Season Two: Clash of the Corps

[BoaDci]

4 hours ago, wallace said:

I cannot fathom any reason this pile o' self-indulgent poo needs to come back. It was absolutely wretched and unwatchable.

#growdrumcorps

[DawsonBurnes]

5 hours ago, tesmusic said:

Producers of a reality show are not looking at their show the same was the typical drum corps fan would. They're marketing to a larger audience that doesn't know the same things as you, such as the snare player with gloves

Which is pretty odd and downright stupid in my opinion. If you're going to make a show about the marching arts, how come they didn't get enough input to know that snare players don't wear gloves? I would understand if it were more of an "outside view," but they had input from corps directors, members, etc. 

[garfield]

5 hours ago, wallace said:

I cannot fathom any reason this pile o' self-indulgent poo needs to come back. It was absolutely wretched and unwatchable.

Wow, I'm really sorry you feel so emphatic about your impression.  I'm sure we watched the same series, so it's really an example of differing opinions.

I did think there was some cheesy stuff and some weird stuff (like Cadets guard captain "going home to pontificate") but, overall, from the standpoint of the general public, I thought it was a significantly more accurate depiction of our activity vs., say, Drum Line, The Movie.

It wasn't perfect, but only the rare project really is and, if there's an offer for a #2, it would suggest that what we saw WAS successful by their metric.

 

[BoaDci]

5 minutes ago, garfield said:

Wow, I'm really sorry you feel so emphatic about your impression.  I'm sure we watched the same series, so it's really an example of differing opinions.

I did think there was some cheesy stuff and some weird stuff (like Cadets guard captain "going home to pontificate") but, overall, from the standpoint of the general public, I thought it was a significantly more accurate depiction of our activity vs., say, Drum Line, The Movie.

It wasn't perfect, but only the rare project really is and, if there's an offer for a #2, it would suggest that what we saw WAS successful by their metric.

 

I think youre giving it too much credit, but I can see where youre coming from.  Any sort of publicity for my favorite activity is much enjoyed.  I do have my things about the show.  I thought it was funny how much they milked the drama within the activity, but it made sense to me.   It is somewhat underdepicted generally.

[DrumManTx]

4 hours ago, garfield said:

Wow, I'm really sorry you feel so emphatic about your impression.  I'm sure we watched the same series, so it's really an example of differing opinions.

I did think there was some cheesy stuff and some weird stuff (like Cadets guard captain "going home to pontificate") but, overall, from the standpoint of the general public, I thought it was a significantly more accurate depiction of our activity vs., say, Drum Line, The Movie.

It wasn't perfect, but only the rare project really is and, if there's an offer for a #2, it would suggest that what we saw WAS successful by their metric.

 

That's about where I am on it.  

[31rabbit]

season 1 took an activity that isn't broadly known, and told it via tropes that everybody is already familiar with. there is a ceiling on that, and really it will appeal to neither the Initiated nor the Reality TV crowd.

hypothetical alternative show concept: Build the show out of miniature infotainment features. scrap 'character drama.' gimme mini-docs on the fascinating aspects of the activity. the hallmark of good informative TV is that it gets you interested in something you weren't interested in before. Like 'Top Gear,' that lures people in with gag races but then has you watching a highly-technical feature on cars.

say a theoretical drum episode: 12 minutes interviewing drummers, showing them practice, etc. and 12 minutes about writing battery pieces, how you introduce 'musicality' without melody, how it evolves. episodes built around the different sections, episodes built around fans, around alumni, around logistics, are show concepts, around grueling practice, around auditions, etc.  

maybe you spice up every episode with one fun feature, and one technical feature. a 12 minute piece on how members pass the time on a 7 hour bus ride (PG 13!), and a 12 minute piece talking about integrating on-field speakers in improved ways.

if that sort of thing were done well, with nuance and personality, it could appeal to the curious and the experienced, in say the way the best Cooking or Profession or science shows do. but the way it's currently built, it may be watchable but it will never be anything Special because it doesn't have the depth.

but that's my .02 on a DCI show that has a high ceiling.

 

 

[ouooga]

For those who don't like the show, let me suggest an analogy (I've used this before on these boards).

 

Comic book movies have become extremely popular over the last two decades. True comic book fans, they freak out sometimes because the movies differ so much from the books. The problem many of them don't acknowledge, though, is that the books aren't generally accessible from a story standpoint. Instead, they're based on the characters and they go from there, creating a more accessible story for a wider audience. Does it bastardize the stories a bit? Absolutely. But the trade off is the main stream audience. Now, a comic book fan can wear a Wolverine t-shirt and it's considered mainstream, normal, popular. The thing these people love is no longer in the dark.

 

Clash of the Corps was on par with most B-level reality shows. I don't watch them, I don't really care for them. But a lot of other people do. This is a step toward mainstream and accessible. And yes, it absolutely bastardizes the activity, but there's that trade off too. The show got picked up for a second season. Ya, it's on a little known network, but it's better than the majority of shows that get their first season. It's a step toward something bigger for the activity, something that can truly be profitable and sustainable.

 

At the end of the day, I'll gladly see anything that helps drum corps survive and grow. I don't have to watch it (but I probably will), as long as others do. Meanwhile, I'll continue to be the die hard fan that reads the comic books while the majority just watches the movies, and I'll be content wearing my Wolverine (or Blue Knights, whatever) shirt down the street and have strangers "get it" just a bit more.

[FlamMan]

22 hours ago, wallace said:

I cannot fathom any reason this pile o' self-indulgent poo needs to come back. It was absolutely wretched and unwatchable.

The drum corps activity needs all the publicity it can get. I was an advocate for a drum corps reality show many years ago & as average as this show is, it certainly cant hurt the activity.

[dcsnare93]

I got a chance to speak with some of the 44 Blue guys in December 2015 not long after they began production, when the working title was 'Hard Corps'. From what I gathered, a few storylines were floated around and a few different corps were considered based on those story lines, eventually settling on BD and Cadets. I don't think the season turned out how they thought it was going to go, though. After that 25 minute conversation it seemed pretty obvious their goal was exposure to a subculture many people aren't aware even exists. I don't think it will ever really appeal to a large percentage of drum corps enthusiasts which probably prefer something like BD360.

[31rabbit]

I'm not against the show. even a bad show is likely no real harm, it may just result in kids showing up to camps with misperceptions, but even then hey they're showing up at camps so that's a step.

but a Good show will definitively accomplish more than a bad or mediocre show simply based on More people will watch it, more people will tell other people to watch it. Because season 1, I wouldn't tell anybody to watch that. if somebody's 13 year old niece were interested in band, I'd send her clips of shows and tell her my own tour stories (PG13!).

I think it's possible to create a show that will appeal to the 13-18 bracket (assuming they have at least a base level interest in music performance), will intrigue Parents of said same children that this is an activity of worth, and will appeal to potential fans, that can be built in a better way that trying to fit the activity into the Sports Reality Mold. Stylizing a Drum Corps reality Show to look like store-brand reality TV is not, in my opinion, going to accomplish those three goals as well as the model  I theorized on in a prior post (if said model were done well). and the reason I believe S1 failed was because it wasn't really about drum corps; S1 was about the Drama of People who happened to be in Drum Corps. which is a different thing than being about the activity itself. if this show wants to its job of being Good and Influential, I think it has a better chance of doing so by being the Best Interesting Show about Marching Music on TV, rather than the 2,379th best show about conventional drama arcs.