Lukecoats

Great suggestion. I just forwarded your thoughts to John Maher. That would be sweet if they did some kindof combined theatrical release at this year's finals.

I feel like now that Christmas is over, the shipping is going to be handled a lot faster. Mine came four days after Christmas. I'll be showing it to as many family and friends as possible over the next week I'm sure.

Sorry, I wish I'd seen this post first, I would have just added to it. Obviously I think the film is friggin awesome, and I wonder what the rules for self releasing a film are when it comes to entering it into film contests. I feel like this would do well in a documentary category pretty much anywhere, or at least make the contest. Send it Cannes, send it to Sundance. I think, ultimately, the movie gives us an intimate view of an American subculture that most of the world doesn't know about. As I said in my other post concerning the straight to DVD release, I think that there's still talk of a limited screen release (sponsored by DCI) to take place in Indy during finals weeks next year. And that would be pretty sweet, but we'll see. As far as film contests go, I know that it's pretty difficult to get into the major ones, and I honestly don't know if they're still planning on entering it anywhere or not.

The phenomenal documentary, Throw It Down, that chronicles the 2006 Bluecoats' season is now available for purchase! If you're a fan of drum corps, or if you're a fan of excellent filmmaking, you will thoroughly enjoy this movie. Incidentaly, I still think a limited screen release is still in the works for next season's finals week in Indy (keeping fingers crossed) but I think that the filmmakers decided to move forward, for the time being, with a straight to DVD release of the film so they could begin to recoup some of the enormous costs in making the movie. Presented by Director John Maher NOW IN STOCK From NOW through January 1st, 09 "THROW IT DOWN" will be available for an introductory price of $19.99 TO ORDER VISIT: WWW.THROWITDOWNTHEMOVIE.COM OR CALL TOLL FREE - 1-866-979-DOWN (3696) Throw It Down Experience the up-close intensity of drum corps by following Canton, Ohio's Bluecoats on their challenging 80-day "Connexus" tour across America. Brilliant widescreen cinematography and carefully mastered audio will immerse you in the Bluecoats' breathtaking journey into heat, pain, fatigue, and - ultimately - celebration. Our Special Price Through January 1st, 09: $19.99 Ships same or next business day.

I think that's an excellent point Jarrod, and I wish I had more information for you. The last time I saw the filmmakers face to face they said they were going to try every method under the sun for distribution, and the executive producer even joked about dropping the movie from airplanes…so it’s tough to be sure exactly what media form the movie will make its debut in. I’m hoping for theaters first, but that may be a ways off. I guarantee that at some point, it will be available for DVD purchase. I received an email today from the director about the movie’s progress… We are halfway through Color Grading and Mixing the film to get it ready for duplication... John E. Maher I don't know a whole lot about film editing, but they sound like they're making good progress. No news about BOA yet either, but I know it was a goal of the filmakers to have the movie finished in time for Grand Nats.

Well..spread the word if you can...obviously we'll have to see how the movie is recieved by Bands of America, but I agree, this is a movie worth seeing for any drum corps fan. I firmly believe it's a movie anyone can appreciate, regardless of marching experience. Any suggestions for places I could post my update of the film?

My name is Luke Bauerlein and I marched euphonium in the Bluecoats drum and Bugle corps from 2001-2005. I also taught as a visual instructor there in '06 and '07. I was originally asked to be interviewed in the fall of 2005 for what turned into Throw It Down, a documentary that provides an intimate look into the life on the road, and otherwise, of a Div I drum and bugle corps. Three years in the making, the movie is about the 2006 Bluecoats' Connexus season, but it doesn't serve as a mere chronicle of the events that took place during that year, rather, it captures the essence of all drum corps (at least, as much as any film could portray, IMO) by focusing on the specific experiences, hopes, dreams, and stories of a single corps at a single moment in its history. The movie’s focus is the corps’ brutal summer tour on the bus, but it touches on fundraising, volunteers, food prep, traditions and a host of specific details that are unique to this corps but speak to the experiences of many. It strikes the perfect balance between giving a realistic portrayal of the summer for the die-hards and insiders (oh yes, there’s a bus war…) while still providing enough cursory explication to the newcomer or casual fan (“The members use the field as a grid to understand where they’re moving in the drill…” says corps Director David Glassgow at one point.) I had the pleasure of viewing the most recent cut of the film when I went up to Connecticut this weekend to record voice narration for the final cut of the film. It’s true that a much longer, hour and forty-five minute cut was shown to the corps this August, but the version I saw, cut down to a much leaner 88 minutes, is a completely different movie. The transformation that this film has undergone in the past three months is phenomenal. It’s intelligent, spiritual, philosophical and yet completely visceral. There is pain, humor, triumph and an overwhelming sense of love that pours from the film: love of performance, of excellence, and the love the members have for their corps and each other. Make no mistake, I’m not talking about some strange, hippy love fest, I’m talking about the kindof honest, hard-earned love that comes from the shared experiences of hardship and adversity: 110 degree heat, knuckle calluses, broken limbs, eight hour bus rides… The close up pan around the inner circle of the Coats’ post show huddle (in the tunnel at San Antonio) as the corps sings “Autumn Leaves” en mass, is as intimate and piercing a look at a corps as you’ll ever see. It’s emotional, but it’s also very real. The featured interviews with 2006 Drum major Joe Beitman, Bluecoats’ alumni Kurt Mergen, and Bill Hamilton (the only person to serve the corps as a performing member, instructor, and director) are all outstanding, each giving us a unique glimpse of drum corps. These are people that are passionate and knowledgeable about the activity, and their enthusiasm for drum corps is infectious. The supplemental interviews with other Bluecoats members, particularly the brief but charming correspondence with Rumi Tamura, a rookie trumpet player from Japan, serve to flesh out a complete corps picture. Another one of the film’s greatest triumphs is its music, which expertly weaves a brilliantly composed score with the music of the 2006 corps. The music pushes the movie along, bridges segments together and creates a unique sonic world that grabs you the way the first hit in a drum corps show is supposed to. Horns, drums, marimbas and metronomes now subtly (and not so subtly) underscore the interviews, keeping the drum corps experience ever present, even when the images take us away from the field. The opening a cappella choral of “Hallelujah,” a warm up for the hornline (both sung and played,) becomes a haunting and gorgeous motif as the film progresses. This is not your typical cinema verite documentary. There are special effects, dream sequences, actors, and plenty of other conventions that are played with to maximum effect. The movie is ambitious, but grounded in the music and experiences of the people it tracks. The result is an intelligent and coherent artistic achievement that engages the heart as well as the head. For real. It’s good. The producers plan on shopping this around to whomever might want to pick it up/distribute it. Right now, a copy has been sent to the folks at BOA in the hopes that they might be interested in showing it on screens in Indianapolis during the week of Grand Nationals. There has been some talk of getting DCI involved as well. However, when you’re making a self-financed documentary, even when the content is there, and boy is it ever there, it can be extremely difficult to find a distributor. I sincerely hope that this movie finds a home for itself. For those interested in gathering more information, here is a link to the official movie website. But I warn you, the movie trailer and the clip from the film are extremely outdated at this point and NOT great representations of the film in its current state. They’re not bad, but I wouldn’t form too many opinions based on them. http://www.throwitdownthemovie.com/video.html I’ll do my best to answer whatever questions I can. I wanted to post this on the www.bluecoats.com first, but I lost my password and am still waiting to get confirmed with my new registration. But hopefully, we’ll be talking about this over there soon enough as well, Luke

I'm going to give a more detailed review of the film in a separate thread and try and answer whatever questions I can there, but let me just say this: my name is Luke Bauerlein, and I marched with the Bluecoats for five years. I'm interviewed in the Bluecoats documentary Throw It Down, and I just got back from Connecticut this weekend laying down some vocals for the narration in the final cut of the film. There was, in fact, a grossly unedited hour and forty five minute version of the film that was shown to the corps in August of this year. And no doubt, despite its obvious flaws, it was a pretty darn good film, just too long. Well, I have seen the most recent cut of the film this weekend (the same cut the producers have sent to the execs at BOA...) and I believe the movie to be a more cohesive, beautiful, and powerful piece of cinema than I possibly could have imagined being made about drum corps. I have not seen the Troopers documentary and so cannot speak to the power of that film, but what I can attest to, is that Throw It Down has a great, great amount of artistry and emotion held within it. Clocking in at just under 88 minutes, the most recent cut is leaner, more compact and hits all the harder for it. I could see the potential the film had in August, but I still had my reservations about what the final product might look like. I no longer hold such reservations. In terms of release, I do not think the producers believe it will be ready for October. As previously mentioned, they have sent a recent cut of the film to the folks at BOA in the hopes that they might be interested in showing it on screens in Indianapolis during Grand Nats week. I think BOA would be silly not to take part in the release of this movie (DCI too for that matter.) To me, it has enormous potential to bring both the casual fan of drum corps and the die hards an intimate look at life on the road. As is true with most of the best art in this world, Throw It Down gains a kindof universality through its specificity. By following the members, traditions, history, and quirks of the 2006 Bluecoats’ Connexus season (a good one for the corps competitively to be sure…) the film strives to offer the experience of any corps, in any summer. It could be your kids up there on screen, your corps, your summer. Some of you may dismiss this post as mere hype, and perhaps some of it is. I readily admit that it was extremely difficult to make an objective assessment of the movie when I saw it this past weekend, and I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m very excited about it. All I can say is that the movie I saw in August did not produce such bubbling enthusiasm from me. This new cut does. For more, check out the Bluecoats Documentary: Throw It Down thread... which I’m currently posting. Luke Bauerlein