jjeffeory Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I feel like Jay Murphy of Blue Devil fame got slighted a little in the Best Drill writer thread and I wanted to learn a little more about him. He's been with the Blue Devils since 1981 and has been the Visual Designer there since 1986. I remember Rondinero praising his 1987 drill design on the broadcast back then, but I haven't really heard much from other people about his DCI work. I seem to recall 2001 ( Awayday Blue) and 2004 ( The SummerTrain Blues MIX) being good designs for his style, so I would vote for those years to be some of his best work. His name is included as one of the great drill writers, so what years do his fans consider to be his best DCI work? Why is he considered such a great visual designer? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
general_tsos_chicken2 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I really liked 2003 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leadsop04 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I'd put 2003 Blue Devils as the best staged show of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guardguy89 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 From a staging point og view......sure. But Blue Devils will never be one of those corps that I watch on high cam not to miss any of the drill moves. They are the one corps I prefer close up - the "drill effects" just don't add up for me. Later, Mike 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idel Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I agree that Jay's work isn't what you would normally go check out on high cam like say a Michael Gaines' show would be. But even with all the accolades the corps has received and the success Jay has had, I do believe he is one of the most underrated designers ever in DCI. His staging is standard setting, especially within the color guard. I know his last handful of shows have not been popular, but part of that is because he (along with Scott Chandlier's input) is doing things that no one else in the activity does and very much out of the norm when it comes to "drill". Jay along with Scott at one point won 9 consecutive WGI Ind World titles between two different guards (4 with San Jose, 5 with the Blue Devils, or maybe the other way around?). They set the standard in that activity and changed how things were done. I believe lately they have done the same here with influence from their indoor history. I thought this year was a good mix of staged effects and actual drill, and they really amped up the demand. Again I know that is not popular but it's happening and they are getting credit for it. A lot of credit does have to go to Scott Chandlier. There are times where guard is written into an area of the field, and Scott does everything else in terms of playing with and mixing things up along with the choreography. It's a true team effort in that way and goes back to their long history together. It's also important to understand that just because the drill itself may not always be demanding, it does not mean that other things they are doing visually are not demanding. For example the playing while moving up and down on the chairs required a whole lot of body control to pull off. The weaving in and around the chairs blindly at a good tempo while playing was also not a piece of cake to pull off. He seems to get a bad rep for lack of demand and I think that's not always fair. I haven't even gotten into how great his instrumental staging is along with his musicality. His attention to detail in his musical staging mixed in with the color guard while still being effective and extremely musical has been a huge influence on my writing. As for my favorite designs of his in chronological order, I'd have to say 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2013. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Boo Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Jay's work sometimes looks deceptively simple because he writes it that way and the corps performs to such a degree that they make it look easy. But it's not simple at all. How he worked the corps around 100 poles this past season is a perfect example of that. As for the velocity of his forms, sometimes you have to look at the feet to see what's really going on. I was at one time in the camp that thought his shows moved kind of slow. I have since come to realize that his shows don't move slowly at all...that he plays with different types of velocity in a way that is unique to him. I have been in awe many of the past few years. When I watched Fan Network and saw "Through a Glass, Darkly" for the first time, I practically had to pick myself up off the floor. "Cabaret Voltaire" did the same thing to me. Once I realized what was going on out on the field, I couldn't take my eyes off the pacing and development of the forms. Jay forces one to look beyond drill evolutions, because everything he writes is in the process of evolving to the next stage. That's perhaps why it's a challenge to say what's one's favorite BD drill moments, as he doesn't "do" particular moments as much as entire shows. A typical BD drill "moment" is somewhat over 11 minutes long. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fran Haring Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 (edited) Jay's work sometimes looks deceptively simple because he writes it that way and the corps performs to such a degree that they make it look easy. But it's not simple at all. How he worked the corps around 100 poles this past season is a perfect example of that. As for the velocity of his forms, sometimes you have to look at the feet to see what's really going on. I was at one time in the camp that thought his shows moved kind of slow. I have since come to realize that his shows don't move slowly at all...that he plays with different types of velocity in a way that is unique to him. I have been in awe many of the past few years. When I watched Fan Network and saw "Through a Glass, Darkly" for the first time, I practically had to pick myself up off the floor. "Cabaret Voltaire" did the same thing to me. Once I realized what was going on out on the field, I couldn't take my eyes off the pacing and development of the forms. Jay forces one to look beyond drill evolutions, because everything he writes is in the process of evolving to the next stage. That's perhaps why it's a challenge to say what's one's favorite BD drill moments, as he doesn't "do" particular moments as much as entire shows. A typical BD drill "moment" is somewhat over 11 minutes long. Totally agree. His staging of the various elements of that corps... for the length of the show... is impeccable. Edited September 11, 2013 by Fran Haring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plan9 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 Jay's work sometimes looks deceptively simple because he writes it that way and the corps performs to such a degree that they make it look easy. But it's not simple at all. How he worked the corps around 100 poles this past season is a perfect example of that. As for the velocity of his forms, sometimes you have to look at the feet to see what's really going on. I was at one time in the camp that thought his shows moved kind of slow. I have since come to realize that his shows don't move slowly at all...that he plays with different types of velocity in a way that is unique to him. I have been in awe many of the past few years. When I watched Fan Network and saw "Through a Glass, Darkly" for the first time, I practically had to pick myself up off the floor. "Cabaret Voltaire" did the same thing to me. Once I realized what was going on out on the field, I couldn't take my eyes off the pacing and development of the forms. Jay forces one to look beyond drill evolutions, because everything he writes is in the process of evolving to the next stage. That's perhaps why it's a challenge to say what's one's favorite BD drill moments, as he doesn't "do" particular moments as much as entire shows. A typical BD drill "moment" is somewhat over 11 minutes long. Well done Michael. But that's why you da Boo! :thumbup:/> 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emc2 Posted September 11, 2013 Share Posted September 11, 2013 I feel like Jay Murphy of Blue Devil fame got slighted a little in the Best Drill writer thread and I wanted to learn a little more about him. He's been with the Blue Devils since 1981 and has been the Visual Designer there since 1986. I remember Rondinero praising his 1987 drill design on the broadcast back then, but I haven't really heard much from other people about his DCI work. I seem to recall 2001 ( Awayday Blue) and 2004 ( The SummerTrain Blues MIX) being good designs for his style, so I would vote for those years to be some of his best work. His name is included as one of the great drill writers, so what years do his fans consider to be his best DCI work? Why is he considered such a great visual designer? Where did Jay start out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjeffeory Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Where did Jay start out. http://bluedevils.org/staff/?programID=1&cID=6264 "Jay Murphy is graduate of Marquette University and the University of Massachusetts, and has been an instructor with The Blue Devils "A" Corps since 1981. After serving in the position of Color Guard instructor from 1981 through 1985, Jay assumed the role of Visual Designer in 1986. Through his work with the San Jose Raiders and The Blue Devils Winter Guards, Jay instructed the Winter Guard International World Class Champions every year from 1990 through 1998. 2003 marked another WGI championship year for Jay with the San Jose Raiders. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the winter guard activity, Jay was awarded Winter Guard International's prestigious Laurel Award in 1995. Jay's additional visual design credits include: St. Joseph's Winter Guard of Medford, MA; St. Anthony's Imperials Winter Guard of Everett, MA; St. John's of Beverly, MA; Fairfield High School of Fairfield, CA; and Clovis West High School of Fresno, CA . Jay is currently visual designer for Mission Viejo High School (CA), Cheshire High School (CT), Sierra Vista High School (NV), and numerous other winter guards and marching bands throughout the United States and Canada." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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