Design Preference

[mplu55]

I honestly have done it both ways but I find the older I am getting it has morphed into a hybrid of both.

I try to have a good skeleton idea of where I want a certain person or musical phrase to happen and then I always want my people with me to get their ideas and thoughts of what I am thinking.

[MiniSopGuy]

I have written both ways writting on the fly and writting on the computer. I have even done shows half and half depending on how rehearsals are going. I really enjoy doing it on the fly, and some of my most creative moments have come from doing it like this, but most of the time I will start on the computer so I don't design myself into a corner.

I always start out sitting down and listening to the recording. And then I listen again and again. Then I sit with the staff and determine what equipment will be used where and if they would like any particular section to be a hold rather than moving. I make suggestions based on what I heard and felt might be good and combine the opinions to come up with the final "flow chart". From there I draw out thoughts I have, then either go to the computer or take my thoughts and put them on the floor during rehearsal. Then comes the challenge.

After I teach what I wrote out, I will look at it as a third person and make adjustments as necessary. I can think of a few situations where about a third of what I originally wrote ended up changing to be a little more effective when the equipment work was added to the form book. Also, after listening to judges tapes and talking with them, I will make other adjustments. I do not do this that much because you are not going to please every judge and many times from week to week, the judges do not agree. A recent example, the first week I had a judge comment that one particular transition seemed forced and not designed well at all. I left it alone and the next week another judge commented on the exact same transition saying he liked the way one section of the form seemed to push the other part off the floor for their change and it worked real well. Polar opposites. You can really get hung up trying to please all of the judges.

So basically, for the answer to the original question, I design the flow of the show on paper, then I will do most of the work on the computer. However, if rehearsals are going real well, I will get to the end of what I have written and since I know where I am going based on my flow chart, I will continue writting on the spot.