Carolina Crown 2022

[WildcatMello]

Well Crown won the brass score tonight...but not enough to take the ott

 

[MPutnam]

.05 difference over the 3 night average in brass!

[TigerBaritone19]

1 minute ago, MPutnam said:

.05 difference over the 3 night average in brass!

So close. If last night was as good as tonight, they would’ve had it. Oh well, it’s in the past

[nsxanax]

14 minutes ago, WildcatMello said:

Well Crown won the brass score tonight...but not enough to take the ott

 

After last night, the die was numerically cast for an Ott(less) Crown year, but man, what a way to bring it home on their last run.  

No way in #### they were gonna phone it in. Win, lose or draw, CrownBRASS are gamers.
 

 

[BWise]

Well .. Crown ended it well.  And a pleasure to hang out on the forum. Even tho we might be ornery sometimes .. just sticking up for CrownLand!!

It’s done now and definitely agree with some scores not with others but we move on to another season.  I’m ready for college football 🏈 now personally and some cooler weather. Adios  

 

[nsxanax]

Not for nothin’, but CrownTHREAD crushed all comers in the number of pages for the last 12 months.

Here’s our caption award:🥇🏆.

Regular contributors, take a bow!

Karuna, make ready the keyboard for ‘23.

We’re lookin’ to repeat👍

Edited August 14, 2022 by nsxanax

[BWise]

12 hours ago, TigerBaritone19 said:

So close. If last night was as good as tonight, they would’ve had it. Oh well, it’s in the past

Which frankly is BS 

[arabica]

On 8/13/2022 at 9:18 AM, ZTWright said:

Long time reader, first time poster. 

From a design standpoint, and as someone with a background in design, the glaring issue I find is visual. Sacktig is one of my favorites, and when he's on it he knocks it out of the park, but he has had some flops and I believe this year is one of his flops. There are forms that collapse in transitions causing the members to almost hit elbows, which is causing a big portion of the VA issues as well as GE. There are also forms that truly don't make sense, i.e. the hit form in the opener. 

I also think that the main issue is the performers have grown tired and the show has gotten stale. The design team threw everything out from week one, and nothing major has changed. From a performer standpoint, we all grow tired of the mundane, and that's what has happened here. No major changes, only miniscule changes, and the performances have suffered due to lack of challenging changes to keep the performers on their toes. 

With that said, I still love the show, but it is one I will be listening to for years to come instead of watching. The visual package has left much to be desired. The design team is onto something, but they need to focus on one idea rather than 5 different ideas for one show.

With all of this said...GO CROWN!!!

Thanks for your thoughtful post! Here is a slightly different perspective [also from a visual designer]:

Although I, too, think visual design was the primary issue, I don't place blame on Jeff Sacktig as much as I do program coordinator Rick Subel. At this level, drill is designed in close coordination with program coordinator as well as the designers/caption heads of guard, brass and percussion to ensure every section and element is staged right where it is needed and when it is needed. As much as I hope Jeff's opinion matters, his job is ultimately to be a conduit for executing on the needs and wishes of the rest of the staff. That said, I don't think Jeff has transitioned as gracefully into the modern era as other designers have through integrating staged moments/movement with pure drill. This is an opportunity.

I envision an early design meeting going something like this: "Our concept is 'Right Here, Right Now' and it's about being present in the moment. So we're going to present things that will WOW our audience, draw them in and invite participation no matter where they're looking! We're gonna do this by:

• audience app
• breaking the fourth wall
• a big prop
• sashes
• streamers
• and lots of fabric"

And this is where it derails for me, because at some point, someone made a decision to have multiple, equally competing points of focus and visual symbolism on the field. Adding and layering elements should work to clarify intent, not muddy it.

This is most obvious to me in the ballad, with the high brass under the tarp, the low brass connected with sashes, and the prop rotating through the low brass breaking apart the form member-by-member. While each element was individually interesting, the competing focus was distracting and the intent/symbolism behind each element - tarp, prop, sashes - was blurred. Aesthetically, the high-brass tarp not only made the right side of the field visually heavy, but felt mismatched to the musical effect: I would have put low brass - the musical foundation and therefore "heavy" - under the tarp and have high brass - musically lighter/brighter - connected with sashes/moving through prop.

Finally, the decision to keep the various visual elements on the field after used was a poor choice that not only created increasing clutter as the show progressed, but actually pulled me out of the "right here, right now" and back into the past movements and even past shows [2013]:

• the four tarps from 2nd movement laid out in an infinity symbol
• the red sashes laid out perpendicular to the infinity symbol
• the ballad tarp laid out as "~"
• the streamer "lime slice" pinwheels laid out backfield

Ultimately, as @MikeRapp accurately said: "this is a show about everything, which means it's a show about nothing". That doesn't mean it did not succeed overall in it's aim...it was performed incredibly well and with a ton of pride, was a clear crowd favorite, produced the reaction/interaction it sought, and was musically and visually very interesting. But I echo many others who wish for a more thematically and visually focused Crown in 2023.

Edited August 14, 2022 by arabica

[MikeRapp]

30 minutes ago, arabica said:

Thanks for your thoughtful post! Here is a slightly different perspective [also from a visual designer]:

Although I, too, think visual design was the primary issue, I don't place blame on Jeff Sacktig as much as I do program coordinator Rick Subel. At this level, drill is designed in close coordination with program coordinator as well as the designers/caption heads of guard, brass and percussion to ensure every section and element is staged right where it is needed and when it is needed. As much as I hope Jeff's opinion matters, his job is ultimately to be a conduit for executing on the needs and wishes of the rest of the staff. That said, I don't think Jeff has transitioned as gracefully into the modern era as other designers have through integrating staged moments/movement with pure drill. This is an opportunity.

I envision an early design meeting going something like this: "Our concept is 'Right Here, Right Now' and it's about being present in the moment. So we're going to present things that will WOW our audience, draw them in and invite participation no matter where they're looking! We're gonna do this by:

• audience app
• breaking the fourth wall
• a big prop
• sashes
• streamers
• and lots of fabric"

And this is where it derails for me, because at some point, someone made a decision to have multiple, equally competing points of focus and visual symbolism on the field. Adding and layering elements should work to clarify intent, not muddy it.

This is most obvious to me in the ballad, with the high brass under the tarp, the low brass connected with sashes, and the prop rotating through the low brass breaking apart the form member-by-member. While each element was individually interesting, the competing focus was distracting and the intent/symbolism behind each element - tarp, prop, sashes - was blurred. Aesthetically, the high-brass tarp not only made the right side of the field visually heavy, but felt mismatched to the musical effect: I would have put low brass - the musical foundation and therefore "heavy" - under the tarp and have high brass - musically lighter/brighter - connected with sashes/moving through prop.

Finally, the decision to keep the various visual elements on the field after used was a poor choice that not only created increasing clutter as the show progressed, but actually pulled me out of the "right here, right now" and back into the past movements and even past shows [2013]:

• the four tarps from 2nd movement laid out in an infinity symbol
• the red sashes laid out perpendicular to the infinity symbol
• the ballad tarp laid out as "~"
• the streamer "lime slice" pinwheels laid out backfield

Ultimately, as @MikeRapp accurately said: "this is a show about everything, which means it's a show about nothing". That doesn't mean it did not succeed overall in it's aim...it was performed incredibly well and with a ton of pride, was a clear crowd favorite, produced the reaction/interaction it sought, and was musically and visually very interesting. But I echo many others who wish for a more thematically and visually focused Crown in 2023.

A designer has 12 minutes to build and deliver their story. Don’t waste 20% of it on a big tarp that people stick their heads through.

And if you have the best brass arranger in the business, don’t spend part of your third act having them wave a ###### flag around on the back line.

Edited August 14, 2022 by MikeRapp

[lawdn]

Meant to post in this topic but put it in Crown 2023 - pretty awesome to see excitement already building for next year. 
 

Congratulations Carolina Crown on a brilliant show that always brought the energy and joy to the field this season. I never tired of hearing that emotional music so beautifully played, nor the crazy visuals the guard and all the corps put on display. You are always a winner!