Honor Corps

[oldbandguy]

You would think that ABC/Disney would have done better by DCI considering

DCI is now a customer of ESPN...which is owned by ABC/Disney.

I would again like to ask how much air time the bands in the parade got?

[ZSDAvenger]

I wish you hadn't been invited, because the people I have talked to loved it, and the people they surrounded themselves loved it to.

I wish you would have actually read my post.

Here, let me help you....

Don't get me wrong, I had a great time meeting people and hanging w/ my corps buds....also got to put on the super suit one last time....

How much more should I elaborate on that before it becomes a valid part of my post?

oh, and I also said:

I give nothing but praise to the DCI staff for being far more on the ball with this project than ABC or Disney could have dreamed to be. It really shows me just how much better corps people are at sticking to their word, accomplishing the task no matter what, and being professionals no matter the circumstance.

Oh, how I love reading comprehension! Do they still teach that in Wisconsin??

Oh, and how nice of you to insinuate that I can't have an opinion that differs from your little circle's thoughts of warm apple cider and fluffy puppies. I must be wrong for having my own opinion.

Back to your regularly scheduled rant.

[Skylinersop16]

This is exactly how I felt when ABC cut in from a commercial and talked all the way through Pocono Mountain East's performance at Macy's. People couldn't understand then why I was so PO'd about that. Fact is I worked with that band and sat in a few times to play with them. They worked very hard for that spot and didn't get the reward they deserved. (Bright side, they did get a shot on Letterman that night :) )

I can't relate to the Disney event but I'm sure a lot of the same feelings are coming across here.

My suggestion: Fix a camera on one spot in these parades and get rid of the announcers. Let the camera pick up the parade as if it were a fan watching from the side. (Or a bird's eye view in this case) That way you get to watch just the parade. As far as commercials go, I haven't thought about how to deal with them yet :P

[zachariaswmb]

My suggestion: Fix a camera on one spot in these parades and get rid of the announcers. Let the camera pick up the parade as if it were a fan watching from the side. (Or a bird's eye view in this case) That way you get to watch just the parade. As far as commercials go, I haven't thought about how to deal with them yet :P

Haha, this really reminds me off the hi-cam vs. multi-cam argument. Some of us want to see just the high-cam, but it's just not gonna happen... :(

[MarimbasaurusRex]

This situation is so typical of the entertainment industry. They are accustomed to shooting 5 bazillion hours of footage and chopping it down to 30 seconds. Live events get similar treatment. It's not unusual at all to have talent prepare way more material than they need. It's also not unusual to have many last minute changes. The mark of professionalism in these circumstances is flexibility with a smile. See "thank you sir, may I have another?"

Film and TV is an incredibly wasteful enterprise. They'll use a whole forest of lumber and weeks of labor to make a studio set for a 15 second shot, and then throw it all in the dumpster. (No one wants to pull the nails so it goes to a salvage company and they buy new lumber for the next 30 seconds... and you wondered where all the trees went!) This is the same way they treat personnel, with the exception of headline talent, as something to be used and discarded. Consider how many good leading actresses you've seen once in a movie and never again. It's all about the flavor of the week and keeping it fast paced and fresh.

Unfortunately, DCI seems to be completely out of it's league when dealing with the real entertainment industry. In this case, DCI was taken advantage of, no question in my mind. The lure of literally 15 seconds of fame and "exposure" makes people do stupid things. Frankly, I've seen way too many good acts and organizations die of exposure and I don't buy that line anymore. Pay up or forget it.

I'm just sorry that kids and families had to pay cash money to WORK for Disney. In this context they are no longer just drum corps kids, they are "talent," entertainers providing near-professional level services for free to a high profit company. I think it would be wise for DCI to look into the SAG union rules governing child labor as a benchmark of what is considered fair in the industry.

Many of the kids seemed to have a good time and I'm glad for that. I congratulate every member for rising to the top and I hope they enjoyed the weekend. But, paying $600 each to make money for a big corporation like Disney? What was gained at the expense of these kids? Come on DCI. Get a better deal, or don't do it.

Incidentally, Disney is notorious for poor treatment of workers. They don't call it "Mouschwitz" for nothing. (I've worked for Disney as a musician and consultant and did my masters at the Disney arts school, Calarts, where I teach in the summer. Magic Kingdom, it's not.)

[Marc66]

I just sent the following to ABC programming. While only allowed 500 characters, I felt it was necessary, in light of the pathetic coverage on yesterday's Disney World Promotional Video...uh, I mean Christmas Parade. ^0^ ^0^ ^0^

I am writing to voice my extreme displeasure at your Disney Christmas Parade coverage, most notably with the coverage of the Drum Corps International Honor Corps.

That you had this group on television for a total of around 10 seconds before cutting to a commercial was ridiculous. Wasn't this supposed to be a parade? What I witnessed was nothing more than a Disney World promo video.

The members of the corps paid good money to be there. ABC could have at least given more time on camera.

I suggest others join in writing.

ABC.com

[oldbandguy]

I'm just sorry that kids and families had to pay cash money to WORK for Disney. In this context they are no longer just drum corps kids, they are "talent," entertainers providing near-professional level services for free to a high profit company. I think it would be wise for DCI to look into the SAG union rules governing child labor as a benchmark of what is considered fair in the industry.

And a good Disney lawyer would ask..."what's the difference between the way Disney used these

kids for free labor and the way DCI used the same kids all season long for free labor?"

Same argument could and has been used for college sports...but at least they're getting a

free education.

[perc2100]

And a good Disney lawyer would ask..."what's the difference between the way Disney used these

kids for free labor and the way DCI used the same kids all season long for free labor?"

Same argument could and has been used for college sports...but at least they're getting a

free education.

AND the colleges get HUGE paychecks from some of those sporting events (tournaments and football bowl games in particular).

My question would have to be what exactly did DCI and/or it's member corps gain from this experience? If members had to not only pay for transportation to Orlando, but also hotels and park admission, I don't see what was gained from this entire event? I can take a weekend trip to Disney with my corps buddies and probably have just about as much fun as was had, for the same (or cheaper) price, and not have to worry about the stress/huge time commitment involved with the Honor Corps thing.

I've taken high school and middle school performing groups to Disney on many occasions, and the way we alwys work the deal with Disney is we perform a concert or parade, and then the kids get into Disneyland for free.

People keep arguing the "experience and fun are the important things," but the only reason why those kids paid so much to get there was to perform in a nationally televised event. A lot of people on here might not know about other DCI Honor/All-Star corps who had the same type of experience for free and got WAY more coverage. Hopefully this endeavor was a learning experience for DCI, and in the future they continue doing All-Star/Honor Corps events that are in the end worthile to DCI, and not just worthwhile to whatever corporation is sponsoring the event.

On the other side, I too hope DCI can secure footage of the entire peformance to post on their sight. At least they can maybe show the footage as a congratulations/tribute to the members who represented DCI well. I'd love to see the final performance, so we can all appreciate the members' hard work and dedication to their craft.

--

doug

[hobscrk777]

I think the point everyone is trying to make is: ABC stiffed us. [us being TV viewers]

[jonnyboy]

I missed the parade in the AM, but caught a rerun late night. What a crock....ten seconds? I stayed tuned for a few minutes thinking they might come back for more footage, but being a professional parade watcher I knew it was all over.

DCI got burned on this one, and so did any kid that was under the impression they would get airtime. The real shame is, for whatever reason, the DCI product did not make the cut. Plain and simple. Not a knock on quaility, but more of a knock on Disney's infomertial format.

No gurantees can be demanded by DCI for an event like this, but how about rights to show the performance in full on DCI.org or video format? Heck, the only people that really want to see this are freinds, family and fans.