Way Too Early DCI 2024 Discussion

[Vidal28Rdg]

I am usually an optimist, many folks will probably argue 2023 exceeded 2022 in terms of the overall quality of shows and corps, I feel the same will be true for 2024. For me personally, there hasn’t been a show for me that have really made an INSANE monumental impact for me since the 2010’s in the moment when watching live, although some shows definitely have great re-watchability and are fantastic earworms(bluecoats lately especially). Purely a personal take of course, I hope 2024 has that for me, I still think that corps will continue to get better next summer🫡

Edited August 13, 2023 by Vidal28Rdg

[IllianaLancerContra]

12 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

This has already been done at tournament of champions shows back when the G7 was still a thing. It didn’t do anything to change the results. The judges are smarter and more discerning than you think they are 

Maybe randomize order and have finals judges not watch any shows during season.  Every Corps at finals is their first time seeing them. 

[oldestoftheold]

10 hours ago, BlueStainGlass said:

judges will like the blue stars show and not hate it like this year.

Maybe don’t create a program loosely based around a alcoholic beverage 

[BlueStainGlass]

17 minutes ago, oldestoftheold said:

Maybe don’t create a program loosely based around a alcoholic beverage 

So doing acid is ok? Asking for a friend and that friend is bluecoats 🤣

[Cappybara]

47 minutes ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

Maybe randomize order and have finals judges not watch any shows during season.  Every Corps at finals is their first time seeing them. 

That… does not sound like a good idea. Apart from there being no way of enforcing judges to not watch the shows or scores beforehand, the judges give much more accurate assessments with more reads. Familiarizing with a show, especially for the sideline judges, is important so they know where to be in order to get the most comprehensive sample of the skills being displayed as possible. Otherwise you get situations where the percussion judge is on side 1 and then has to sprint to side 2 to get a read on the drum break. 
 

If the purpose is to get more exciting scores, your suggestion works. If the goal is to get the most accurate scores, not so much. 

[valjean]

14 minutes ago, Cappybara said:

That… does not sound like a good idea. Apart from there being no way of enforcing judges to not watch the shows or scores beforehand, the judges give much more accurate assessments with more reads. Familiarizing with a show, especially for the sideline judges, is important so they know where to be in order to get the most comprehensive sample of the skills being displayed as possible. Otherwise you get situations where the percussion judge is on side 1 and then has to sprint to side 2 to get a read on the drum break. 
 

If the purpose is to get more exciting scores, your suggestion works. If the goal is to get the most accurate scores, not so much. 

You're no fun. What if judging was done exclusively at box level? 

[Cappybara]

6 minutes ago, valjean said:

You're no fun. What if judging was done exclusively at box level? 

Then the brass and percussion captions become essentially useless. With the corps’ electronics influencing so much of the mix that gets relayed to the box, it would be nearly impossible for the brass and percussion judges to make an accurate and meaningful assessment of the hornlines and pit/drumlines. Pretty sure visual proficiency is also judged from the sideline (I could be wrong about this), so the quality of assessment of this caption would suffer as well. 

[jpaul]

1 hour ago, RiverCityAndTroopersFan said:

I think there needs to be a discussion on order of performance. The order that corps perform almost always matches up with their finishing position first corps on is 12th 2nd is 11th and so on and so forth. It should be randomized to maintain some level of parity

I could see that being a concern if the ordinals reflected that judges were scoring that way. Have you looked at that mess of a recap? People were concerned that an 8th place corps couldn’t win drums. It happened 3 nights in a row.

it would, however, make it harder to accurately compare groups that were very close (this year’s top 4) if they performed an hour apart from each other.

[scheherazadesghost]

54 minutes ago, BlueStainGlass said:

So doing acid is ok? Asking for a friend and that friend is bluecoats 🤣

Bloo didn't put the implements of substance usage on the field. At all.

BS not only hinted at implements of usage but made them HUGE centerpieces for the show. Big difference.

Also hallucinations can be caused by a much larger variety of human experiences than mere drugs. Much more plausible deniability and creativity in Bloo's show than BS'.

I'm not really a fan of either as a source of content for youth art education, meaning, I wouldn't make that choice myself, but there's a clear distinction here that begs to be recognized. That said, my appreciation for BS' show was clear in my critique last night so this isn't about liking or disliking.

If adult themes like violence, sex, or substance use are going to be a part of youth arts education, at least give the young members the option early on to provide informed consent or find another corps. That's always been my argument if grown adults simply can't avoid these three sources of content.

[Ediker]

Congrats to Blue Devils 2023 on a well-deserved victory!  2024 might give us a first 4-peat.
 

To the other great corps out there, don’t even think about beating BD until you fully grasp a few facts about how this activity is scored:

1) GE is not synonymous with difficulty and demand. 

2) Diffficulty/demand does not equal GE. 

3) A “great design” is not merely cramming in a bunch of demand. 

4) GE is not cleanliness.

5) GE is not gimmickry. 

6) GE does not equal audience or crowd reaction.

7) Since GE scores are not divided by two (like Visual and Music scores), GE numbers contribute twice as much to overall score than any of the performance sub-captions (brass, percussion, color guard). 

8. It is easier (much) to correct performance problems in July/August than to overcome a GE deficit. 

9) Visual Analysis and Music Analysis may not be GE, but they are tied to how the visual and music designs coordinate and contribute to GE. 

10) Today begins the off season for performers. 

11) Today through April is the on season for designers. 

12 If you are a designer and are the least bit foggy about what constitutes GE, read the #### sheets. Every single word… over and over and over. 

13) Reading and understanding the sheets is not the same as doing what is on the sheets. 

14) Whether you agree with (or like) what is on the sheets is immaterial to the fact that the MMs you serve will be judged by what is on the sheets. 

15) Malicious compliance, doing the bare minimum and/or checking the box for a GE sheet item is not the same as maximizing that item. 

16) Generating GE is good. Generating GE in innovative ways is good. Generating GE in a variety of ways is better. Generating GE in a variety of innovative ways that also carry artistic risk is way better. Do so better than anyone else in a way that requires the most proficient MMs is the path to winning. 

17) If you don’t like the sheets, work to change them and quit grousing about them. 
 

Anything missing?

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by Ediker
clarity