drumlaw80 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 The landscape of film, video, television and music has evolved dramatically in the last 5-10 years, and most of the new content and media is very fast paced, aka made for short-attention spans. Kids watch videos on YouTube, for example, and if they are not engaged in the first 5 seconds, they’re on to the next one or twenty. As an entertainment lawyer and producer, I spend a lot of time talking to clients and colleagues about the importance of engaging the audience right off the bat and avoiding dead-time in any entertainment production. It dawned on me today at the Bellflower show. As the entertainment landscape has changed so fast, the basic format of drum corps show has not changed significantly in 25+ years. And our drum corps shows – DCA and DCI — make one HUGE fundamental mistake in terms of entertaining today’s audience. The time between each drum corps performance is dead air. It’s as if we get to watch 10-minute episodes of our favorite show on television, but between each one, we have to watch 10 minutes of white noise. Who is going to stay tuned to that channel in today's entertainment environment? The result of our “down-time” approach to the time between each corps performance is that Fifty-Percent (50%) of the time you spend in the stands at a DCI or DCA show is really, really boring — by definition. Our performance model is broken relative to today’s standards in fast-paced entertainment. What do we do? PLAN A — After each corps performs, the members go to the track. Then, the panel of DCI or DCA judges tells the corps and the fans (on microphones) what they thought of the show … then they get their score. The corps leaves, the next corps starts immediately. This is untraditional, American Idol approach, but the fans would go crazy and be engaged if they got to hear the judges address the corps after each show. The competition would get exciting, fans could cheer and boo as the judges evaluate the corps. The judges might run off into the forest before they would try this, but this would be a game changer for the drum corps fan’s experience. PLAN B - Have an “alternate lineup” of small jazz bands, singers, rock bands or whatever to perform on the track or small stage while the corps are leaving/taking the field. The concept is that other than a official “break”, there is no down time for the audience to sit there get bored and bake in the sun or whatever. This would improve things a bit. PLAN C – Status quo with the 50% boring events until we have no fans left. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I think Plan A is positively brilliant. One amendment though. It's the drum majors and one or two designated staff that meet the judges. Have the rest of the corps clear the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbasaurusRex Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Plan A - great idea. Seriously, they should really consider this. Of course they won't. And even if they did, judges tend to have the in front of audience personality of a wet dishrag, so it might not be as exciting as it looks on paper. But, this is the kind of thing that would give the activity a shot in the arm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THeShadeOfNight Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Between corps is usually when I score my highest on dooddle jump. Its also when I converse to the people around me about what I just watched. People can find our ways, even in this twitch gaming society. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Are we, as humans, to the point where we must have every second of our lives structured by someone else? Are we so engrossed with instant gratification that we are completely board with a few minuets of down time? Does reflection of what we just saw/heard, and verbal engagement with other humans, bother us that much? Is walking around, purchasing a souvie, grabbing a soda, going to the restroom, for a ten min period in between shows such a terrible thing? Is being alone in our own thoughts that frightening? 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Are we, as humans, to the point where we must have every second of our lives structured by someone else? When the audience is being asked to pay the high prices to attend a drum corps show that we are, hell yes I want it structured. I don't think it's unfair to expect, and for show sponsors to provide, a better entertainment-to-dollar ratio. I want DCI and the show sponsors to make the experience more engaging. You want to sit around and play phone games, great. Do that when INT is on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crown Phan Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 The landscape of film, video, television and music has evolved dramatically in the last 5-10 years, and most of the new content and media is very fast paced, aka made for short-attention spans. Kids watch videos on YouTube, for example, and if they are not engaged in the first 5 seconds, they’re on to the next one or twenty. As an entertainment lawyer and producer, I spend a lot of time talking to clients and colleagues about the importance of engaging the audience right off the bat and avoiding dead-time in any entertainment production. It dawned on me today at the Bellflower show. As the entertainment landscape has changed so fast, the basic format of drum corps show has not changed significantly in 25+ years. And our drum corps shows – DCA and DCI — make one HUGE fundamental mistake in terms of entertaining today’s audience. The time between each drum corps performance is dead air. It’s as if we get to watch 10-minute episodes of our favorite show on television, but between each one, we have to watch 10 minutes of white noise. Who is going to stay tuned to that channel in today's entertainment environment? The result of our “down-time” approach to the time between each corps performance is that Fifty-Percent (50%) of the time you spend in the stands at a DCI or DCA show is really, really boring — by definition. Our performance model is broken relative to today’s standards in fast-paced entertainment. What do we do? PLAN A — After each corps performs, the members go to the track. Then, the panel of DCI or DCA judges tells the corps and the fans (on microphones) what they thought of the show … then they get their score. The corps leaves, the next corps starts immediately. This is untraditional, American Idol approach, but the fans would go crazy and be engaged if they got to hear the judges address the corps after each show. The competition would get exciting, fans could cheer and boo as the judges evaluate the corps. The judges might run off into the forest before they would try this, but this would be a game changer for the drum corps fan’s experience. PLAN B - Have an “alternate lineup” of small jazz bands, singers, rock bands or whatever to perform on the track or small stage while the corps are leaving/taking the field. The concept is that other than a official “break”, there is no down time for the audience to sit there get bored and bake in the sun or whatever. This would improve things a bit. PLAN C – Status quo with the 50% boring events until we have no fans left. I enjoy hearing in every bloody post that if something as trivial and the time between corps doesn't change the activity is doomed to die. I guess I need to rethink my experiences when I go to a show because I'm supposed to be bored half the time. I never realized this. I thought I've been having fun, guess I'm doing it wrong. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peel Paint Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) Pro sports have gotten a lot better at doing what drumlaw's talking about than they did 40 years ago. Between innings, half-time, between periods, they're trying to engage fans in the stadium, and most people like it. Drum corps still does it like it was done 40 years ago. There is some between-corps entertainment championship week and at some regionals, but there's room for improvement. The DCI Hall of Fame presentation is not exactly entertainment to most drum corps newbies. Like everything else when it comes to entertainment, YMMV. Not everybody will enjoy screaming electronic multimedia as loud as the performances. Some like Stu would always long for the way it was always done before. But is future growth in DCI with Stu's approach to INT or drumlaw's? I'd say it was with drumlaw's. OTOH the masters of entertainment, Cirque du Soleil, have a modest pre-show at many productions, but they still consistently have an old-fashioned (and quiet, and visually dead) intermission. That's partly because they want people to go out and buy stuff. It's also because they want the show to speak for itself without dilution of the message. Edited July 16, 2012 by Peel Paint 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozarkbugler Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 The landscape of film, video, television and music has evolved dramatically in the last 5-10 years, and most of the new content and media is very fast paced, aka made for short-attention spans. Kids watch videos on YouTube, for example, and if they are not engaged in the first 5 seconds, they’re on to the next one or twenty. As an entertainment lawyer and producer, I spend a lot of time talking to clients and colleagues about the importance of engaging the audience right off the bat and avoiding dead-time in any entertainment production. It dawned on me today at the Bellflower show. As the entertainment landscape has changed so fast, the basic format of drum corps show has not changed significantly in 25+ years. And our drum corps shows – DCA and DCI — make one HUGE fundamental mistake in terms of entertaining today’s audience. The time between each drum corps performance is dead air. It’s as if we get to watch 10-minute episodes of our favorite show on television, but between each one, we have to watch 10 minutes of white noise. Who is going to stay tuned to that channel in today's entertainment environment? The result of our “down-time” approach to the time between each corps performance is that Fifty-Percent (50%) of the time you spend in the stands at a DCI or DCA show is really, really boring — by definition. Our performance model is broken relative to today’s standards in fast-paced entertainment. What do we do? PLAN A — After each corps performs, the members go to the track. Then, the panel of DCI or DCA judges tells the corps and the fans (on microphones) what they thought of the show … then they get their score. The corps leaves, the next corps starts immediately. This is untraditional, American Idol approach, but the fans would go crazy and be engaged if they got to hear the judges address the corps after each show. The competition would get exciting, fans could cheer and boo as the judges evaluate the corps. The judges might run off into the forest before they would try this, but this would be a game changer for the drum corps fan’s experience. PLAN B - Have an “alternate lineup” of small jazz bands, singers, rock bands or whatever to perform on the track or small stage while the corps are leaving/taking the field. The concept is that other than a official “break”, there is no down time for the audience to sit there get bored and bake in the sun or whatever. This would improve things a bit. PLAN C – Status quo with the 50% boring events until we have no fans left. Good thread but one thing I always found helpful between shows was to stand up, get some blood back in my butt, and talk to my neighbors. But who really talks anymore with blogs and texting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 When the audience is being asked to pay the high prices to attend a drum corps show that we are, hell yes I want it structured. I don't think it's unfair to expect, and for show sponsors to provide, a better entertainment-to-dollar ratio. I want DCI and the show sponsors to make the experience more engaging. You want to sit around and play phone games, great. Do that when INT is on. You pay to see 8 corps; you see the 8 corps; and you are getting what you paid for with the breaks in between corps. With the exception of the seventh inning stretch to sing Take Me Out To The Ballgame there are many down time breaks in the MLB (in between innings and during pitching changes) and that has never caused a problem. NASCAR does not entertain you in the stands during yellow flags or rain delays. And sitting around playing phone games also indicates that we are developing a culture which does not want to meet new people and talk with one another during those breaks. If you want all of your time, all of it, controlled and structured, especially by someone else, that is your choice. But I for one like a bit of a respite in between corps to collect my thoughts, reflect on what I have just seen/heard, enjoy listening to others takes on the previous show, or go to the restroom without missing the next corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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