ends on a brighter
note with light blue and pink shades.

13. The Weeknd is a Canadian R&B singer. He is known for his versatility and songwriting. Since starting his career in 2009, he has
received many accolades such as numerous Grammys, Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards and more. In 2016, he
released his album Starboy which was in the Pop/R&B genre and collaborated with various producers and artists such as Metro
Boomin, Kendrick Lamar, Daft Punk, etc. This album debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts with 348,000 units, 209,000 of
them being on pure album sales. On Metacritic, this album received an overall score of 67. After it’s successful release, he decided to
go on a world tour titled ‘Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour’. On this tour he earned $92 million in 2017. He also won ‘Best Urban
Contemporary Album’ at the Grammys, and ‘R&B/Soul Recording of the Year’ at the Juno Awards. The tour had Es Devlin and La Mar
Taylor as the Creative Direction and Production Design.
The set design features a LED piece that is shaped similar to an origami aircraft, or as Dezeen refers to it, a ‘futuristic star destroyer’.
The stage design as a whole matches the feel and look of his album (photographed by Nabil Elderkin) and music videos with an
overall futuristic feel and the main lighting being blues and reds just like the album cover. Devlin says that the aesthetic of the stage
is inspired directly by The Weeknd, he worked alongside him and his creative director La Mar Taylor to bring this idea to life. ‘The arc
of the show could be compared to a flight path: preparation, lift off, cruise, mid-flight complication, crash, relaunch.’ The set list
allows The Weeknd to take the audience through a journey and tell them the story of Starboy, the set design represents this well.
With the way the piece is designed it allows it to fold into a plane shape, starting as a flat triangle and ending in the shape of an
aircraft. The piece being titled as a ‘star destroyer’ has connotations to the character that The Weeknd is playing with this album and
the story he is retelling. The promotional tour poster also fits this futuristic aesthetic. Like the album cover, it has bright neon colours
throughout. This is a contrast to his previous work that mostly had a monochrome aesthetic. The font used for this poster is red text
matching the background of the album cover, the font also remains consistent with the cover. The image focused on the centre looks
like a futuristic digital art piece. It shows The Weeknd, or the character ‘Starboy’ in the centre walking along a lit path. This image
style is similar to other images that fit the futuristic/cyberpunk aesthetic and follow that theme. He also has tour merchandise that
has this poster printed on a t-shirt. As well as being fan memorabilia, it will also aid in promoting the tour as fans wear it out.
Maintaining this consistency throughout the tour and the album aesthetic will help him develop is overall brand for this era, as well
as making all products of this album recognisable to a wider audience. This will help attract his current audience as they are already
fans of the music and his aesthetic, this consistency will attract them to want to go to the tour to hear their favourite songs
performed live. The storytelling aspect of his release also attracts his current audience, as well as grabbing the attention of the wider
audience. The idea of taking the audience on a journey throughout the show and demonstrating the story of ‘Starboy’ can attract a
wider audience, this is because, along with the visuals, the artist is putting on a spectacle that is not only entertaining for fans of the
music, but visually appealing.
The Weeknd- Starboy: Legend of the Fall World Tour

14. Both the album cover and tour poster follow the typical conventions that is seen throughout most products. The album cover
includes the main image, artists name, and the album name. The 1975 chose to feature typography heavily throughout this
cover, and paired a monochrome style and type with a neon yellow. The main theme of the album is described by Healy as
‘night-time in the UK, it’s a lot about home, mental health, domesticity’. The lead single ‘People’ makes a statement. It is a cry
for help to act against global issues like climate change and political issues. This fits the style of the cover well. The
typography of ‘Notes On A Conditional Form’ is written over and over in black and white similar to a newspaper header. Like
the single, the album is intended to make a statement, to grab the attention of the audience. The logo for the album ‘NOACF’
is also repeated in this format. The neon yellow strip on the left of the cover makes a statement as it is a very bright contrast
in comparison to the monochrome format of the rest of the cover. Described as a ‘maximalist experimental’ album, NOACF
has a variation of different genres throughout the different songs. From metal, to orchestral, to electronic, to pop, it has a
free flowing structure with something different on each track. It doesn’t follow a specific genre/ aesthetic. The album is
intended to be loud and over the top. It is intended to make a statement to the audience whilst also addressing global issues,
as well as the artists own journey. The contrast between the monochrome and the neon yellow fits the feel of the album well
and gives the audience a feel of the how the album will sound.
The promotional tour poster fits well with this aesthetic. Whilst appearing quite minimalistic, similar to the style of their
previous projects, it still stands out and following the theme of the album cover. The background is the same shade as the
yellow from the cover and included the album logo at the top. The tour dates are listed below in a block font with the cities
written in all caps to allow the audience to see clearly the locations they will be touring and the website to purchase tickets is
also included below. ‘The 1975’ written at the top of the poster is in this same font so that the poster flows consistently. In
conclusion, the tour poster fits all the codes and conventions for a poster and communicates the tour announcement to the
audience clearly.
The 1975- Notes On A Conditional Form Tour Poster

15. Phoebe Bridgers is an American indie-rock musician from California. She embarked on her second solo tour in support of
her second album in September 2021. For this artist, the tour poster and the album cover have two very different styles. Her
'Reunion Tour' poster has a vintage style and follows the style of other vintage rock posters. The artists name takes up a
large amount of space in the poster and is even bigger than the tour name. There are flames behind her name and at the
bottom of the poster whilst the title text has a gradient and 3D effect. The gradient shades of blue and red are cohesive with
her album colour in which that is the colour schemes. The tour dates are in white text with a stroke outline so that it is bold
and easy to read amongst the textures used for the vintage effect and the background image. The image features are
deserted location, Bridgers appears on the side next to the text wearing the skeleton suit that she is recognised for and is
also featured on the album cover. Although not cohesive with her album cover, her poster is fitting with the music genre of
indie rock and gives that rock feel. This poster intends to be loud and stands out to her audience and I feel that this conveys
that well. The shades of orange and red in the text and image conveys passion, determination, expression and also anger
which is the feel many of her songs on the album have. The fire also has this similar message with connotations of intensity,
passion, and rage.
For the album cover, it is photographed in a desert similarly to the tour poster. As described in an interview by ‘Our Culture
Mag’. It captures a sense of desolation. Bridgers is centre of the cover. The appearance of the cover helps encapsulate the
sound and atmosphere of the album as a whole. The sound of the album is otherworldly and haunting, yet the colours help
express the warmth and brightness within the music. The colour scheme of this cover is red and blue. The blue can
represent freedom, imagination, sensitivity, and wisdom. The red can represent passion, courage, and intensity. The vivid
and contrasting colours grabs the audiences' attention and immerses them into the world created within this album.
Phoebe Bridgers- Reunion Tour

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