Search
Close this search box.

Four Points of Show Planning

Gary Czapinski | July 2010


    To create the most entertaining marching band show possible, it is imperative to choose the right music. The show music should have highs and lows and opportunities to develop visual ideas, it should showcase the skills of the performers, and it should be something that both performers and audience can enjoy. When the music is picked, the visual show can be planned. The best way to plan a show is by remembering four points: staging, adaptability, coordination, and continuity. I like to refer to these as the SACC Method.
    Staging is defined as the proper placement of elements, with respect to both position and time, to produce the greatest effect. In other words, it is putting the right thing in the right place at the right time.
    Staging includes both visual and audio effects. Visual effects should highlight the music; a good example would be a flag feature placed in a straight line or slight arc across the front sideline from one 30-yard line to the other. Audio effects bring attention to a section of the band by diverting audience attention to them prior to and during that section’s solo. Staging ideally combines visual and audio effects.

    Adaptability is making sure the movement and choreography are musical and work for marching band. All elements and equipment used in a show should work with the music and the stage. Just as visual routines must fit the music, they must also fit the football field and take into consideration weather conditions. In addition to all this, the story should be told in a way the audience will understand.
    After the compulsory round in Olympic figure skating, each skater has an opportunity to choreograph a free-style routine to the music she selected. This routine must show both skill and timing in executing the figures, and it must also show the skaters ability to adapt those figures to the music – an important factor in obtaining the highest possible scores.
    A good example from dance was presented by Gower Champion in the musical “Hello Dolly.” The company, performing “Put On Your Sunday Clothes” became a train in motion and sound. Parasols were turned into wheels, and feet became pistons and rods, culminating in the entire cast inching across the stage as a driving, pulsating locomotive.
    I have seen the locomotive concept adapted to marching band. The rifles and tom toms became the cowcatcher, the cymbals were the beacon, the color guard used flags as pistons, and the drum major was the engineer. Every element of the band was used. This demonstrates that no group is restricted to having just one part of the marching band portray the theme, but that everything can have an important part in the production.
    Although the locomotive example is intricate and difficult, this is less important than a fitting adaptation of motion to music, no matter how simple the motion may be. For example, visualize a band in a circle with flags blossoming to highlight the expansion of the circle. This is simpler to coordinate than the locomotive, but it will be just as effective if it is well tailored to the music.

    Coordination is the harmonious presentation of effects, including flow, blend, and adaptability of show elements, to create an aesthetically pleasing whole. This is a demanding process as it forces show designers to get an overview of all aspects of the program.
    Some things to consider at this stage include the relationships between adjacent visual effects and both adjacent and simultaneous patterns. There should be a continuity and flow between patterns. Some aspects of a show may not fit together; there is a difference between something enhancing the presentation and simply occurring at the same time. Something that does not enhance the featured spot on the field will only distract from it.

    Continuity, a step up from coordination, is the logical and orderly sequence of maneuvers and the compatability of all the details necessary to ensure a smooth, entertaining presentation. Two examples of techniques a designer uses to produce continuity include a perfect end-to-start relationship, attained by ending the preceding move with the formation that will be used to start the next one, and such diversionary tactics as featuring a section of the band while moving the rest of the group into a ready position.
    Show designers should ask three questions about their work:
        •  Are section features or other methods used to ensure smooth and consistent entertainment and avoid dull spots?
        •  Are effective or significant maneuvers presented one after another without wasting time or including a move that does not maintain interest?
        •  Are upcoming maneuvers tele-graphed too early and too often so that when the maneuver finally occurs it is not very effective?
    I consider continuity to be the most important facet of a well-written program. It makes the difference in entertainment value. Consider a show that presents pictures, but between pictures the transitions look like mob scenes. This is neither attractive nor entertaining, especially when it is possible for a program to flow from one maneuver and idea to another without losing the audience’s attention.
    Although there are many other factors encompassing the showmanship or salesmanship of the program to be taken into consideration, the techniques here are the four major tools for designers to create a musical and entertaining show that audience and judges will want to see it time and time again.