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A Crowning Metaphor - Crown 2017, It Is?


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After listening to the Crown designer podcast, is it possible that Anna (the vocalist), is a metaphor for the football field?    Think about it, she is now first seen in the show wearing a Yard Marker Gown - it's green - as are the guard members.   It's not Crown that is changing, it's the football field.  Is Anna the field itself?    As Anna becomes confused in the place that she is now in, it is the football that is becoming unrecognizable to her.  The field changes in every direction, including Anna being raised on a platform as if to come out from the field itself. Now, at the end of show, instead of Anna being raised up, it's a yard marker that becomes the focal point of the show ending. While, at the same time, the field yard marker signs are being changed.

What do you see?

 

https://marchingartseducation.com/courses/carolina-crown-design-staff-on-2017-show/

 

Edited for added after finals run -

So, now that the season is over and Crown has completed their final deconstruction for 2017, did anyone notice any differences in their final run?  The designers stated the show would continue to evolve all the way through Saturday (confidently expressing they knew what Saturday's show would be from the beginning).  

We saw Anna, the vocalist, seem to disappear after the scatter (back into the field?), replaced by a yard line marker.   Blue and white banners stretch out from the group (any significance of the colors? Colts colors?), while yard marker "0's" are being strewn about the field. This is exactly, from what I can recall, how the show ended on Friday.  I did not notice anything different.

I had hoped for a Crown football helmet tarp to cover the Colts helmet on the 50 yard-line. I still think that would have been an incredible visual and a great way to complete the deconstruction.   Oh, well, there's always 2018 to, once and for all, fully transform Lucas Oil Stadium into a Drum Corps Field. 

Edited by drumcorpsfever
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1 minute ago, KRtrumpet182 said:

I don't want to think about a show designer's intentions that much in order to understand it. Sorry. 

Perhaps not.   But understanding the concept and the presentation does add to the viewing experience.   

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Just now, drumcorpsfever said:

Perhaps not.   But understanding the concept and the presentation does add to the viewing experience.   

If one's desire is to pay for entertainment where you can go and escape day to day life and just enjoy a musical presentation then one can skip Crown's show this year. If one wishes to dive into the layering interpretations of art and think through the details of this show coming up with all kinds of theories on what it could mean, then go for it. I have more pressing things in life to use brain power on than a show that is supposed to entertain.

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5 minutes ago, drumcorpsfever said:

Perhaps not.   But understanding the concept and the presentation does add to the viewing experience.   

This is just me, but I reject the idea that drum corps, as an artistic idiom, is becoming more obtuse and difficult to understand. IOW, that shows require more interpretation in "today's" activity. If that's what Crown is trying to convey, then they chose a lot of confusing ideas to convey it...and it doesn't work at all.

At this point, I honestly don't have a clue what Crowns show is "about." If you told anyone at any show what the message is, before or after the performance, I dare say no one would see what they are trying to convey. It's just not a very compelling show to me, and frankly many others, and all of us love Carolina Crown.

Perhaps Crown picked a bad year to choose the evolution of the activity as their theme. Both Blue Devils and SCV did that, differently and far more effectively, without the use of a singer...which to me is a fundamentally wrong design choice if you are trying to use her as the demonstration of change. Around half the finalist shows have singers this year. It's not avante garde or even indicative of what the activity is becoming.

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Look, people also said Crown's Relentless show had  a "hard to follow story". Psh.

Do you really want something so basic and unconsidered so that you're just entertained? I like that there may be layered concepts you don't notice right away.

I hadn't thought of her as the field, yet. this whole time I've been hearing that this show is Crown talking about the "change" in drum corps, but it hasn't made any sense to me! The visuals like the football helmet tarp, the emphasis on yard markers and number. Why? How does that relate to DCI or Crown changing?

it doesn't. It's all about the field. 

Wow. It really would be exciting if that were the case. I especially like that at the end of prelims she falls and is replaced by a yard marker - kind of adds strength to your argument.

Looking forward to see what happens tonight. And keep an eye out for the drum major - it looks like he may be involved in the end sequence soon(?).

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29 minutes ago, MikeRapp said:

Perhaps Crown picked a bad year to choose the evolution of the activity as their theme. Both Blue Devils and SCV did that, differently and far more effectively, without the use of a singer...which to me is a fundamentally wrong design choice if you are trying to use her as the demonstration of change. Around half the finalist shows have singers this year. It's not avante garde or even indicative of what the activity is becoming.

Ehhhh yeah, but I'm saying that I don't think she represents Crown or DCI.

She never holds a horn or marches or touches a drum. Instead she's covered in yard markers. 

And I'm HUGELY against vocals (sigh, I know...I'm a fogey), but it would be very hard to talk about the field changing without a representation of it, without giving it a voice.

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3 minutes ago, FancySnack said:

Do you really want something so basic and unconsidered so that you're just entertained? I like that there may be layered concepts you don't notice right away.

So, drum corps before this multi-layered arts was too basic and unconsidered where people's entertainment was the goal. Wow!!! And what a fantastic thing to have people use their interpretative abilities on (the football field). I'm so impressed that out of all the things that people would choose to write a show about is not an important concept to human existence such as human communication, love, loss, but a freaking football field. There is such intelligence in that, isn't there??? If one wants to do art, then let it be something that deals with the drama of humanity not a football field. To do this is like making a mountain out of a mole hill.

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1 minute ago, Just Here said:

So, drum corps before this multi-layered arts was too basic and unconsidered where people's entertainment was the goal. Wow!!! And what a fantastic thing to have people use their interpretative abilities on (the football field). I'm so impressed that out of all the things that people would choose to write a show about is not an important concept to human existence such as human communication, love, loss, but a freaking football field. There is such intelligence in that, isn't there??? If one wants to do art, then let it be something that deals with the drama of humanity not a football field. To do this is like making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Bro. You seem upset. 

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I gotta say, Cadets' attempt to change the field in 2015 were meh at best. Crown '17 seems like they went all-in on the same idea, and it's still meh at best. "Lets pull out some tarps and throw a bunch of white stuff on the field" just doesn't create much excitement or emotional impact.

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