The direction of show design: will all follow Bloo?

[afd]

Maybe they will follow Blu...c when they actually win a DCI trophy.

[Eleran]

I think they saw a Cirque show or a Circus/Carnival like show and I believe that is where the idea came from. Who knows, perhaps they got the idea from a water park

No, they lifted the idea directly from Motionhouse's "Scattered" dance show. Watch this video, especially from about 2:49-3:10. The difference being that Motionhouse is blending the physical use of the prop with a visual projection or touch-activated screen, to create the illusion of diving/dancing into water.

Edited June 29, 2016 by Eleran

[jwillis35]

As for all the talk about innovation, changing the activity, new directions, the next Star of Indiana 1993, etc., allow me to offer a few perspectives.

Star of Indiana 1993

• They changed their uniform proper for that show, but they had been doing that since they were born in 1985
• did not use props
• utilized poles and other objects instead of flags (new for the activity)
• music was quite contemporary with complex melodic design (see Garfield 1985 - opener, see Spirit of Atlanta's 1989 show, and others)
• visual design was layered with body movement (had been done before, but not to that level -- Cadets 1989)

There's more to it than the few details I show above, but the point is the show was INNOVATIVE and ORIGINAL not because it invented a new way of marching, not because it was the first to use body movement, not because they took the flags off the poles, or because they played contemporary music.

The show was innovative and original because of how all those elements came together in a complete package. A well crafted show in which the brass was flawless, the percussion was musical and orchestral, the visual was demanding and felt fresh and new, and the combination of everything had the look and feel of a complex modern show.

Another Example - Apple iPhone

• For those of you that can remember smart phones and regular cell phones prior to Apple's design, you remember that they had limited internet abilities, they were mainly for calls, not to type on, and they were small.
• The touch screen on the iPhone is not new. FedEx and UPS were using those for years. We would sign for packages on them all the time using a stylus.
• The internet had been around since the late 60s, and the world wide web had been around since 1993/94 via Netscape.
• Email systems had been around for a long time (1987 or so for things like AOL, Compuserve)
• Voice mail had been around since the 70s with home phone service in various forms
• The iPod features for playing music had already been developed by Apple and brought to the market in 2001

What made the iPhone (2007 intro) special and INNOVATIVE and ORIGINAL was how it was pieced together. Apple took concepts and technologies from decades worth of trial and error and advancement, put it all together in a wonderful package, with a very new and fresh design, and called it iPhone.

INNOVATION isn't just inventing something completely new, but often taking something already in existence, finding new uses for it, packaging it with other concepts, and presenting the whole thing as a new product. I believe this is what the Bluecoats have done this year. They march, play, spin, drum, where uniforms, and entertain with great music. Sounds like Drum & Bugle Corps. But it's the packaging of all that with props, design, colors, a style of arranging, clapping, integration of rhythm with movement, with body, and the use of soundscapes in a surround sound kind of way that makes their show unlike anything we have seen in DCI. Know why? Because we haven't seen it. Not like this.

The show is fresh, entertaining, original, powerful, playful, and very well performed. The legacy of the show is really an argument for another day. I think it's innovative and original, but they didn't invent something from nothing. But the LEGACY of this show will not be determined for another 10 to 20 years.

Edited June 29, 2016 by jwillis35

[jwillis35]

No, they lifted the idea directly from Motionhouse's "Scattered" dance show. Watch this video, especially from about 2:49-3:10. The difference being that Motionhouse is blending the physical use of the prop with a visual projection or touch-activated screen, to create the illusion of diving/dancing into water.

And I did mention Dance a few lines down in that same post you cited. They are a Dance/Theater company. Cool stuff. And yes, I felt all along that their influence came from outside DCI/WGI/Band.

[Cappybara]

I can't (?) wait until there is a massive pileup on those ramps when people start falling down, or the ramp breaks or what have you.

What the ####? What's wrong with you?

[Damonallred]

I don't know if this has been brought up already in this thread about what "drum and bugle corps" has turned into, and about what the "marching arts" have become, and I think Scott Chandler put it best. He said something to the extent of "100 yards of theater" and I think that really applies to what Bluecoats and Blue Devils have been putting on the field the past 3+ years and even what Cadets have done with this show and to a certain extent what Crown is doing since 2013. I do think most corps will follow suit and we're seeing it happen even this year with Cavaliers and Blue Stars and others who are bidding the "traditional drum and bugle corps" farewell. In my opinion, this direction of "100 yards of theater" is much more entertaining.

[afd]

I don't know if this has been brought up already in this thread about what "drum and bugle corps" has turned into, and about what the "marching arts" have become, and I think Scott Chandler put it best. He said something to the extent of "100 yards of theater" and I think that really applies to what Bluecoats and Blue Devils have been putting on the field the past 3+ years and even what Cadets have done with this show and to a certain extent what Crown is doing since 2013. I do think most corps will follow suit and we're seeing it happen even this year with Cavaliers and Blue Stars and others who are bidding the "traditional drum and bugle corps" farewell. In my opinion, this direction of "100 yards of theater" is much more entertaining.

I think you hit the nail on the head. When Scott Chandler became BD's program coordinator he took them following what he did at WGI. We started seeing that in 2008. That is why you see the guard as having a major impact on today's shows. Guards in today's DCI shows need to be the focal point in the visual aspect. Long gone will they just be the background unit.

Edited June 29, 2016 by afd

[Jurassic Lancer]

As for all the talk about innovation, changing the activity, new directions, the next Star of Indiana 1993, etc., allow me to offer a few perspectives.

Star of Indiana 1993

• They changed their uniform proper for that show, but they had been doing that since they were born in 1985
• did not use props
• utilized poles and other objects instead of flags (new for the activity)
• music was quite contemporary with complex melodic design (see Garfield 1985 - opener, see Spirit of Atlanta's 1989 show, and others)
• visual design was layered with body movement (had been done before, but not to that level -- Cadets 1989)

There's more to it than the few details I show above, but the point is the show was INNOVATIVE and ORIGINAL not because it invented a new way of marching, not because it was the first to use body movement, not because they took the flags off the poles, or because they played contemporary music.

The show was innovative and original because of how all those elements came together in a complete package. A well crafted show in which the brass was flawless, the percussion was musical and orchestral, the visual was demanding and felt fresh and new, and the combination of everything had the look and feel of a complex modern show.

Another Example - Apple iPhone

• For those of you that can remember smart phones and regular cell phones prior to Apple's design, you remember that they had limited internet abilities, they were mainly for calls, not to type on, and they were small.
• The touch screen on the iPhone is not new. FedEx and UPS were using those for years. We would sign for packages on them all the time using a stylus.
• The internet had been around since the late 60s, and the world wide web had been around since 1993/94 via Netscape.
• Email systems had been around for a long time (1987 or so for things like AOL, Compuserve)
• Voice mail had been around since the 70s with home phone service in various forms
• The iPod features for playing music had already been developed by Apple and brought to the market in 2001

What made the iPhone (2007 intro) special and INNOVATIVE and ORIGINAL was how it was pieced together. Apple took concepts and technologies from decades worth of trial and error and advancement, put it all together in a wonderful package, with a very new and fresh design, and called it iPhone.

INNOVATION isn't just inventing something completely new, but often taking something already in existence, finding new uses for it, packaging it with other concepts, and presenting the whole thing as a new product. I believe this is what the Bluecoats have done this year. They march, play, spin, drum, where uniforms, and entertain with great music. Sounds like Drum & Bugle Corps. But it's the packaging of all that with props, design, colors, a style of arranging, clapping, integration of rhythm with movement, with body, and the use of soundscapes in a surround sound kind of way that makes their show unlike anything we have seen in DCI. Know why? Because we haven't seen it. Not like this.

The show is fresh, entertaining, original, powerful, playful, and very well performed. The legacy of the show is really an argument for another day. I think it's innovative and original, but they didn't invent something from nothing. But the LEGACY of this show will not be determined for another 10 to 20 years.

Excellent post. Very insightful. Thanks for putting into words what has been kicking around unarticulated in the back burners of my mind.