Legacy dvd review

[Geneva]

I remember the cloudburst well. We were next to perform in prelims and had to wait under the stands until the rain stopped. Man, how wet did you guys get? I remember that when we performed the field was like a wet sponge! During "La Fiesta Mexicana" a small ensemble of horn players sat on the turf wearing sombreros and shawls.The show had a wet ending (pun intended) for them. :P

If you remember two important features of 1974 in Ithaca. 1) It rained that day! ( I know that because Marion Cadets performed in a downpour) 2) At the time finals started the fog was so thick that any high camera shots were like looking at clouds from an airplane, whatever footage that would be available would not be worth watching!

[jhngreenwald]

I personally liked the Las Vegas type water features coming off all the drum heads and the pitch of my drum dropping each tune!

[MikeD]

I personally liked the Las Vegas type water features coming off all the drum heads and the pitch of my drum dropping each tune!

OT to this thread...but this brings back a memory....

We (Garfield) played a Dolphin/49'er summer exhibition game in Miami in 1971 on the way to VFW nats in Dallas....it POURED on us during half-time. The next day one of the main Miami newspapers had a front-page picture of our timpani line playing with water bouncing high off the drums in all directions.

Mike

[Marching Mallets]

Well, seeing how it spring, I actually prayed for snow last weekend.......because the entire DVD Legacy Collection showed up on my front door!

After Buying all of the VHS tapes up to 1992 back in 1993, I decided to just sell off my VHS tapes last year. I knew I would be buying the DVD set and with DCI having the 20% off Sale, I did.

The one thing I miss is the Commentary from Gene and Helen Rayburn, Pete Emmons, Maynard and Carmine. Plus all the other little after effects you got to see on the PBS broadcast.

Now, I've heard this, can someone conform it. Is the Audio of the 1981 DCI finals in Canada hidden on the 1981 Midwest DVD.

I have not opened it yet, so if someone can clue me in, I would appreciate it!

[shawn craig]

FIRST, WHY DID THEY NOT PRODUCE THEM IN BROADCAST ORDER OR PROGRESSIVE PLACEMENT?

1-12 IS NOT AS EASY TO WATCH VS 12-1. IT IS NICE TO SEE PLACEMENT PROGRESSION, NOT NECESSARILY QUALITY PROGRESSION. WE DID NOT NEED THE "IN BETWEEN VIGNETTES", BUT I LIKE TO WATCH THEM AS IF I WAS THERE AGAIN. YOU WOULD NOT WATCH A TAPED FOOTBALL GAME QTRS 4-1.

I also don't understand why they go from 1-12 instead of 12-1. I end up re-programming the DVD player every few shows: 9-12, then 5-8, then 1-4. It's a pain but I can't watch them 1-12.

I also prefer High cam view when possible. Some years or shows are better about less close ups, but mostly too many. With some shows I feel like I've watched a solo guard performance but not a drum corps show.

I would also like many of the 13-25 corps. Lots of great stuff being missed hear.

[jjeffeory]

Sorry. But there's no alternative for someone who wants to see most of these shows on DVD. The fact that people are purchasing the only option available in an activity that has a ridiculously fanatical following like Drum Corps hardly proves that the DVDs were done "right in the first place".

In my case, I wanted to see 87 Sky Ryders (my rookie year). Purchasing the Legacy DVD was the only way I could do that. It's not available anywhere else in any other form. That doesn't prove anything about the production quality of that DVD.

If these DVDs have in fact been an unmitigated success for DCI, it's because people were practically frothing at the mouth to see some of these shows in any form, no matter what they might think of the production value after DCI already has their money.

And pertaining to the lack of High Cam on the Legacy DVDs:

I too think it's a crying shame that we can't choose that angle. And I would have paid extra for the privilege. Drum Corps shows are designed to be viewed from a fixed point in the stands. So why not make a viewing experience available that is EXACTLY what the designers were going for?

The shots of 87 Sky Ryders focused on the colorguard the entire time. Very little of Marc Sylvester's drill is shown. You can actually here the audience reacting to drill that is not shown. I understand why this happened, because our guard was the focus of the entire show, pretty much. But the drill should have been available on the DVD if a tape of it exists somewhere.

I purchased high cam angle VHS tapes for individual corps finals performances in 88, 89 and 90. So I know those at least did exist at one time. And there's no High Cam option on those years either.

I agree with 99% of this. No offense to Mobrien or anyone for that matter BUT we are a captive audience. The quality of the product is irrevelant. We should just be thankful that something is available. Well, not REALLY, but that's the vibe I got from the previous poster. The poster does offer a good suggestion though, see if there are other places to get the videos you want. I know it won't help with Sky Ryders, but it could help with other corps. That being said, I do think we have a good quality product. I would just like the option of getting a high-cam vid and 13-25th place corps too. I have seen the multicam version a million times through the years.

Edited May 29, 2006 by jjeffeory

[jjeffeory]

From what I here. ALL of those "recordings" belong to Video Express, the company that produced them. I think DCI only had rights to the "broadcast" that was shown on PBS. Thus that's all we get. When the two companies parted ways. It wasn't pretty. They pretty much took their toys and went home.

It looks like 800 Video Express is now doing the same thing to BOA. Greedy company...

[leed17]

Hi everyone - thought I'd chime in on this topic.

First, I am an avid collector of DCI vids, so I pretty much know whats out there, etc. As far as high camera goes, here is the list:

Don't know about pre-1980, I know I haven't seen any high cam vids from those years on ebay, etc.

1980-87 - DCI produced high cam sets of Prelims (or Semis). There was no high cam video produced of finals. So if DCI was to try and put high cam vids on the Legacy DVD's for those years, they would have to put the semis performance of each corps high cam show, then the finals show from PBS. That would take away the ability to press the angle button and switch from high to multiple cam for each show. You would have to watch each show separately, which would still be ok with me :) Also, 1982 prelim high cam was a mess - the sound did not sync up with the video, causing the corps to look a few measures ahead of the music visually as the show progressed! Don't know if thats a fixable thing due to the age of the vids.

1988 - 1994 - Video Express years - I believe high cam and multiple cam were produced for all Div. 1 corps from quarters, semis, and finals. DCI would have the ability to put the high cam track of finals on each legacy dvd for these years, as long as the original masters are still in the possession of DCI. Don't know about the whole Video Express/DCI right of possession issue. This of course would give us the ability to change angles during each finals show.

1995 - 1998 - DCI stopped using Video Express, and Tom Blair was not on the staff either, so the videos took a step backward. No high cam vids were made available to the public, so I am not aware if they exist or not. My guess is no. Unless they were offered to staff members and the masters are still available, there would be no way of putting a high cam track or video from these years on any legacy dvd.

1999 - Tom Blair came back, and I'm pretty sure the high cam videos, although not offered to the public, are available, and could be used for the legacy dvd to make a high cam track of finals. I read somewhere back then when the 2000 dvd's were first announced that the 1999 videos were set up to do this, but DCI was just not ready yet to release the DVD format.

Thats what I know so far, and am always learning more. I have spent tons of money on ebay procuring various high cam vids, semis and quarters vids, 13- 24 corps vids, etc., so it sure would be nice for DCI to just release all the stuff they have so I can stop checking ebay every day :) Even better, it would be cool in the future to see them put corps videos on Season pass for download to burn to dvd. Then they could basically release just about everything they have, including 13-24 corps, high cam, etc. Maybe someday!! :)

Lee D.