Project Description

Michael Patrick Kelly B.O.A.T.S. Tour 2022-23

ST. ROBO built a 3D photorealistic atmosphere inspired by Michael Patrick Kelly’s newest album artwork for the singer’s latest tour.

When ST. ROBO began work for Michael Patrick Kelly’s 2022-23 tour, the singer himself remained involved in the creative process from the start. Alongside Kelly and Music Video Director Marvin Ströter, ST. ROBO developed a visual guideline for the show, beginning with the goal of building a solid and recognisable structure consisting of three main elements.

First, the team developed a highly stylised world tinted in yellow resembling the artwork for Kelly’s latest album, B.O.A.T.S. They also created several photorealistic 3D environments–similar to a virtual production stage–for the band to stand within. To unify and add to their ideas, ST. ROBO crafted both standalone and integrated video effects, some of which they pre-rendered and some of which they made in real time.

For the 3D environments, ST. ROBO programmed different lights to match the onstage physical lights. The crew rendered their more graphical material in After Effects and combined it with Notch. They used the Background Removal extensively and focused on amalgamating the project’s diverse layers as seamlessly as possible.

The show paired perfectly with Kelly’s experienced songwriting and knack for performance, and the audience appreciated the complexity of the layered setups and visual effects. As Creative Director Philip Hillers of ST. ROBO noted, their team’s entire workflow has changed since being able to integrate the onstage artist into their screen looks using Notch.

“Notch gave us amazing onsite flexibility and speed. We loved the limitless real-time possibilities, from colour grading to scaling. Due to unforeseen changes, we even had to multiply our setups during rehearsals. That simply wouldn’t have been possible with any other software.”

Philip Hillers, Creative Director, ST. ROBO

Additional press coverage:
NDR, Merkur.

Credits
Client: Michael Patrick Kelly
Booking Agency: DreamHaus
Creative Direction: ST. ROBO
Production Design: ST. ROBO
Notch Designers: Markus Eibl & Philip Hillers
Video Director: Philip Hillers

Animators: Philip Hillers, Patrick Egger, & Valentin Lübbert
Lighting Designer: Nik Evers
disguise Operator: Hannes Geers
Photography & Videography: Viktor Schanz, Marvin Ströter, & Kevin Bressler