The Weeknd is known for his incredible vocals. Not only is he a great singer, but he's also a great storyteller. Since the "After Hours" era is done, I thought I'd discuss why this series of videos is such a great example of storytelling. Parental advisory is advised. Some videos include violent and gore imagery.
The Weeknd dominated 2020 and this series of videos was just what we needed during such a depressing year. His megahits like "Blinding Lights," "Save Your Tears" and "Heartless" got a lot of people through quarantine. Although we were introduced to The Weeknd's red jacket character in late 2019, he kept coming back until 2021. Nevertheless, this character kept my attention the entire time.
In the first video, "Heartless," we see The Weeknd wearing a black button-down shirt, black slacks, and now the famous red jacket. The Weeknd is in Vegas and although he is under the influence, he looks pretty normal, aside from the special effects. Into "Blinding
Lights," The Weeknd is still in Las Vegas and now cruising around the city. He eventually
makes his way into a space where he is beaten up. His face is now bloody and he appears to have a broken nose. In "Until I Bleed Out," his nose is now bandaged, and by the end of the video, The Weeknd is laying in, what looks like, the middle of the desert. The next video, "Snowchild," shows an animated The Weeknd waking up in the desert. This video in itself tells the story of The Weeknd's journey. Every album era is important to him and each chapter in his life is symbolic in each scene. It's the perfect memory lane visual. By the end of the video, The Weeknd is back in an animated Vegas setting, and here's where things take a turn. The next part of the story is a performance he did for Jimmy Kimmel Live! You can't even miss his tv performances or else you're missing a part of the
story! Not only is this an incredible performance of "Blinding Lights," but it also provides the perfect transition to the "After Hours" short film. He's still on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! and as he exits the stage smiling, his emotions quickly change. This short film was an awesome way to promote his fourth studio album, "After Hours," and things get crazy in it. I can't explain it. You just have to watch the video. Towards the end of the short film, we see a couple come up an escalator and into an elevator, where The Weeknd is waiting inside. You can't help but wonder what's going to happen next. The next video, "In Your Eyes," continues where the After Hours short film left off. The couple enters the elevator and we see The Weeknd waiting with a large knife. When the doors close, we hear the woman scream. Clearly, he
killed the man the woman was with and now he's after her. As he follows her throughout the city and into a club, the woman defends herself and decapitates him! The lighting, flickering lights, and soft music give off such horror vibes, but I couldn't help but love every minute of it. Aside from a Halloween movie, you would think after someone becomes decapitated the story would be over. Not on The Weeknd's watch. In "Too Late," two women with their entire faces bandaged are driving down the street when they come across The Weeknd's head in the middle of the road. The women take his head to their mansion and decapitate someone else to attach The Weeknd's head onto the newly decapitated body. And The Weeknd is officially back! Great storytelling doesn't have to be
believable. However, it does need to keep your attention and The Weeknd does a great job letting everyone know the story isn't over yet. It's also hard to forget seeing The Weeknd at the American Music Awards with a bandaged face. Those who weren't keeping up with the story were probably confused by his appearance. But since we left off with the two women with similar bandages, it connects it to the previous video. You can't help but wonder where this story is about to go now! Finally, "Save Your Tears," reveals The Weeknd's face without the bandages and it's very abnormal. If you pay close attention to
Too Late's music video, The Weeknd's current face looks very similar to the portrait of the women without their bandages. It's clear they've had some plastic surgery. And that is where I believe the story ends! However, The Weeknd continues to wear the red jacket for multiple remix visuals, and his amazing Super Bowl LV Halftime show.
I can definitely see myself going back to watch this series of videos because they are like a movie together. A lot of tv shows don't even keep the continuity going within their series, but The Weeknd continued to keep this going for over a year and didn't bore the audience but kept them intrigued throughout it. I'm not sure if something like this has been done before in the music industry, but The Weeknd and his team did an incredible job telling this story through a series of music videos and performances. However, you have to enter an entirely different level to try and decode what each video means. I am very excited to see what else The Weeknd produces music-wise and video-wise in the future.
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