Lighting - the next frontier of "staging"

[LoveKathyG]

If "staging" is the new mantra & direction of drum corp show design, is lighting the next big thing? From "A conversation with Michael Cesario" http://www.mastersmarchingarts.com/2011/index.php/85-2012-summer/112-a-conversation-with-michael-cesario

I can't think of any drum corp show I've personally seen that incorporated any lighting effects. Has anyone? I've seen a high school band show at night where they had neon-glow stuff on their uniforms that looked really cool when they dimmed the stadium lights.

As we creep closer and closer to cheesy Super Bowl halftime show.

[flammaster]

As long as the music sounds great I'm not too concerned with visuals.

[Stu]

With lighting It's literally 1 step away from a Blast! production. I'm waiting now for WGI to be on a stage! :)

Isn't that basically the end game? To make these programs with as high a production value as Blast! Or Blue Man Group?

And to also accomplish this high production value in the same Blast / Blue Man world of non-profit collective where those two groups have agreed to look out for the best interest of the collective as well as loook out for the best interest of Stomp and all other groups in that same non-profit collective... Oops, that is DCI not these groups, sorry.

[Stu]

I was wondering what the term for that was (I assumed there was one).

It seems like what the G7 should be doing is finding ways to spend less... not make more....

Are you kidding; the directors of the G7 think more like our governmental congress than any solvent corporation which is willing to downsize to save the corporation.

[mn trumpter guy]

Are you kidding; the directors of the G7 think more like our governmental congress than any solvent corporation which is willing to downsize to save the corporation.

Yes that much seems obvious. I would still argue that they should be looking to spend less; clearly making more isn't really an option.

My last question still stands: Does DCI have some program trying to figure out the financial mess beyond simply 'generate more cash.'

Just in case that idea doesn't pan out. Is ANYONE trying to find a different solution?

[cixelsyd]

From your post: (which is what DCI is supposed to be: a collective). Within this collective, The Scouts, Troopers, Academy, Genesis, 7th Regiment and all other non-G7 corps which are actually ran well in a business sense are getting hurt by the ever expanding requirements placed upon the collective by the G7).

I got what you were saying. You think the G7 should care about the little guys.

I would elaborate on that. I think DCI should care about all their participating units, big and small. And therefore, if the G7 want to be part of DCI, they should acknowledge that DCI needs to act in the best interest of the collective.

The big rich guy should do what they can to help the smaller guys be more competitive. Don't try to expand what they do so you won't have to copy them.

As a couple of G7 directors once told me at a DCI meeting "You'll never be where we are financially. So why even try to do what we do? It makes no sense".

You mention a couple of the Open Class corps. I'll pick one of them - 7th Regiment.

With your scenario, what should 7th Regiment do for say Spirit of Newark, Racine Scouts or VK? After all 7th is doing well financially and competitively in OC. The three I mentioned didn't even tour. One never came out. Should 7th Regiment not buy equipment that will make them better or water down their show so Spirit, Racine or VK can be more competitive?

No one is asking better corps to water down their shows so that other corps can beat them, and no one is asking corps to refrain from buying legal equipment. Some are suggesting that DCI rules constrain the definition of legal equipment so that the activity remains affordable to more than just 7 of their 40 corps.

I think if you ask 7th, they really wouldn't care that much about Spirit, Racine or VK. Same goes for the G7.

I think if anyone asked, they would get a very different answer from 7th Regiment, compared to the answer the G7 would give. But when it is time to take a vote, no one asks 7th Regiment for their opinion.

You think DCI should care about you. Maybe they should. But do they really? They expect you to be fiscally responsible, stay within your means and come to the shows you are scheduled to be in. That's it.

No, that is not it. DCI cares about far more than just 7 corps. They include over 20 as members, and use far more than that number. Before the G7 rebellion broke out, DCI was beginning work on a business plan that would grow those numbers.

If you want to be competitive like the G7, do what they do, go out and raise the couple million dollars a year that they raise. If they can do it, so can you. If you can't, why even try to stay up with them.

Because on contest day, corps are not judged on finances. They are judged on what they do on the field.

[cixelsyd]

This is a double edged sword.

Sword Side One - Better ranked corps draw MORE people to shows. They get paid more for putting more butts in the seats.

Sword Side Two - Lower ranking corps feel they deserve an equal share of the pull. This creates envy within the ranks.

Both are actually correct in their thinking - just polar different philosophies.

I do know if it is a Rock Show - You pay the head liners more money than opening act.

I'm thinking the lower ranked corps need to work harder to become headliners. That is what Rock Stars do.

But rock stars earn their headliner status by how well they entertain. The headliner status of a drum corps is determined by DCI contest rankings.

DCI makes the headlines for their corps, but a rock band makes their own headlines.

[cixelsyd]

Yes that much seems obvious. I would still argue that they should be looking to spend less; clearly making more isn't really an option.

The whole G7 scenario was premised upon making more money for the top corps by reducing payouts to the other corps - or reducing the number of other corps. So for some corps directors, they may believe there is an option for making more, therefore why spend less?

[cixelsyd]

Sure, they could add lights, fog, woodwinds, lasers, dancing bears, trampolines, and a partridge in a pear tree. But unless it unlocks new revenue, it's just driving up the costs of entering the same competition with the same players year after year. I wonder what any of the top groups see as the end game here?

I think they dream of unlocking new revenue - but in case that does not pan out, their end game is simple math.

Revenue = cost per corps x number of corps.

If revenue is constant, and cost per corps increases, number of corps must decrease.

I think that is incorrect reasoning - but that is what their thought process seems to be.

[Kevin Powell]

But rock stars earn their headliner status by how well they entertain. The headliner status of a drum corps is determined by DCI contest rankings.

DCI makes the headlines for their corps, but a rock band makes their own headlines.

So you are basically saying, BD, SCV, Cadets and so on did not earn the success they have on their own.

EVERYONE is working hard, some just had a better plan for success. Your logic is skewed.