Sideways Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Finals week is here again and this summer has been as exciting as any in recent memory. Lets get a discussion kicked off on the "IT" factor...meaning that little extra bit of polish it takes to push a corps into finals or even to a championship. Is it simply GE? Those of us that have been around the activity long enough "know it when you see it," but how best do we explain it to newbs? In 2016 Bluecoats certainly had the IT factor going into finals and walked away with the title with only taking GE. SCV took percussion and Crown pretty much everything else. Currently SCV has IT in truckloads loads and any other summer Session 44 would have IT. Phantom suddenly got IT in 1996 & 2008...SCV smoked IT at finals in 1999. 1993...all of the top six had IT to varying degrees but the top three were loaded with IT. Performance captions are much easier to explain and for the un-initiated to comprehend...but how do we explain IT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 How can you explain Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 Series? The Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert of 1938? The 1980 US hockey team? Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideways Posted August 7, 2018 Author Share Posted August 7, 2018 Cannot begin the discussion without asking the question. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRASSO Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 (edited) 56 minutes ago, mfrontz said: How can you explain Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 Series? The Benny Goodman Carnegie Hall concert of 1938? The 1980 US hockey team? Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater? Athletes, or team's, being in what is sometimes called.... " a Zone ". You can't really explain it rationally, or logically. its just one of those special moments when it all seems to comes together. I was just a so so baseball pitcher in High School. But I had a special " in my zone " game for a complete game, 2 hit, shut out against a very good H.S. opponent one day. I really only had 3 pitches, a fastball, curve, change up. But on this particular day, my fastball had velocity, my curve and change up was working, and all 3 pitches this day hit my locations perfectly. Never even walked a batter. I never had a game before, nor after, that remotely mirrored that one. But I can no more rationally explain that game than I can Quantum Physics. Phantom Regiment had that on Finals Night, 2008. Even the stars lined up perfectly for them with the judging panel that night. In 2004, the NY Yankees were up 3 games to 0, with a lead into the 9th, playing at home, and with perhaps the greatest closer in the history of MLB on the mound ( Mariano Rivera) to close out the Red Sox in a sweep and the AL Playoff Series. But the Red Sox tied the game, went into extra innings to win it, then swept the Yankees 3 games in a row, then topped St. Louis Cardinals in 4 games straight to win their 1st World Series since 1918. How is this even possible to win 8 straight, and in such a fashion ? It shouldn't be. But these things do happen, even if rarely. And when you see it happen, its unmistakable that its something special and almost otherwordly taking place. Edited August 7, 2018 by BRASSO 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box5Opinion Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 Caption: General Effect (GE) Number of judges: Two for most of the season, plus a doubled panel of four during Premier Events (e.g. San Antonio, Atlanta, Allentown) and the World Championships. Points allotted: 40, 20 from each of the two judges. The scores of the two Effect captions are counted for full value. When the panel is doubled, the score of all four judges is divided in half. Responsibilities: One of the GE judges has a music background and the other has a visual background, but each utilizes the same judging sheet because they are effectively judging the entire show, not just the effect of the music offering or the effect of the visual production. GE judges must be the most experienced, most knowledgeable, and most flexible members of the audience. Plus, they know how to manage numbers in order to give a proper score. The GE judges are doing the romantic job, they’re feeling what the show is offering and responding to what the show is. There are three parts to GE, the intellectual, the aesthetic, and the emotional. The corp that is able to package their show (may not have the best brass/guard/percussion but has the GE/music/visual aspects) and is able to connect with the intellectual, aesthetic and emotional has the "IT" factor any given season! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box5Opinion Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Sideways said: Finals week is here again and this summer has been as exciting as any in recent memory. Lets get a discussion kicked off on the "IT" factor...meaning that little extra bit of polish it takes to push a corps into finals or even to a championship. Is it simply GE? Those of us that have been around the activity long enough "know it when you see it," but how best do we explain it to newbs? In 2016 Bluecoats certainly had the IT factor going into finals and walked away with the title with only taking GE. SCV took percussion and Crown pretty much everything else. Currently SCV has IT in truckloads loads and any other summer Session 44 would have IT. Phantom suddenly got IT in 1996 & 2008...SCV smoked IT at finals in 1999. 1993...all of the top six had IT to varying degrees but the top three were loaded with IT. Performance captions are much easier to explain and for the un-initiated to comprehend...but how do we explain IT? Star had tons of "IT" factor (the show is talked about every season and is a standard to this day) but the judges didn't agree. I think that's why they changed the scoring criteria for show now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenanne_1536 Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, Box5Opinion said: Star had tons of "IT" factor (the show is talked about every season and is a standard to this day) but the judges didn't agree. I think that's why they changed the scoring criteria for show now. I agree Star has the IT factor in 1993 big time. However, at the time the fans (including me) agreed with the judges. if you asked me in 1993 if they had the it factor, I would have said no way in hell they have it. I thought the show was dull, boring, lifeless, unintersting, and unimaginative. So much so, that I didn't even watch their finals performance on the broadcast and instead took a smoke break. I am certainly not the only one that felt that way in 1993. I can't tell you how many friends, who were marching with other corps that season said to me, "Our staff said if Star wins there is something seriously wrong with DCI." Now, I want to go back in time and slap myself (and anyone who ever said that to me) because it's one of my top 3 favorite shows, and now I discribe it as exciting, innovative, fresh, interesting, powerful, beautiful, and perfect. It took a long time to get there. That is great art - sometimes one hates it initially and then grows to love it. To me, it is the most perfect show ever put on the field in DCI History. Edited August 7, 2018 by queenanne_1536 4 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfrontz Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 (edited) After thinking about it, there are three things that contribute to the it factor: A good story to the season of exceeding expectations: a corps challenging for finals for the first time, like Mandarins; long time favorite in the hunt for finals, a title, or a move up a place or two, like Vanguard or BAC; a monster corps that is likely to go undefeated, like Cavies 02, BD 14; a corps overcoming adversity, like The Cadets. Doing something that is fresh, new and different and doing it well. (I.E. Cadets 83, Bluecoats 14) Communication with the audience, like Madison 95, Vanguard 99, Phantom 08. You need at least two out of three to get the it Factor. With apologies to queenanne, Star 93 had only one. In retrospect, it has two, because the story is that it changed Drum Corps and it was the last performance of the group in DCI. Edited August 7, 2018 by mfrontz 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box5Opinion Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 1 hour ago, queenanne_1536 said: I agree Star has the IT factor in 1993 big time. However, at the time the fans (including me) agreed with the judges. if you asked me in 1993 if they had the it factor, I would have said no way in hell they have it. I thought the show was dull, boring, lifeless, unintersting, and unimaginative. So much so, that I didn't even watch their finals performance on the broadcast and instead took a smoke break. I am certainly not the only one that felt that way in 1993. I can't tell you how many friends, who were marching with other corps that season said to me, "Our staff said if Star wins there is something seriously wrong with DCI." Now, I want to go back in time and slap myself (and anyone who ever said that to me) because it's one of my top 3 favorite shows, and now I discribe it as exciting, innovative, fresh, interesting, powerful, beautiful, and perfect. It took a long time to get there. That is great art - sometimes one hates it initially and then grows to love it. To me, it is the most perfect show ever put on the field in DCI History. ah-ha! You get it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenanne_1536 Posted August 7, 2018 Share Posted August 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Box5Opinion said: ah-ha! You get it! It took me long enough. I liked '90 and '92 Star right from the get go, especially '90. '91 and '93 not so much. I think it was like 2004 when I decided to listen to '91 Star and was completely blown away, so I decided to give '93 a go, and boom - done deal. ALL THOSE YEARS I could have been listening to those shows and did :( Star '90 - '93 are all probably in my top 8 favorite shows of all time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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