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Designing With a Purpose
publication date: Mar 22, 2009
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author/source: Jason Hodges
How many times have you sat back and watched a top notch marching group, be it band or drum corps, and thought, "Man, how do they come up with this stuff?" The answer is simple: designing with a purpose. Inspiring and impressive shows are completely thought out from down beat to final cut off. There can be big design points or something as subtle and effective as great staging, but one thing remains consistent: The design has happened for a reason. Can you imagine asking a DCI finalist corps' drill writer why he wrote a certain move and then hearing the answer, "I do not know... It looked cool?" Absolutely not. The best designers will explain that they had a certain section doing a certain move to evoke a certain image or emotion in the viewer's mind. Sometimes that image will smack the audience/judge in the face; sometimes only one person will "get it" all season. But that's the genius of good design. If every second of your show is centered around good design and a strong concept, then the audience/judge will have to watch only a small portion of it to remember how well thought out it was. We cannot assume that this level of design is limited to BOA and DCI champion groups. You and your staff have the capacity to really sell every moment of your show by always approaching everything you do with a the question "Why?" After the "why" question is asked, a director must ask "How can this design convey what we desired?" In concert season , the director accomplishes this with score study, right? We choose to bring out certain lines or pitches to make the interpretation say what we feel it should say. The same goes for a good marching program, but of course on a much more visual level. Why are the mellos in a triangle? Why does the guard have that style of silk? Why a block instead of a wedge form? This is the simple, yet honest question that needs to be asked as you sit down for your first brainstorming session through your story-boarding, through the final tweaks before the last show. We can not forget that nagging doubt that many of us are faced with: a voice in the back of the head that says "I have this idea, but my kids can't or WON'T do that." There is a simple reply to that nagging doubt: You will not know until you try. If your "big idea" for the final push of the ballad includes 24 counts of body movement in the horn line, but you think all they'll be "able" to handle is to kneel down in 4 counts and go horns to the box, table that second option as a back up. You believe that they can accomplish that more complex move or interpret a difficult visual idea. With the right approach, we often forget how capable our young performers can be. And if you're still having doubts, the professionals at Dynamic Marching can definitely give you a hand turning that "crazy idea" into the most talked-about moment of the season.
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