Blue Devils 2014 Thread

[corpsband]

I certainly have included SCV in the mix because they are pushing someone off the podium. Who?

The Cadets?

lol

and i'm still not buying the vanguard hype.

[btown50]

Many people have asked what the guard was doing during the ballad and the BDCG gives you a perspective:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTrBSpPUO7o

Edited July 11, 2014 by btown50

[Brutus]

I've never seen the movie, but I watched a trailer of sorts on YouTube of La Strada. The same music is being played. There is also the MM who is recording the scene with a prop. I'm almost certain it is a La Strada reference, but am unsure.

I remember reading about that movie, the girl leaves one of the guys for another. We see a baritone walking behind her, so I'm assuming La Strada, even though I've never seen the movie.

And if it's a new character, or an amalgam of characters, that's fine, but we need to know. We need to know what the specific origin of this character is so we can fully enjoy it, and bask in the clever design.

[Brutus]

Many people have asked what the guard was doing during the ballad and the BDCG gives you a perspective:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTrBSpPUO7o

Thanks. They describe him as a "clown" and "puppet". What film is this from? Or is it? I'm dying to know if it's their own creation or a film reference.

[Brutus]

Despite my demands which I've posted here, BD still hasn't changed the following:

1) The scene before the cabaret dance, there two really amateurish things that happen and they need to be changed. The girls sit down on the front line with their backs to us, presumably watching a film, or something, and I think they change some part of their costume. Who are they? Dancers on a set? Movie goers? We can't tell. (And it doesn't seem to bother them. They're on break, apparently.) After about half a minute, they applaud the previous performers. Then, as if the clock tolls 7PM, it becomes a disorganized non-union garbage man meet and greet where the girls and guys schlep themselves and their folding chairs, higgledy piggledy, over to their cabaret positions. On a movie set, there's no audience, so that doesn't make sense. And on a movie set, everyone has their props set by gaffers and union set people. If they are dancers on a movie set, they would be interacting with one another as performers, but there's none of that either. This whole time-out is completely out of character with the rest of the show. It no make-o, sense-o. What I'd do instead, is if you're trying to portray dancers on set, have the girls read their scripts and touch up their makeup in slow motion, seated, if they must be. They can do it subtly and not pull a lot of focus. And then the girls should pick up their folding chairs, fold them neatly and uniformly, hold them parallel to the yard lines so they're not pulling so much focus, get to their destination, and then open them up for their cabaret positions. Clean and crisp. But right now the whole thing looks like some kind of excuse to take a break in the middle of a show. This segment is so sloppy, they look like they're wading in that swamp that people bathed in and defecated in at Woodstock. It's just gross. It doesn't match the crisp, dreamlike style of the rest of the show. Also, is there some reason why the girls refuse to interact with each other? If they're dancers on a movie set, they're best buds. Not here.

2) The BD girls' hair is getting longer and longer, in complete defiance of anything to do with Fellini's couture style. Fellini's women were all about Italian couture, but these girls look like Cher from a 1980 white party concert. Even the manes were trimmed in Fellini's period films Casanova and Satyricon. So there's absolutely no stylistic reason for BD's girls to have hair that is ragged and hip-length like this. None. Now the BD girls' hair is so long an unwieldy, it's tainting their choreography. It's becoming "hair choreography" as we call it on Broadway, where every move they make is slightly changed so their hair stays in one manageable mane. Watch it. It's different now. Their long hair has changed the style and tone of all the choreography. Their hair is so long that it's literally getting in the performer's way and changing the way they move and the period feel of the show. Shockingly amateurish. Cut the hair. It no make-o sense-o, style-wise or dance-wise.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Brutus

[skevinp]

nisi te, brute

[GeneralTsoChicken]

Despite my demands which I've posted here, BD still hasn't changed the following:

1) The scene before the cabaret dance, there two really amateurish things that happen and they need to be changed. The girls sit down on the front line with their backs to us, presumably watching a film, or something, and I think they change some part of their costume. Who are they? Dancers on a set? Movie goers? We can't tell. (And it doesn't seem to bother them. They're on break, apparently.) After about half a minute, they applaud the previous performers. Then, as if the clock tolls 7PM, it becomes a disorganized non-union garbage man meet and greet where the girls schlep themselves and their folding chairs, higgledy piggledy, over to their cabaret positions. On a movie set, there's no audience, so that doesn't make sense. And on a movie set, everyone has their props set by gaffers and union set people. If they are dancers on a movie set, they would be interacting with one another as performers, but there's none of that either. This whole time-out is completely out of character with the rest of the show. It no make-o, sense-o. What I'd do instead, is if you're trying to portray dancers on set, have the girls read their scripts and touch up their makeup in slow motion, seated, if they must be. They can do it subtly and not pull a lot of focus. And then the girls should pick up their folding chairs, fold them neatly and uniformly, hold them parallel to the yard lines so they're not pulling so much focus, get to their destination, and then open them up for their cabaret positions. Clean and crisp. But right now the whole thing looks like some kind of excuse to take a break in the middle of a show. This segment is so sloppy, the staging looks like that swamp that people bathed in and defecated in at Woodstock. It's just gross. It doesn't match the crisp, dreamlike style of the rest of the show. Also, is there some reason why the girls refuse to interact with each other? If they're dancers on a movie set, they're best buds. Not here.

2) The BD girls' hair is getting longer and longer, in complete defiance of anything to do with Fellini's couture style. Fellini's women were all about Italian couture, but these girls look like Cher from a 1980 white party meth-head concert. Even the manes were trimmed in Fellini's period films Casanova and Satyricon. So there's absolutely no stylistic reason for BD's girls to have hair that is ragged and hip-length like this. None. Now the BD girls' hair is so long an unwieldy, it's tainting their choreography. It's becoming "hair choreography" where every move they make is slightly changed so their hair stays in one manageable mane. Watch it. It's different now. Their long hair has changed the style and tone of all the choreography. Their hair is so long that it's literally getting in the performer's way and changing the way they move and the period feel of the show. Shockingly amateurish. Cut the hair. It no make-o sense-o, style-wise or dance-wise.

Holy overtly literal interpretations, Batman.

[theonlyfizzle]

Despite my demands which I've posted here, BD still hasn't changed the following:

1) The scene before the cabaret dance, there two really amateurish things that happen and they need to be changed. The girls sit down on the front line with their backs to us, presumably watching a film, or something, and I think they change some part of their costume. Who are they? Dancers on a set? Movie goers? We can't tell. (And it doesn't seem to bother them. They're on break, apparently.) After about half a minute, they applaud the previous performers. Then, as if the clock tolls 7PM, it becomes a disorganized non-union garbage man meet and greet where the girls and guys schlep themselves and their folding chairs, higgledy piggledy, over to their cabaret positions. On a movie set, there's no audience, so that doesn't make sense. And on a movie set, everyone has their props set by gaffers and union set people. If they are dancers on a movie set, they would be interacting with one another as performers, but there's none of that either. This whole time-out is completely out of character with the rest of the show. It no make-o, sense-o. What I'd do instead, is if you're trying to portray dancers on set, have the girls read their scripts and touch up their makeup in slow motion, seated, if they must be. They can do it subtly and not pull a lot of focus. And then the girls should pick up their folding chairs, fold them neatly and uniformly, hold them parallel to the yard lines so they're not pulling so much focus, get to their destination, and then open them up for their cabaret positions. Clean and crisp. But right now the whole thing looks like some kind of excuse to take a break in the middle of a show. This segment is so sloppy, they look like they're wading in that swamp that people bathed in and defecated in at Woodstock. It's just gross. It doesn't match the crisp, dreamlike style of the rest of the show. Also, is there some reason why the girls refuse to interact with each other? If they're dancers on a movie set, they're best buds. Not here.

2) The BD girls' hair is getting longer and longer, in complete defiance of anything to do with Fellini's couture style. Fellini's women were all about Italian couture, but these girls look like Cher from a 1980 white party concert. Even the manes were trimmed in Fellini's period films Casanova and Satyricon. So there's absolutely no stylistic reason for BD's girls to have hair that is ragged and hip-length like this. None. Now the BD girls' hair is so long an unwieldy, it's tainting their choreography. It's becoming "hair choreography" as we call it on Broadway, where every move they make is slightly changed so their hair stays in one manageable mane. Watch it. It's different now. Their long hair has changed the style and tone of all the choreography. Their hair is so long that it's literally getting in the performer's way and changing the way they move and the period feel of the show. Shockingly amateurish. Cut the hair. It no make-o sense-o, style-wise or dance-wise.

Uuuhhhhh ! ? Umm... ( Crickets)

[Cappybara]

Despite my demands which I've posted here, BD still hasn't changed the following:

1) The scene before the cabaret dance, there two really amateurish things that happen and they need to be changed. The girls sit down on the front line with their backs to us, presumably watching a film, or something, and I think they change some part of their costume. Who are they? Dancers on a set? Movie goers? We can't tell. (And it doesn't seem to bother them. They're on break, apparently.) After about half a minute, they applaud the previous performers. Then, as if the clock tolls 7PM, it becomes a disorganized non-union garbage man meet and greet where the girls and guys schlep themselves and their folding chairs, higgledy piggledy, over to their cabaret positions. On a movie set, there's no audience, so that doesn't make sense. And on a movie set, everyone has their props set by gaffers and union set people. If they are dancers on a movie set, they would be interacting with one another as performers, but there's none of that either. This whole time-out is completely out of character with the rest of the show. It no make-o, sense-o. What I'd do instead, is if you're trying to portray dancers on set, have the girls read their scripts and touch up their makeup in slow motion, seated, if they must be. They can do it subtly and not pull a lot of focus. And then the girls should pick up their folding chairs, fold them neatly and uniformly, hold them parallel to the yard lines so they're not pulling so much focus, get to their destination, and then open them up for their cabaret positions. Clean and crisp. But right now the whole thing looks like some kind of excuse to take a break in the middle of a show. This segment is so sloppy, they look like they're wading in that swamp that people bathed in and defecated in at Woodstock. It's just gross. It doesn't match the crisp, dreamlike style of the rest of the show. Also, is there some reason why the girls refuse to interact with each other? If they're dancers on a movie set, they're best buds. Not here.

2) The BD girls' hair is getting longer and longer, in complete defiance of anything to do with Fellini's couture style. Fellini's women were all about Italian couture, but these girls look like Cher from a 1980 white party concert. Even the manes were trimmed in Fellini's period films Casanova and Satyricon. So there's absolutely no stylistic reason for BD's girls to have hair that is ragged and hip-length like this. None. Now the BD girls' hair is so long an unwieldy, it's tainting their choreography. It's becoming "hair choreography" as we call it on Broadway, where every move they make is slightly changed so their hair stays in one manageable mane. Watch it. It's different now. Their long hair has changed the style and tone of all the choreography. Their hair is so long that it's literally getting in the performer's way and changing the way they move and the period feel of the show. Shockingly amateurish. Cut the hair. It no make-o sense-o, style-wise or dance-wise.

I apologize on behalf of the Blue Devils, my dear Brutus, for not obeying your "demands" on a drum corps forum.

[drumcorpsfever]

The Blue Devils continue to load the field with props. Not crazy about the look of the guard or some of the clutter on the field. Music is much more fan friendly this year though still very much BD-esque. Still waiting for them to breakout from their annual show formula. I know I'm probably going to be in the minority on this, but if BD really wants to be the leader of innovation in drum corps, it's time for them to take a risk with a new look and sound. They have the cache to take such a risk. However, as long as they continue to win or contend for titles, BD will continue to be who they are. I'm not sure that's a win-win for all.