By Key Fontaine | Contributing Writer
Few pop stars will ever see themselves become even half the performer Katy Perry is. In fact, all pop artists should treat viewing her concerts like studying tape before even considering commanding a stage.
The internet loves attempting to deny Perry of numerous things, but when the hive mind is abandoned and the screen is traded for true engagement with reality, her star power is undeniable.
The Tour Itself
The Lifetimes Tour is the tour tied to Perry’s 2024 album, 143. The album is the seventh of her career and explores themes including self-love, romance, and even motherhood. This makes sense with the knowledge of 143 translating to ‘I love you’.
The Lifetimes Tour grossed 134 million dollars, saw 23 countries, consisted of 91 total tour dates, and became Perry’s second highest grossing tour of her career (behind the highly successful Prismatic World Tour).
The tour follows Perry as KP143, a half human, half robot attempting to restore humanity through using love to gain strength against Mainframe, an AI corrupted by power. With humanity being held captive by Mainframe, an entity representative of the harm artificial intelligence does, it is up to KP143 to correct everything and that is the very story the audience gets the pleasure of following for about 2 hours.
The concept is phenomenal, emphasizing the importance of love and beating hearts over the cold steel and circuits of the machines taking over the world as we know it. The message almost works perfectly, but the seemingly AI visuals incorporated did raise concern for myself and many others.
The Tour as Film
Behind the Scenes
Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour – Live from Paris was directed by the Emmy award winning Paul Dugdale. Those familiar with Katy Perry: Part of Me may be expecting the same documentary format, so it is important to note that the film is not a documentary, as the concert itself makes up most of the runtime.
Still, there are behind the scenes moments which serve as very effective glimpses into every contributor to the show. The film begins with a group chant and hand raise right before the show begins, but rewinds to showcase the work it took to get to that moment.
Here, viewers get a glimpse into the real people behind the production and Katy Perry the person, not the brand. Dugdale does a nice job at displaying the reality of a tour, capturing conversations with stylists about stylistic choices, dancers about costume fits, and more.
After a peek into voice recordings, costume fits, dance rehearsals and more, viewers are taken back to the moment right before the show. The difference being that this time, we’re transported to showtime.
Immersed in the Show
Dugdale captures the visuals in such a way that they feel made for the film in particular. As someone who was present in person, I felt more immersed in the show’s story through his camera lens than my own eyes. In person, the immersion can surprisingly be lost and overshadowed by the excitement and anticipation for the next sighting of the artist. Dugdale made a tremendous effort to keep the viewer’s focus on the story through his closer shots.
Viewers essentially sit within the audience as the camerawork focuses well on Perry and her dancers, yes, but also on the audience members. The gasps, tears, dancing, and awe are all beautifully captured.
Viewers also get a sense of being Katy Perry herself, as the back and forth cuts from visuals to speedy outfit changes help to heighten the intensity and stakes. As the visuals for each segment begin to end, we see Perry and her team rushing to get her back onto the stage in time.
Setlist
Artificial serves as the show’s opener which was the best possible choice for the narrative. Our first view of Perry is as she rises up in a gorgeously crafted blue, red, and silver robotic outfit. She is in what can best be described as a charging station, suspended in the air with two wires connected to her head as she sings the sonically darker track, with lyrics around everything appearing to be fake and questioning what’s real and what isn’t.
The next two songs are excellent inclusions for fans, with one of them being Chained to the Rhythm, but it isn’t until the fourth song that we see a genuine shift in energy. The camera captures the shift in atmosphere well, the lighting changing from bright and vibrant colors to black and red to then introduce Dark Horse. Now we’re into the hits.
The next couple of songs are the songs people love her for. Here we see Perry having fun with the audience, as well as the audience having fun with her. Cuts to fans screaming the lyrics and holding onto each other show the connection her music brings, whether viewing it in person or through film. The connection translates exceptionally well on film and the viewers in my screening even began singing along.
Across the show, there are enough hits for your casual fan and enough songs for your more dedicated fan alike.
A segment that was very well shot was the segment containing E.T, Part of Me, and Rise. KP143 is finally face to face with Mainframe and the camera follows her combat with angles over her shoulder to show her dancers (now dressed as Mainframe’s guards) outnumbering her.
As we transition into Part of Me, the camera captures the light bouncing off of the shields held by the dancers, successfully creating a searchlight effect. It is here especially that the camera highlights the dancers as not just dancers, but characters within the story.
Final Verdict
Everyone needs to view this film whenever they have a chance. I rate it on the max of every rating scale there is.
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect the perspectives of contributing writers and/or university community members.
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