What should the "Big, Loud & Live" announcers talk about?

[N.E. Brigand]

And what should the camera show us?

We now are less than two weeks from the World Class Prelims and thus the twelfth annual Big, Loud & Live cinema screening of performances by the top fifteen corps. (Those top fifteen are determined by an average of the scores from San Antonio, Atlanta, and Allentown.) In my experience, this is a slicker production than the live webcast of Finals that happens two days later: it's DCI’s showcase to the country. Based on last year’s numbers, it’s likely that more than 50,000 people will attend this movie-broadcast event. A good percentage of them are likely to have seen perhaps just one live show this season, or maybe none at all. This is DCI's chance to shine. With that in mind:

What should DCI be telling them and showing them? Before each performance, what should Steve Rondinaro, Dennis DeLucia, and Will Pitts be talking about? What story about the corps or its season should they tell? What advice should they give viewers? Who should they interview and what questions should they ask? What cliches should they avoid? Is there something the announcers never talk about that you wish they would? Is there something they always say that you wish they wouldn't? Is there a classic video clip they should play, to set the mood or help the audience understand what the corps is doing? Need it be a clip of the corps who's about to perform? For instance: very early this season, some people said that Bluecoats' electronically-driven show was as innovative and potentially controversial as Star of Indiana's show had been in 1993, so if you believe that's true, you might suggest that they show a clip of Star. Or maybe, since so many corps have amplified singers this year, you show a clip of Carolina Crown singing "Seasons of Love" from 2004, the first year that was allowed (and also the first year of Big, Loud & Live).

And what are the key moments that the camera crew should show us during each performance? A general guideline for filming corps is to show high camera when the corps is moving--especially when they're moving fast--and cut to close-up shots when they're standing still. But that can't work at all times. During a percussion break, the rest of the corps is often engaging in some very interesting movement, but some portion of the audience would like to see close-ups of the battery at work. In which shows would you advise which shots? And are there things better not seen in close-up? Corps generally are playing to the stands and the press box, and some things they do may be best seen at a distance. Also think about shots you've seen during the course of the season: which ones seemed especially felicitous and cry out to be repeated at Lucas Oil?

The idea is to consider what will make the five-hour broadcast most engaging for the audience.

Think creatively! And don't forget corps currently ranked lower than fifteenth. For one thing, a few of them might move up. For another, there is inevitably a short clip of at least every World Class corps. I think we can say confidently that Pioneer won't be in the top fifteen. So which 30 seconds of Pioneer's show would you include in the broadcast? High camera or close-up (if the latter, of what)? And what one sentence would you like the announcers to use when describing Pioneer's show or season? Also feel free to suggest general comments about the whole season you think should be mentioned at the start of the screening.

I'm going to continuously edit the second post of this thread over the next thirteen days so that it develops into a list of all the corps, incorporating your most interesting suggestions as to all of the above. Then we'll see how much of what DCP wants to see actually appears in the DCI broadcast.

Edited July 24, 2015 by N.E. Brigand

[N.E. Brigand]

(List will develop here based on your responses. I'll try to keep the corps in the expected performance order, which will change over the next two weekends.)

General advice

Don't talk over those pre-shows with substance. Do talk over pre-shows that consist only of set-up and/or warm-up. Don't let DeLucia overemphasize tympani work, but do allow the hosts to express their genuine enthusiasms and concerns. Don't interview the same people who spoke before the season-opening broadcast. Maybe use picture-in-picture when two equally compelling visual moments happen simultaneously. Includes some shots from the tunnel. Bring back Janina Gavankar? Or another celebrity like Steve Young in 2007--perhaps as a guest commentator. Have professionals in music, dance, and theater weigh in. Make more use of historical footage and emphasize how the corps are part of a great tradition. Keep close-up shots of soloists short (they're not very interesting visually). Don't just say things like, "Their brass is wonderful" or "They have a great guard": give the audience specifics.

Preshow / Intermission

Audio clips quiz: name that tune/corps/show.

Introduction / Interludes

Remembering that some audience members may be new, consider a few words explaining what drum corps is. Note that no corps is undefeated. Mention that attendance is up and that several new Open Class corps have debuted during last couple seasons. Note that three corps joined the tour from Europe and Asia. Interview overseas corps members about how drum corps is perceived in their countries. Talk about how members pay for their dues. Explain some corps mascots and traditions.

Cascades

Historical clip: Cavaliers 1995, Atlanta CV 2013, Minnesota Brass 2014 (Why not? DCA has been mentioned before during B,L&L).

Colts

Historical clip: Cadets 2008 as previous example of radio show theme.

Troopers

Mention: Carolina Crown 2007 and how Troopers is like/unlike that show.

Crossmen

Historical clip: Cadets 1992

Blue Stars

Historical clips: older circus/magic shows including Bridgemen 1980, Star of Indiana 1987, and perhaps Blue Stars' own "Houdini" in 2010

Mention: How the focal points, like the sword swallower, are echoed by simultaneous motifs elsewhere in the program, like the horns carrying sabers to the guard at that time.

Show: The "tightrope" walker, contortionist, palm reader, sword swallower, juggler, etc., but not for too long! Don't miss the trumpet section contorting themselves, or the guard "juggling" rifles.

Boston Crusaders

Mention: 75th anniversary, with some depth.

Historical clip: BAC 2010 show, which focused on a throne.

Madison Scouts

Historical clip: "Gotta Dance" from the movie Singin' in the Rain.

Cavaliers

Mention: How they had to skip a regional due to illness.

Phantom Regiment

Historical Clip: Something from the Audrey Hepburn movie Funny Face.

Blue Knights

Show: Not the backs of the mirrors--at least not until after the show.

Santa Clara Vanguard

Mention: Rondinaro can utter his regular "This place is electric" line before this show. Briefly explain how the theremin works . . . and then don't focus on it for too long during the performance.

Bluecoats

Mention: How the electronics work, complete with illustrations if possible. How the tuba soli is split to generate a stereo echo effect.

Show: high-cam > zoom-in > fade to high-cam to show the audience how the field sampling is managed (as per ftwdrummer ).

Cadets

Interview: Someone other than Jeff Sacktig. Ideally George Hopkins. Or Jay Bocook about why they finally tackled Shostakovich's 10th.

Blue Devils

Interview: Someone who can explain story so audience can easily follow it.

Carolina Crown

Interview: Someone other than Michael Klesch or Keith Potter. Suggested: Tom Aungst about working with a different corps or writing for his son.

Clip: Matt Harloff working with hornline in lot.

Show: Wide shot of the crown form appearing after the gold banner passes over.

Thanks for suggestions from:

ftwdrummer, BoyWonder1911, Fred Windish, rpbobcat, C.Holland 2muchcoffeeman, CrownBariDad, soccerguy315, denverjohn, Jeff Ream, TRacer, 3PoC, jjeffeory, Corps_Efan

Edited July 30, 2015 by N.E. Brigand

[ftwdrummer]

Please high-cam the part of Bloo's show where the speakers across the field sample the horns playing into them, so we can see/hear the sound stay put when people move. One zoom-in on the first group to set what we're listening to (from the goal line side of that, so we can see the next group over in the background), fading (rather than slam cut) to high-cam (because I think in film terms) for the rest of the groups moving away.

Please avoid talking over pre-show (see: Madison 2013, where they were interviewing Jim Mason over the corps intro, which was one of the coolest parts of the show). Similarly, please avoid dead-time left in for pre-shows that don't exist (see: Cavies 2013, where they had plenty of time to show the non-existent pre-show).

Please interview someone other than Sacktig from Cadets in the booth if you interview someone from Cadets; we heard from him in the theater thing in June (bonus points if you somehow manage to get Hop off the sidelines). Same thing for the rest of the corps that were in Indy in June, actually; give us different people to hear from than you did last time. Super-ideally, give us people that we generally don't hear from when corps have booth interviews. Let's talk to someone from Cadets other than Sacktig, or someone from Crown other than Klesch or Keith Potter; someone who represents a different part of the corps than we normally get for each corps. I'd love to hear an interview with Aungst, for example (talking about the new challenge of Crown, and writing for his son), or Bocook (talking about why Shosty 10 now instead of any of the other times that Hop proposed it).

While I like the idea of showing Star '93 (mostly because I love Star '93), I'm not sure you can capture the groundbreaking effect it had in whatever snippet they would show.

Please don't make jazz timpani a big deal the same way you do every year, Dennis. Acknowledge it and move on.

An intriguing option would be showing the opening of Crown 2007 before Troop, given that they cover similar thematic material with some of the same music ("Dreamer"); however, probably no time for that given the preshow.

Another interesting option would be to show a bit of Cadets '08 before Colts, as Colts have taken the idea of doing a radio show on the field and actually figured out how to make it work (make it a radio drama, rather than "This American Li"-- excuse me, "Life in America").

Please show a bit of "Houdini" before Blue Stars' show; I kinda feel like that's in some respects the spiritual predecessor to this show, even though that one's a bit better realized.

And give us a good feature on BAC's 75th, please.

Edited July 24, 2015 by ftwdrummer

[N.E. Brigand]

Excellent. Those are just the sort of ideas I was hoping for.

[BoyWonder1911]

I would not mind a picture-in-picture.

I'd rather seem High Cam the entire show, because I don't care about close-ups, I like to analyze the visual drill. I absolutely hate it when I miss something. It could be like the best visual move in years, but for some reason they decided to show someone tossing a flag.

But I know that some like multi-cam.

Perhaps they can show close-ups of the features, and keep the high-cam view in the bottom right corner in the meantime, until the feature is over, then zoom it back out.

Views of the tunnel would be sweet between shows.

There really isn't a whole lot of time for commentary between shows, but it would be nice to get a little bit of history.

I guess that if they would like to do a good job introducing the activity to those who are new/potential fans, they should do their commentary as if the viewers know next to nothing.

[Fred Windish]

That segment with the female rock star and Jersey Surf is a total winner, DCI needs to come up with something similar using a handsome, stud, well-known, athletic male that recognizes all the training, discipline, demand, talent that is required to present a 'world's best.'

Sorry, Pee-Wee Herman.

[rpbobcat]

Why not a short interview with Janina Gavankar,even if its recorded.

She really gushed about Drum Corps after last year's semis.

On another note,its too bad Surf couldn't have put out some type of souvie hyping the video they did with her.

[DCI-86]

Who cares! Those of us outside the US can't watch it anyway!

[SFZFAN]

Who cares! Those of us outside the US can't watch it anyway!

Send me your address: I'll make you some drawrings of the show.

[oldbandguy]

I hope they talk about how history will be made two days later with a new first time world champion. :-)