Crossman84 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I was watching the Video (yes Video, I got my first DVD machine for x-mas) and I noticed something about the drills of different Corps. There's not alot of formations. I'm not daying any but not alot. I know, I know it's the "new" thing but I remember Madison rotating the Flor-de-les from one end of the field to the other. To me that was a drill. Now theres alot of follow the leader and stuff. I'm not saying it's not hard. Imarched it so I know how hard it can be but, there's not alot of pictures. I believe it was the Cadets drill that made me see this because they hit the "impact" points for like seconds and moved on. It's like let's run around for 9 minutes and make sguiley (sic) lines. And since I'm on a roll lets talk about the color guard. 50% dance 30% equiptment work and 20% running from one spot to the next. Some guards (and this was on TV so it may be different in person) where just hard to see. Dancing on the back line doesn't do much for the visiual presentation if people can't see it. Just my thoughts sitting here late at night. Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apoch003 Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 As we're both Craigs, I'll chime in... I agree with you. It used to be much harder to march a drill when you knew you had to EXACTLY match what was going on on the other side of the 50. I always thought the squigglies were cool to look at, but meant solely to confuse the judges anyway. Kind of a cheat, if you ask me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGarrett Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) I'm with you, craig2. (That's supposed to be "Craig squared" ... both of ya!) I have said here many times that todays drills are so fast paced and this flowing thing is supposed to be so artistic and all that. It's more like: nauseating. You have to give credit however to the marching and complexity these corps have today. Some of the stuff these drumlines are playing while sidestepping across the field at a furious pace is incredible! I watch the DVD's now from when I was in and see our up and down the fifty drumline drills...not very comparable to todays movements. However, crowds JUMPED to their feet when certain drill designs showed up (ie "27", Scouts Fleur-di-Lis, Troopers sunburst, Kilties wedge, Bridgemens strut, et al) and had good reason to applaud. Now your not sure if it's appropriate or not, because you might miss some small detail... Edited January 7, 2005 by GGarrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAvery Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I have to disagree with alot of this. First of all I think drill is about motion, not static such as formations. I will say that if I make a formation and move it, it will create some motion. But generally there is much more motion in todays drills than yesterdays. The "rotation concept" is a great tool, but too much gets boring. I remember when I marched in 79 we stood for about 30% of our show. When you say there are not alot of pictures it reminds of the non-corps people when I marched asking why we didn't form a wagon wheel and play "How the West Was Won". There are "pictures" in todays drill, they just evolve and disappear faster. The tempos are much faster than when I marched. The drill segments are much smaller today. We had movements that lasted 24 or 32 counts. Today, it is not uncommon to have 4 ct segments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburstall Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I was watching the Video (yes Video, I got my first DVD machine for x-mas) and I noticed something about the drills of different Corps. There's not alot of formations. I'm not daying any but not alot. I know, I know it's the "new" thing but I remember Madison rotating the Flor-de-les from one end of the field to the other. To me that was a drill. Now theres alot of follow the leader and stuff. I'm not saying it's not hard. Imarched it so I know how hard it can be but, there's not alot of pictures. I believe it was the Cadets drill that made me see this because they hit the "impact" points for like seconds and moved on. It's like let's run around for 9 minutes and make sguiley (sic) lines. And since I'm on a roll lets talk about the color guard. 50% dance 30% equiptment work and 20% running from one spot to the next. Some guards (and this was on TV so it may be different in person) where just hard to see. Dancing on the back line doesn't do much for the visiual presentation if people can't see it. Just my thoughts sitting here late at night. Craig <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, you're correct. Many have been saying that for year. The variety of use of moves seem to be decreasing between corps (btw, there are only 9 different moves). You can almost see what move will be used next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abgiles Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Aside from the drill, the pace, and all of that, the one thing that I really notice when watching those old shows is how much HIGH mark time we did! Man, I love to see those white shoes against dark pants . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancerFi Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Too frenetic for me. I'm not saying fast is better than slow or the other way around, but it's just not, how do I say it.....well I don't know how. But as far as the 9 moves that's a good one. It seems that you can see 4 corps in a row and each will do almost the same thing for instance one year it was lines of flags in between lines of horns going as fast as lightening......then all flags in either a square or triangle, opposed to the horn line and almost attached and they may or may not be in the same shape.....nevermind..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburstall Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) Ack!!! Let me clear up what I was trying to get across... There are 3 category of movements: 1. Periodic - Movements which change a formation’s orientation. 2. Translatory - Movements which change a formation’s location. 3. Contrapuntal - Movements which change a formation’s contour. and there are 9 types of movement (graded by difficulty 1 is easier than 2, etc.): 1. Circuitous - "Follow-the-leader" movements in lines with no beginning or end. 2. Canonic - "Follow-the-leader" movements in lines with a single leader. 3. Rectilinear - Movements which send a formation in a single direction. 4. Polar - Movements which disintegrate a formation. 5. Antilinear - Movements which change a formations direction. 6. Rotational - Movements which turn a formation on an internal pivot-point. 7. Revolving - Movements which turn a formation around an external pivot-point. 8. Formal - Movements which change a formation’s size. 9. Structural - Movements which change a formation’s shape. thanks to Stuart Rice for this. What I see what you're talking about Craig is that most corps are using the same category and movements. I mean, how many corps can you say used a rotating/expanding block? How many used the triangle to square move? Edited January 7, 2005 by sburstall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skywalker Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I watched a video from 1976-1977 a few weeks ago. I saw a lot of similarity in the drill between the various corps. A lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Agree, I remember when we would do part of a move and stop dead to check that we were holding formation (or in between formations in exactly the right spots). Today it looks like flowing bodies between sets... Disclaimer: Not saying one is better than the other just comparing the differences.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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