gak27 Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 I'm just going to leave this right here. :worthy: And I'll offer this one: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRacer Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 It's because they're totally #####en, to use an 80s term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peel Paint Posted September 26, 2013 Share Posted September 26, 2013 Company fronts are Big Drama and sure crowd pleasers. Even when you know they're coming, it's fun to watch them get set up in the drill, slowly coming into focus, or old-style, with a big pivot. My favorite company front is still the Cavies' Softly As I Leave You back in the 1980s with the hornline stepping over the guard twirling rifles. That never failed to rock the house. Imagine being in Cavies' show planning and hearing a designer pitch that idea for the very first time. "Now what if we...??" "Are you insane??!" Mad genius, that guy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Company fronts are Big Drama and sure crowd pleasers. Even when you know they're coming, it's fun to watch them get set up in the drill, slowly coming into focus, or old-style, with a big pivot. My favorite company front is still the Cavies' Softly As I Leave You back in the 1980s with the hornline stepping over the guard twirling rifles. That never failed to rock the house. Imagine being in Cavies' show planning and hearing a designer pitch that idea for the very first time. "Now what if we...??" "Are you insane??!" Mad genius, that guy. Methinks that would have been Ralph Pace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewsquared Posted October 3, 2013 Share Posted October 3, 2013 I really don't think there's a way to sum up why company fronts are amazing. Our activity in and of itself is an art form. The famous saying associated with art is that "a picture's worth a thousand words". However, this is a mere understatement of the truth. If you ask a thousand people why they love company fronts you will most likely get a thousand different answers. They'll have the same core ideas (volume, the push, the build up etc.) But no one answer will be the exact same. We try so hard to define these drill moves and impact moments, that we rarely take a moment to just consider that maybe we love them just because. There's no further reasoning needed. We can try to come up with an explanation for why we feel a certain way about company fronts, but in the end it really is as simple as do I like it or not? It just so happens that the large majority of viewers like company fronts, so show designers find clever ways to implement them each year. It really is that simple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spandy Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Company fronts are Big Drama and sure crowd pleasers. Even when you know they're coming, it's fun to watch them get set up in the drill, slowly coming into focus, or old-style, with a big pivot. My favorite company front is still the Cavies' Softly As I Leave You back in the 1980s with the hornline stepping over the guard twirling rifles. That never failed to rock the house. Imagine being in Cavies' show planning and hearing a designer pitch that idea for the very first time. "Now what if we...??" "Are you insane??!" Mad genius, that guy. I don't know how true this is, but I was told the stepover was orignally intended to be a temporary fix because the designers couldn't figure out what to do with the guard. "Ok guard, lie down in the grass, and horns, just step over them for now until we figure something else out." Again, don't know how true this is. I heard it from a '00 Cavies alum who said he heard it from an older alum, and you know how those things go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 Then there is the center-person-wheel, a rotating company front when you think about it. Two that come to my old mind are 27th Lancers "Danny Boy" and 1971 Blue Rock "Requiem for the Masses", where the corps performed a wheel to get them over the end zone line at the end of their show...that might be my very favorite of those, as much as I loved 27th's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrassClef Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 I have had the pleasure of being in a 0-0 company front in college. In 2009 we did Pirates of the Carribean, and "He's a Pirate" the brass formed one HUGE company front. It was probably the coolest feeling ever. I enjoy company fronts because of the build and then the impact of a single clean (sometimes) line of just POWER :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 True...that generated a lot of reaction from the audience, I think due to its novelty... and it was that novelty that kept the audience engrossed, even though it was only about one-tenth the volume of a regular company front. I love that move! Early season didn't they originally play the Quintet version of "Tonight" (sort of ala their 84 closer)? I kind of vaguely remember liking that more than "Krumpke," but the concept of the company 'back' is awesome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perc2100 Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 What about this makes it so appealing to the audience? I'm trying to think of this from a more emotive perspective-- is it the musical aspect of marching and playing half-time? Or something visually endearing about the company front? I always thought of the joys of company fronts are due to the fact that there is typically a great build leading into it & the company front is the totally satisfying release: even if the company front is not the show ending. If there is one thing designers seem to be consistently great at doing, it's building into a company front. Designers know the audience will go nuts for a company front, and they usually have great ideas building into it. Often both musically and visually it is apparent to the audience what is building, and the anticipation is exciting (like if you're a surfer, and you see an amazing set building in the distance you have to wait for that awesome wave, seeing it building and approaching). The loud volume, the idea of the entire corps pushing forward to deliver a huge impact, making the moment feeling more intimate to the audience, the tradition as Boo mentioned, etc. are also a part of the audience appeal, I'm sure. But for me it's also the musical and visual phrase(s) building into the company front: that perfect blend of excitement and anticipation of what know is about to be delivered, and then that satisfying musical and visual climactic phrase and release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.