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Carolina Crown 2019


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7 hours ago, karuna said:

I'd like to see the designers be more disciplined in their choices.  They all knew:

  • Part 2 did not really support the design concept.  It was a reach even after you heard the explanations.  If they had been more careful to make sure it worked,  the rest of the show worked well enough.  
  • Color palette (uniforms and flags) completely lacked contrast.  Sure they were amazing close up but they were a train wreck from the box.
  • Guard writing did not project to the box. There was not a single ensemble moment to showcase the guard.  Contrast that to the programs above them.  
  • Self-Referential designs always sound amazing but always seem to fall short.  Better to avoid them. 
  • Some of the music frankly had nothing to at all to do with the concept but was chosen because it exhibited brass virtuosity.  Virtuosity is wonderful but make sure it actually supports the concept.  

OTOH Beast contained one of the most profoundly amazing arrangements I've ever heard.  If I Fell was just mind-boggling well written and showed off Crown's  musicianship better than any crazy technical piece could hope to do.  Hats off Michael Klesch and Jim Ancona and to the members for bringing that to life.  

Sounds familiar...

On 7/12/2018 at 4:09 PM, Cappybara said:

1. Starting with adherence to theme, this show is very un-"beast-like" until the movement after the ballad. Other than those white tooth looking things (they really do not read well from above and are arranged on the field in such a way that it's unclear what they are) and the static prop for most of the show (ill get to that later), there is nothing in the first 2/3 of the show that really conveys the aggression and tension you would expect to see from a show like this. I think part of the reason for this is because Crown's hornline has such a pure, organ-like sound. The other part of it is that I just think the music does not fit well with the theme; It just doesn't fit the tribal mood that it seems like they're trying to convey (atleast, it seems like that's what they're trying to convey judging by their attire, the props, the dancing, etc). 

 The 2nd movement especially is characterized by way too many quiet moments. From my understanding, they are "hunting" or avoiding being hunted here (it's hard to tell), so I can see why it is arranged like this, but there should be points interspersed in between, either through voice-overs, unison colorguard catches, hornline hits, percussion hits, etc that signal this. There's no tension, no build up. What I'm getting at with this point is that while the pacing is okay in the sense that they aren't doing anything egregious like having 2 ballads back-to-back, the first half starts to feel like it's dragging because the expectation of pace and mood that comes from a show titled "beast" does not occur. 

2. The show is entirely too reliant on the hornline to provide big moments. There is no significant visual moments in the show except in the opener, and then not until the prop gets rolled out and then towards the end when the guard provides immense field coverage. I actually think the guard staging is really great in this show, it doesn't feel like a separate entity from the rest of the corps. However, a lot of the work they're doing seems to be sectioned out into pods even though they're all lined up together. This gives a pretty disjointed look, especially since some are split between rifles and flags and doesn't lend to many big wow moments. Not to say that what they're doing isn't challenging, I'm sure it is. 

3. The elephant in the room, or beast I guess, the static prop. Typically beasts move around a little, don't they? I just think the prop is a very poor implementation. The corps treats it like an obstacle getting in the way of the drill for 2/3 of the show and not just that, there is no interaction with it until they get on top of it! When the guard or hornline get near the prop, shouldn't there be some sort of reaction or emotion to it? Why should the audience feel anything but ambivalence toward it if the corps is doing the same? 

4. Clarity, or lack thereof. I think the main issue here is starting with the ballad. For some reason, they inserted two guard members who get staged up front and center during the ballad and they're, in love? Dancing? Why? Where did they come from and where were they the first half of the show? Again, it is hard to get the viewer invested in everything if there is no time or build up for the audience to get to know the "characters". Prior to that, it could be accepted that this would be a more abstract storyline where there is generally a beast present, they are hunting it, and then they slay it. But when you start incorporating specific characters like in the ballad, you start to question what is going on at all. 

 

I can't comment on the technical aspects of the orchestration. Their brass and percussion are scoring fantastically, I trust the judge's assessment on that. It's a talented corps, but there's a lot that I feel like the design team needs to flesh out better and little time to do so. 

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11 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

Sounds familiar...

Actually you did t make any of the same observations as I did. The one that may have been closest was the “un-Beast-like” but you applied to all the music not just part 2.  Nice try but you missed :biggrin:

Edited by karuna
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4 minutes ago, karuna said:

Actually you did t make any of the same observations as I did. The one that may have been closest was the “un-Beast-like” but you applied to all the music not just part 2.  Nice try but you missed :biggrin:

You go ahead and think that :whistle:

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7 hours ago, karuna said:

I'd like to see the designers be more disciplined in their choices.  They all knew:

  • Part 2 did not really support the design concept.  It was a reach even after you heard the explanations.  If they had been more careful to make sure it worked,  the rest of the show worked well enough.  
  • Color palette (uniforms and flags) completely lacked contrast.  Sure they were amazing close up but they were a train wreck from the box.
  • Guard writing did not project to the box. There was not a single ensemble moment to showcase the guard.  Contrast that to the programs above them.  
  • Self-Referential designs always sound amazing but always seem to fall short.  Better to avoid them. 
  • Some of the music frankly had nothing to at all to do with the concept but was chosen because it exhibited brass virtuosity.  Virtuosity is wonderful but make sure it actually supports the concept.  

OTOH Beast contained one of the most profoundly amazing arrangements I've ever heard.  If I Fell was just mind-boggling well written and showed off Crown's  musicianship better than any crazy technical piece could hope to do.  Hats off Michael Klesch and Jim Ancona and to the members for bringing that to life.  

Excellent analysis imo. I thought the uniforms were awful. The props at best added nothing but clutter. Bottom line is they chose an ill conceived show concept so everything else sort of didn’t fit either.

That said, Crown remains a good concept away from a medal every single year. Only two other corps can currently say that.

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5 hours ago, Spatzzz said:

The 2018 Crown members proved one thing. They and they alone could polish a turd. Crown was 4th because of their members. The entire creative staff from music design to visual design put a 10th place product on the field that the performers some how miraculously drug up to 4th place. My 2 cents.

10th is a bit of a stretch. 

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2 hours ago, karuna said:

Actually you did t make any of the same observations as I did. The one that may have been closest was the “un-Beast-like” but you applied to all the music not just part 2.  Nice try but you missed :biggrin:

Now now, you're forgetting. Anything you say, Cappy has said it before. Anything you think you know, Cappy knows it better. That's the numero uno rule of DCP. Never forget!

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1 hour ago, MikeRapp said:

Excellent analysis imo. I thought the uniforms were awful. The props at best added nothing but clutter. Bottom line is they chose an ill conceived show concept so everything else sort of didn’t fit either.

That said, Crown remains a good concept away from a medal every single year. Only two other corps can currently say that.

I don’t think Beast was a bad concept.  If part 2 hadn’t fallen a bit short I think they would have medaled.  Bur wandering a bit early in the show is very hard to recover from.  Props weren’t clutter at all;  they were mood / environmental vs active. But they most definitely did NOT clutter the stage. While dragging props all over the field is de rigeur I don’t think it’s a requirement.  

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6 minutes ago, karuna said:

I don’t think Beast was a bad concept.  If part 2 hadn’t fallen a bit short I think they would have medaled.  Bur wandering a bit early in the show is very hard to recover from.  Props weren’t clutter at all;  they were mood / environmental vs active. But they most definitely did NOT clutter the stage. While dragging props all over the field is de rigeur I don’t think it’s a requirement.  

I think the perception of "clutter" mainly comes from the fact that it was unclear to audiences much of the season what exactly the props were. Even now, I'm not entirely sure as there's been conflicting statements about it. 

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8 minutes ago, Incognito365 said:

Now now, you're forgetting. Anything you say, Cappy has said it before. Anything you think you know, Cappy knows it better. That's the numero uno rule of DCP. Never forget!

Still 

9d56220427ff49dfb6a1f40e11cabf3e

my friend?

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Just now, Cappybara said:

I think the perception of "clutter" mainly comes from the fact that it was unclear to audiences much of the season what exactly the props were. Even now, I'm not entirely sure as there's been conflicting statements about it. 

Fortunately this mass confusion was limited to DCP and you and didn’t seem to affect others including the judges all season. What a tempest in a teapot that comment was :crazy:

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