Stop all the Storytelling

[N.E. Brigand]

I think it makes the show more interesting when the details are somewhat left to the audience to interpret. sometimes too obvious just destroys things.

In which case, would I be wrong to decide the two characters are friends, or maybe lovers, rather than father and son?

(I'll be attending Finals with someone who did see Crown's show in the first week of the season, and he missed the story completely: if you're not looking in the right place at the righ time, it's pretty easy to do that. He's unlikely to have read anything further about it in the interim. I'll be sure to ask him after the performance what he got out of it.)

[Eleran]

it's very hard to tell a story, and it's made even more difficult by the short time frame.

That's why Spartacus worked. Phantom didn't need to "tell" the story, because people already knew the main points from the movie: slave becomes a success in gladiator games; leads a revolt; inspires the masses to continue in his name (i.e. "I am Spartacus"). Because the main points were so few, and already known by the audience, Phantom even had room to change a few items for effect, such as killing off his girl to inspire the revolt (she lived in the movie), and killing Spartacus to inspire others (as opposed to the movie, where others shouted "I am Spartacus" in an attempt to hide his identity).

Using widely known cultural touchstones as your story gives you a better chance of conveying the story in 11 minutes by simply hitting the main highlights that most lend themselves to visual treatment on the field - the audience can fill in the blanks themselves. So Spartacus is on one end of the spectrum. Closer to the middle might be Boston's Animal Farm, which did not have quite the same success, but I found that people who were more familiar with the book (as opposed to just a vague recollection via Cliff Notes in high school), had a greater appreciation for the show and weren't scratching their heads. Then on the other end of the spectrum are corps trying to make up a story entirely from scratch. It's not necessarily impossible to succeed, but certainly is a much harder thing to do, risking the possibility of (a) failing to make it understandable at all, or (b) dumbing it down so much to make it understandable that it leaves you shrugging your shoulders with ennui.

Edited July 14, 2016 by Eleran

[BRASSO]

The current DCI judging system rewards the visual and guard over that of the brass and percussion. This is why we see less brass playing than, for example, in the 90's. We can't blame the show designers for this. They are merely putting together what tends to be most rewarded now. Brass players are judged on their visual movements AND their music playing. Guards are judged on their visuals and their non music equipment utilizations. However, unlike the brass players, they are not judged on their music playing abilities. Guard performers are not musicians in the show, so they are free from being judged on that aspect. Guards tend to " tell the story " increasingly now in DCI, and soloists are more apt to be found as a guard member, not a brass or percussion musician performer, as its that guard member that " tells the story " with their narration, singing, dance, or some other non musical, communicative endeavor on the field. The pathway to a DCI title is thru a stellar guard and a stellar visual show design. BD " gets it " perfectly. DCI Corps might have 80 brass performers, but the guards ( half the size ) carry more weight, per marcher, on the scoring sheets than do the brass and percussion, per marcher, musicians do. Things change. The judging system has. Corps show designs thus reflect that change.

Edited July 14, 2016 by BRASSO

[corpsband]

In which case, would I be wrong to decide the two characters are friends, or maybe lovers, rather than father and son?

(I'll be attending Finals with someone who did see Crown's show in the first week of the season, and he missed the story completely: if you're not looking in the right place at the righ time, it's pretty easy to do that. He's unlikely to have read anything further about it in the interim. I'll be sure to ask him after the performance what he got out of it.)

personally i dont think its really all that important. and if one can enjoy the show as a "western fantasy" or "revenge story" or "western themed show" does it really matter? the point is , do you enjoy the show? im sure there are folks who have never heard of Medea much less listened to it. does it's inclusion bother them? maybe they understand the darker version starts the journey and happier version ends it. the more ways a show can be enjoyed the better! heck did you enjoy the marching, playing, drumming, spinning and dancing? if yes that's a WIN.

Edited July 14, 2016 by corpsband

[MikeRapp]

Over the 15 years of my DCI fandom, there has been a strong move toward explicit theme and direct storytelling.

In 2014, Crown did a show about outer space. It's pretty much the consensus view that it wasn't the greatest design, but hear me out. In the beginning of the season, there was the Major Tom introduction, an overly-long but timbrally-intriguing percussion feature, the echo effects etc.

One of the (many) great things about Space Oddity by Bowie (RIP) is that it trails off at the end. The listener is left to wonder what happened to the astronaut. Did some small valve on his spaceship fail and cause him to asphyxiate? Did he go into a wormhole? Did mysterious radiation transform him into an interdemensional squid-creature? But in Crown's final narrative with added narration, Major Tom goes into space, some things happen, then he comes home. There's not a lot of space for the audience to contribute to the narrative with their own creativity.

One of the reasons that I (and many others) prefer the movie 2001 (an inspiration for the Bowie song) to Arthur C. Clarke's novelization is that it shows, rather than tells. Everything is spelled out in the book, whereas the viewer has to interpret the images, etc. in the film. Drum corps, I argue, is the same way. Would Cadets 2005 been better with giant waterfall props in Liquid? Subtly and discretion can be good things, but I feel like judging is pushing everything to be SO literal and forcing everyone to tell a LITERAL story with a beginning, middle, and end.

Drum corps is a ~13 minute audio-visual medium. Hard to tell a simple story in a coherent and compelling way in that time, let alone something deeper, even with narration etc. Even Crown 2013, which some see as the greatest show designer ever, basically comes down to "love is nice."

TL;DR: Stop trying so hard to be "deep" and tell some profound story in your show, use music and visuals to create a mood and err on the side of subtly

Bluecoats is actually taking a 180 degree path from the storytelling direction on purpose. It's the whole concept behind their concept. And people criticize them for NOT having a story!

[N.E. Brigand]

That's why Spartacus worked. Phantom didn't need to "tell" the story, because people already knew the main points from the movie: slave becomes a success in gladiator games; leads a revolt; inspires the masses to continue in his name (i.e. "I am Spartacus").

And the masses all get crucified together for supporting him and claiming to be him--oh wait:

Because the main points were so few, and already known by the audience, Phantom even had room to change a few items for effect, such as killing off his girl to inspire the revolt (she lived in the movie), and killing Spartacus to inspire others (as opposed to the movie, where others shouted "I am Spartacus" in an attempt to hide his identity).

Seriously though, good post.

[MikeRapp]

That's why Spartacus worked. Phantom didn't need to "tell" the story, because people already knew the main points from the movie: slave becomes a success in gladiator games; leads a revolt; inspires the masses to continue in his name (i.e. "I am Spartacus"). Because the main points were so few, and already known by the audience, Phantom even had room to change a few items for effect, such as killing off his girl to inspire the revolt (she lived in the movie), and killing Spartacus to inspire others (as opposed to the movie, where others shouted "I am Spartacus" in an attempt to hide his identity).

Using widely known cultural touchstones as your story gives you a better chance of conveying the story in 11 minutes by simply hitting the main highlights that most lend themselves to visual treatment on the field - the audience can fill in the blanks themselves. So Spartacus is on one end of the spectrum. Closer to the middle might be Boston's Animal Farm, which did not have quite the same success, but I found that people who were more familiar with the book (as opposed to just a vague recollection via Cliff Notes in high school), had a greater appreciation for the show and weren't scratching their heads. Then on the other end of the spectrum are corps trying to make up a story entirely from scratch. It's not necessarily impossible to succeed, but certainly is a much harder thing to do, risking the possibility of (a) failing to make it understandable at all, or (b) dumbing it down so much to make it understandable that it leaves you shrugging your shoulders with ennui.

Well even if you don't know the story of Sparacus, Romeo & Juliet or Phantom, the storyline is a very basic two or three part concept. It's as basic a story line as you can have, and it's a well known arc. Creating a new story is much harder, and frankly, I don't think Crown is able to communicate it very effectively.

[D41145]

You know why can't you just throw some songs together that make sense and preform...... PREFORM.

[N.E. Brigand]

Personally I don't think it's really all that important, and if one can enjoy the show as a "western fantasy" or "revenge story" or "western themed show", does it really matter? The point is, do you enjoy the show? I'm sure there are folks who have never heard of "Medea", much less listened to it. Does its inclusion bother them? Maybe they understand the darker version starts the journey and happier version ends it. the more ways a show can be enjoyed the better! Heck, did you enjoy the marching, playing, drumming, spinning and dancing? If yes, that's a WIN.

I do like it, although I think the point that hostrauser made even before the season started, about the drill being rather confined to the front, is correct--or was, when I saw the show.

(I was only questioning "fantasy" in response to jwillis's use of the term, since it would never have occurred to me to describe Crown's show thus.)

As for people who don't know Medea in the first place, I'd be most curious to know how they feel about it as music. While now well-known and apparently well-liked in drum corps, my sense is that people who aren't versed in Modernist music will like it a lot less than they like, say, more populist works like Copland's Appalachian Spring or Rodeo.

In 1993, and not just because of Star's show, you had complaints about "esoteric music and abstract programs" and "aggressive, disjunct, percussive and biting or even angry" music "with little melodic content that the ear can hold onto or harmonic content that is pleasing to the ear", as well as the question, "Where is the music you can recognize? Where are the stirring moments? ... I can remember only one color guard routine from the top four corps -- the Cavaliers flag toss", while a Drum Corps World survey found that "95% of the people were not entertained up to the level of their expectations."

[KVG_DC]

This thread needs some Channel3...