Are Corps Shows Offering Too Little Substance?

[BRASSO]

, all it was is an opportunity for one to explain their show if needed . thats it.

The reason the judges requested the sit down with the Show Designers in preseason to VERBALLY explain their upcoming show themes to the judges was because of the judges frustrations with not having clarity they wanted and felt they needed in these show themes conveyed to them in field performance via music and dance. Had the show themes had sufficient clarity in them thru music and dance, there would have been no need to have it " splained to them ". Thats just common sense here at work, as to why the judges took this unprecedented step. For 35 years, the judges apparently never saw the need for a sit down verbal explanation of the themes, and its messaging, as they had never collectively, as a group, requested it before.

Edited August 10, 2015 by BRASSO

[N.E. Brigand]

If you can't figure out a show based on the simplest of fairy tales, I don't know what to tell you.

Well, as you've already noted, what Blue Devils did--and I have no objections in principle--is several steps removed from just telling the "simplest of fairy tales". They were inspired by a stage musical that deliberately skews and ironizes its retelling of multiple fairy tales, they didn't even use that musical's "Little Red Riding Hood" song when presenting that particular tale, their Red Riding Hood didn't even have a hood, she wasn't eaten (or nearly eaten) by the wolf, who were presented as multiple wolves, I know that some viewers didn't even realize they were wolves (the tails weren't all that easy to see from on high; one person just in the past week asked why there were foxes in BD's show), and she seemed to enjoy watching them dance, and I never saw granny.

Which is all well and good, but far from simple.

Also, I think it would be very easy to create a multi-cam video of any of several corps' shows--BD is far from the only one--that was entirely faithful to the action on the field, but presented so as to make the show seem entirely different from what the corps designers believe the live viewer is experiencing. (Sometimes it seemed Blair & co. were deliberately attempting that!) The point being, corps often overestimate or misjudge what their viewers--intelligent viewers--can take in or where their focus will be. (Thus Blue Stars found it useful to add a carnival barker voice mid-season to point viewers in the right direction. Sorry everyone who saw that show in June and early July!) A sizeable percentage, perhaps a majority, of the DCI audience sees any given show only once. This year, even more dedicated fans could see shows less frequently than in the past, due to the limitations on video availability. It's very easy for corps to fall into the trap of assuming that the audience is going to look where they want them to.

I know that the corps need to design for judges who will see the shows multiple times over the course of the season; what I'm saying is that we shouldn't expect that everyone else is going to be able to follow along so easily--or mock them when they can't.

Naturally there must be a balance! Bearing all of the above in mind, I am also fond of the following quote, although it can be misused:

"Sundance is weird. The movies are weird: you actually have to think about them when you watch them." -- Britney Spears, 2003

Edited August 10, 2015 by N.E. Brigand

[N.E. Brigand]

Which is exactly why they changed it to "I like you" because "Hello Little Girl" is pretty darn creepy.

Sure it's creepy (although to me, BD's Red Riding Hood character seems much more interested in the wolves than the Into the Wood LRR was), but my point was this:

Kamarag says in this thread that "I like you" is one of the Wolf's lines in Into the Woods.

You seem to be saying it's not.

Who is right?

[Kamarag]

Sure it's creepy (although to me, BD's Red Riding Hood character seems much more interested in the wolves than the Into the Wood LRR was), but my point was this:

Kamarag says in this thread that "I like you" is one of the Wolf's lines in Into the Woods.

You seem to be saying it's not.

Who is right?

Likely both of us. I haven't seen the film, but I have seen it on stage several times (with varying dialog, in fact).

[StarOrg]

I know that the corps need to design for judges who will see the shows multiple times over the course of the season; what I'm saying is that we shouldn't expect that everyone else is going to be able to follow along so easily--or mock them when they can't.

Well said. As somebody else pointed out are we building this for the casual fan to attract more or to the DCP Ph.D's on here. There should be a balance in the show programming to give something to both groups....and judges.

[N.E. Brigand]

He and his wife are moth music educators

Are they moths who teach music, or are they people who teach music to moths?

[Kamarag]

Well said. As somebody else pointed out are we building this for the casual fan to attract more or to the DCP Ph.D's on here. There should be a balance in the show programming to give something to both groups....and judges.

I think for the most part, the corps do accomplish this. I'll give you an example of one that didn't, at least for me. I enjoyed Academy's "Step in Time" show on the first viewing, but it really didn't do anything for me on subsequent viewings. It was very "what you see is what you get", which really only works once. Crossmen were very much the same for me, though I can easily see where others would disagree.

On the other hand, Colts and Troopers were shows I enjoyed several times. For some reason, Colts didn't fall into the "works only once" category, which I had initially thought they would. Weird how that happens, huh?

[CloudHype]

Children stories come to life....complete with people jumping out of books, costumes, gigantic letters, and large pins. If you didn't understand that, you don't need to speak about how judging should be because the 10 year-old that sat behind me at finals totally got it.

Edited August 10, 2015 by CloudHype

[StarOrg]

I think for the most part, the corps do accomplish this. I'll give you an example of one that didn't, at least for me. I enjoyed Academy's "Step in Time" show on the first viewing, but it really didn't do anything for me on subsequent viewings. It was very "what you see is what you get", which really only works once. Crossmen were very much the same for me, though I can easily see where others would disagree.

On the other hand, Colts and Troopers were shows I enjoyed several times. For some reason, Colts didn't fall into the "works only once" category, which I had initially thought they would. Weird how that happens, huh?

I get your point here perfectly. I think as long as the top tier corps give something to the casual fan on a one time viewing were golden. Probably the mark of a great designer to communicate to the casual fan and the DC nutcase..... I mean drum corps enthusiast.

[N.E. Brigand]

Likely both of us. I haven't seen the film, but I have seen it on stage several times (with varying dialog, in fact).

OK, thanks for clarifying.

But that means that lots of people might know Into the Woods and not recognize "I like you" as a line from it.

And of course, lots more people don't know Into the Woods at all.

At least as many again probably know nothing of K-Pop. And more than that (in the U.S.) don't speak Korean, so they won't even know that the prerecorded high-pitched words in a foreign language (which they won't be able to identify as Korean in the first place) mean "I Like You". Even if they have a DCI Yearbook or other show program that lists BD's repertoire.