Designer Interviews - Semi-Finals 8/8/2013

[Brutus]

Big Loud Live
8/8/2013

Show designer interviews on last night's Big Loud Live Broadcast revealed that they don't know how to pitch their shows. It was just embarrassing. Their comments pointed up the weaknesses in the shows-- vague show concepts, or under-developed narrative arcs. If you can't encapsulate your show's design succinctly and clearly, you're screwed-- either because you can't articulate it, or because the concept isn't clear! Get your pitches together! />/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>/>

Madison Scouts
James Mason first said on a Youtube video months ago that the reason they were doing the show was to get back to Madison's military roots. What miltary roots? Madison doesn't have any military roots. They were established in the mode of the Junior Marine parade units of the 40's and 50's. They performed in VFW sponsored shows. That's it, as far as research reveals. Last night's broadcast narrator mentioned some vague military association but then handily skipped over any military details for this corps-- because there aren't any. Madison has no military background-- they were a boy scout troop from the beginning. So that's just misleading. Then last night Mason said he wrote the show for his marine son who returned from Afghanistan. Which one is it? Both?

Madison's show from a design standpoint doesn't work for one basic reason-- you can't have military guys in camou doing pirhouettes. It just doesn't work, I'm sorry. It's the Village People effect. Great heartfelt performances, but no. I was with a Hollywood casting director who has cast some major, major films, and she agreed, the concept rings false for this medium and for these performers. Call me crazy, but the Mason's kid wouldn't recognize this style of dance associated with his military service. There's something awkward and uncomfortable about the whole concept of dramatizing war conflict this soon after the war. It feels fake, contrived and belittling. I would have changed it to be on the subject of PTSD. One soldier struggles to acclimate to daily life after returning from war, and succeeds with a little help from friends. Keep the ending the same-- You'll Never Walk Alone. This way, you can avoid the "war play" scenes which ring false because of the awkward pairing of the flambouyant choreography and military fighting. Awkward. And yes, I cried at the end.

Blue Devils - I'm glad Wayne Downey is creating jazz versions of the classics. That's really wonderful. Congratulations. Now how about taking some responsibility for the accessibility of the pieces you select? Maybe the audience "skins you alive" as he put it, because you selected an abstract, anti-establishment Russian classical ballet piece, and adapted it to the jazz genre, played by drum corps. The audience at the theater here in California just sat dumbfounded during BD, as if at a lecture. At the end, there was some confused applause. Completely inaccessible.

Also, it's not enough to say that you're creating choreography and drill design based on the "moods" and "emotions" that the music evokes. That's not enough. You're designing a 12 minute production in a stadium, you're not designing a fabric. It's no longer enough just to do pretty pictures and colors. You're responsible for a thematic argument in this show. And a clear reason for doing this musical piece. And that reason better relate to who these people are as performers, and as people. And that reason better include the audience, not alienate them. Why are they performing this, here, now? And why are you even bothering to show it to an audience if not to share a personal message or story or observation about our lives and the way we live and how we feel? Just because a piece of music is abstract doesn't mean that the performer's intentions are vague and ambiguous-- they must be razor sharp. But here, we just can't tell who's thinking what or why they're bothering.

"Pushing the envelope" means building a thematic argument into your show. A commentary on human behavior, illumination on our lives, or the lives of these performers. Now we know, Wayne Downey's music comes first, and the abstract pictures come from that. He basically admitted last night, there's nothing more to this show than choreographing around his musical phrases. The corps is his canvas evidently, and any progression, any heightened story, or any narrative arc or any understructure is not important.

Curiously, during BD's various show segments, the facial expressions on the color guard performers varied between each other. Each one different-- multiple closeups revealed that in any given phrase, the color guard facial expressions varied among one other-- one super intense and murderous, another smiling, all in the same moment. Which is it? If you can't decide what the intent of the "phrase" is, we can't either. This points up the fact that the corps is lost in terms of agreeing on the meaning they're trying to convey. And it points up the fact that there's no narrative throughline to help them determine what each phrase in this ballet means. When they're carrying the elephant tusks, I got a sense of confusion and embarrasment from the guard. If they feel awkward and unsure, we do too. Choreographers are expert at defining each moment in a ballet, and convincing the performers to climb aboard the meaning train. But if the movements are too abstract and random, and if the performers haven't agreed upon the meaning, you can see uncertainty in their performances, like you do in Re-Write of Spring.

Cavaliers
The Cavalier representative revealed that the show is about "images" on the topic of secret societies in general, and that the Cavaliers have some of the qualities of a secret society. That's way too vague a subject matter to sustain a 12 minute show. Nothing is specific enough. Who are you? Why are you transforming at the end? Why does everything look like it's from the Freemasons? Who's the good guy? Looks to me like they selected an action-adventure theme of a secret society a la Game of Thrones but couldn't secure the copyright, and gave up.

The Secret Society theme has presented some awkward public relations issues for this corps-- the Cavaliers aren't a secret society, and they don't have an evil hidden agenda either. To associate the corps with a questionable hidden motives is to taint the good will built up by the corps over the past 5 decades. The show is unspecific, and we don't know whether to cheer or boo because we don't know who you are, where you are or what you're doing or why it should matter to us. I would change the show to be centered around one member of a society who takes off his robe in defiance, fights them off, and gradually, all the members defect and form a new open society. Much clearer. Drop the references to the Masons. It's a copyright infringement and is just creepy.

Cadets
Most appalling were the remarks of the designer for the Cadets whose casual, gormand-on-mushrooms musings basically revealed that they were playing with colors and shapes around the phrases of the music. Uh, that's it? Bueller? Bueller? And that the towers represented nothing, basically, except to "define the space". Um, after we get milk and cookies, we'll play with crayons on real paper. This is a shockingly indulgent and vague concept, and the show suffers as a result. The lives of 150 kids are hinging on you building a thematic argument into this show. They're waiting for you to establish a strong narrative or emotional arc to this music, and relate it to building meaning in their lives. The audience sat in confused silence throughout much of it. Even esoteric show concepts around shape color and form can move audiences, but only if it's relatable and human.

Crown
Also appalling were Crown's design team remarks. So nonchalant, so careless, so vague. Dude, this show revolves around the theme of E=mc2 which is a space science concept. You're playing music from 2001, and from Phillip Glass. We need you to step up and relate with razor-sharp specificity what this show concept is. I'll help. "This year's show E=Mc2 revolves around the theme of space-- it illustrates the grandeur of the Universe, how infinitessimally small we are in it, and how love transcends it all." Boom, done. Instead, he said something vague about energy and mass and it was so vague, it meant absolutely nothing and makes the audience question whether the design team had any control of this monster at all. Either this show means a lot more than he's able to articulate, or he's just lucky that it means more than he intended.

Phantom
The Phantom representative basically talked about how they added the Evil Queen puppet late for some vague logistical reason that he wouldn't specify. There's no excuse for late prop design. And no excuse for adding this so late in the season. If you're doing a show about an evil queen, you start working immediately on the maquette design, you start the performers immediately taking puppet classes and take the whole thing through a focus group. Otherwise you end up with a floppy, odd looking rag doll on a stick that looks like a nun in a blender, and you're making excuses on a national broadcast.

Come on lazy design teams, step the hell up! The kids' lives are at stake!

Edited January 3, 2014 by Brutus

[N.E. Brigand]

Phantom Regiment

The Phantom representative basically talked about how they added the Evil Queen puppet late for some vague logistical reason that he wouldn't specify. There's no excuse for late prop design. And no excuse for adding this so late in the season. If you're doing a show about an evil queen, you start working immediately on the maquette design, you start the performers immediately taking puppet classes and take the whole thing through a focus group. Otherwise you end up with a floppy, odd looking rag doll on a stick that looks like a nun in a blender, and you're making excuses on a national broadcast.

That was Dan Farrell, their program director, and I noted him saying of the show's story, "For lack of a better idea, think of it as 'Snow White'". While public speaking might not be part of his job description, I would think having a "better idea" is!

[Brutus]

That was Dan Farrell, their program director, and I noted him saying of the show's story, "For lack of a better idea, think of it as 'Snow White'". While public speaking might not be part of his job description, I would think having a "better idea" is!

Yes, appalling. And it's so easy, too. I think he should have said

"Our show features a delicate storybook princess who battles an evil queen who wants to control her self-image. By the end, the princess finds her own unique identity and triumphs. It's a message for all young women to be true to themselves." WOW! HOLY GUACAMOLE! B O O M!

Edited August 9, 2013 by Brutus

[Anstig]

Man, what a brutal review! I have to say though I agree with you on almost all points but I do like the cavaliers show design.

[rayfallon]

Big Loud Live

8/8/2013

Come on lazy design teams, step the hell up! The kids' lives are at stake!

So this is what makes me NUTS about DCP:

a) the kids' lives are most definitely NOT at stake.

b) after your critique, could you share your own design resume' ?

I'm glad I didn't read this until the very end of the season. Never want to hurt my computer before finals day.

Geez us...

[Nine White Russians]

Madison Scouts

James Mason first said on a Youtube video months ago that the reason they were doing the show was to get back to Madison's military roots. What miltary roots? Madison doesn't have any military roots. They were established in the mode of the Junior Marine parade units of the 40's and 50's. They performed in VFW sponsored shows. That's it, as far as research reveals. Last night's broadcast narrator mentioned some vague military association but then handily skipped over any military details for this corps-- because there aren't any. Madison has no military background-- they were a boy scout troop from the beginning. So that's just misleading. Then last night Mason said he wrote the show for his marine son who returned from Afghanistan. Which one is it? Both?

I've seen several clips where James Mason describes what is behind the Scouts' show. I never heard any mention of

the Scouts' military roots. He mentioned their historical roots of brotherhood and how the book - Lone Survivor - served

as a metaphor for their "75 Years of Survival". So he's using the whole military/modern warfare as a backdrop for

a show about brotherhood and how conflict makes that brotherhood stronger.

[N.E. Brigand]

a) the kids' lives are most definitely NOT at stake.

b) after your critique, could you share your own design resume' ?

a) I agree with your comment about the hyperbole.

b) For me, this issue here is not about the quality of the designs, but about how the ideas are badly conveyed to the audience during the broadcast. By contrast, Michael Boo's descriptions of the shows in his live blog are highly illuminating.

[Tez]

I'm kind of glad the show designers don't take drum corps as seriously as you do.

[Brutus]

So this is what makes me NUTS about DCP:

a) the kids' lives are most definitely NOT at stake.

b) after your critique, could you share your own design resume' ?

I'm glad I didn't read this until the very end of the season. Never want to hurt my computer before finals day.

Geez us...

These kids lives are at stake, and the state of the entire artform rests on these shows, which will be remembered by these performers forever. And thanks to video, will be remembered by audiences forever. The designers need to push themselves to their very limits in order to create meaninful, airtight show concepts, not play with color or themes like they're in a sandbox. This is life and death.

[Brutus]

Another show designer who could have been a little more clear was the Bluecoats, who have a great show. I think the explanation could have been more specific. "We're taking the traditional American parade unit, and turning it on its ear by reversing the roles of audience and marching performer, and finding out what's possible when we break down the separation between them. It's out with the old parade, and in with the new."