DUA LIPA’S RADICAL OPTIMISM TOUR

When building out an expanded production of Dua Lipa’s third headlining tour, Show Director Peter Abbott and Creative Director David Black brought on Luke Halls Studio to spearhead video design for the live show and the tour’s introductory film.

Abbott and Black’s foundational concept revolved around the elements. They were inspired, above all, by the album’s title: Radical Optimism. As such, they focused their efforts on depicting weather and other natural scenarios that breed adversity, manifesting in fire, water, and lightning, as well as galloping horses, expansive vistas, and circular motifs—namely the sun, which they used as their primary symbol in both the practical set and digital design.

That said, the Luke Halls team aimed to keep things as filmic and photographic-looking as possible, in keeping with the reality-based warmth the creative team strived to evoke in shooting Dua as well as actual horses and ocean waves. As an organic evolution from the Future Nostalgia tour, they were keen to maintain a bright and joyful celebration of colour and movement, aligning with Dua’s signature brand of dance pop.

The team used Notch for its Virtual Background, tracking features, and endless effects. For ”Whatcha Doing,” they employed masked, delayed IMAG feeds that created prism-like effects against a reactive lightbulb wall backdrop. With "One Kiss,” they incorporated campy early-2000s digital glitch aesthetics and primitive chroma keying. For the finale, "Illusion,” they mapped Dua’s live feed onto rotating 3D mirrored pillars using UV passes.

Additional press coverage:

Variety, UPROXX, Billboard, The Guardian.