Cron Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Discuss the visual stuff this year. Criticize, praise, whatever. I'll start with some positives. Overall drill design - Love Phantom's drill! LOVE IT. I know that technical demand is not a huge part of this drill design, but man it fits the program so perfectly, and it's gorgeous. Individual demand - Crown is doing some crazy stuff. It keeps getting cleaner. Fast tempos, lots of running, crazy body work. Good stuff. Blue Devils, notorious DCP opinions on show construction notwithstanding, can never be denied when it comes to individual demand/performance quality in the visual department Cadets - Always love the Cadets for the sheer speed. Whether or not I like their shows, watching those folks march warp speed at close intervals is always impressive. Drill Moments - #1 For me is the Crown cube rotation. When that locks in completely, it will be stunning. In no particular order BD - the flexing, moving, morphing block thing is a really neat effect Crown - the "DNA" follow the leader thing during percussion Phantom the "flower" set with the red dresses used as part of the form I'm sure more stuff will catch my attention as I watch more. Or, maybe one of you will direct my attention to something I haven't noticed as yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCTuba Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Madison's rotating company front during The Great Gate of Kiev = . Classic moment, always deserves to be mentioned I really like Vanguard's design this year. It compliments the show very well IMO. You hit most of everything else I would say I think. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrumManTx Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 (edited) These are all my opinions, based on the overall package, not moments. I love drill and mess around with writing some in my off time. It's fun. Top three designs this year IMO in no order: Vanguard Phantom Boston (staged well and the design isn't cluttered, they're achieving it at a pretty high level right now) The hardest: Crown Blue Knights Blue Stars Who's nailing theirs pretty well right now? Blue Devils Boston Phantom Spirit (they look super clean IMO) Edited July 25, 2012 by DrumManTx 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCTuba Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Boston (staged well and the design isn't cluttered, they're achieving it at a pretty high level right now) Oh yeah. Forgot to mention them and I was thinking about it as I was typing. I think Boston's drill complements their music very well (and they're playing some GREAT music). It fits their whole persona very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelloHorn13 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Blue Devils: masters of marching technique. Hands down the best marchers in the activity. Glide across the field like Jesus on water. Cadets come on a close second. I would give Cavaliers props, but I dont care for the marching technique. No matter how good they march, it still look sloppy. Good thing their drill is always well design. Yes, including this year. Hinshaw did a decent job with the drill, hes not getting enough credit. Did guys really expect him to outdesign Gaines? Give him time, he's no rookie. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaseyW Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 BK's last third of the opener is brilliantly designed by Sully, and really friggin hard to boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Overall drill design - Love Phantom's drill! LOVE IT. I know that technical demand is not a huge part of this drill design, but man it fits the program so perfectly, and it's gorgeous. Agree. It's a shame there is not a judging caption for "the drill fits the music - perfectly." +++ Not that it matters, but both Phantom and Cadets are doing some really creative marching where there is a "hitch" or some kind of change in the timing of the marching step where the music changes as well. It's hard to describe, can somebody help me? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. It's really neat looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywhopper Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 BK's drill feels really fresh and new to me this year. As they've cleaned it it's looking incredibly sharp. Blue Stars also have some great snappy, angular drill as usual. A couple of favorite moves: The Academy doing a circle around their horns' bells, and Spirit's turn-around into diamond shapes both really pop and look great. Crown's diamond shape that winds up and then spins around in nine little mini-diamonds rotating against each other is a pretty slick move as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catan Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 BK's drill feels really fresh and new to me this year. As they've cleaned it it's looking incredibly sharp. Blue Stars also have some great snappy, angular drill as usual. A couple of favorite moves: The Academy doing a circle around their horns' bells, and Spirit's turn-around into diamond shapes both really pop and look great. Crown's diamond shape that winds up and then spins around in nine little mini-diamonds rotating against each other is a pretty slick move as well. Totally agree! Love that part! I agree with everything that has been said. Jamey Thompson and Pete Weber designed the two best drill programs in my book, although BD is in a completely different category. Phantom's drill is so musical and wonderful to watch develop, while SCV has some of the prettiest sets ever to hit the field this year. I love the part of BD's show near the end of Bird and Bela when they collapse into a blob and slowly, ominously back away from the audience, building tension musically and visually (going into double time) before spreading out into all directions and slowly dissipating with the music...brilliant! I think BK's opening drill sequence (the first Infernal Dance part) builds incredibly well until reaching the climax of the spaceship. Cadets also have some cool classic whiplash sequences in the opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCTuba Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I love the part of BD's show near the end of Bird and Bela when they collapse into a blob and slowly, ominously back away from the audience, building tension musically and visually (going into double time) before spreading out into all directions and slowly dissipating with the music...brilliant! I LOVE watching that section of the show. It really showcases the members' control when they move this amorphous form backwards and no part of it shifts at all (until they start to dissipate). It's almost eerie how well they are able to control that thing and keep it completely uniform. Incredible talent and focus from the members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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