Getting Organized
The beginning of the visual design season is pretty much the same every year. I predominantly write for fall marching bands and that means that the months of April-June is time spent organizing for the push into August/September. This includes contact with clients to begin collecting all of the important information:
1. What is the show?
2. What music will be in the show?
3. What other creative staff will be involved in constructing the show? (wind arranger, percussion arranger, color guard designer, etc.)
4. Who will be performing the show? (how many of each instrument, guard performers, etc.)
If you are a designer who is writing for multiple groups, you understand this can be a little complicated. Lots and lots of emails, text messages, google docs, and phone calls. There is a lot of information of which to keep track. It can be a little exhausting at times, but I LOVE IT! I really like the collaborative facet of the creative process!
I keep a folder for each group where the music, contract (yes, I use a contract), and other documents are stored. I like to have things in writing. An email is a much easier way for me to keep track of a number change or an idea from a color guard designer. A phone call while I’m driving across town leaves way too much to chance. One of my current clients did an audio recording voice over where they share ideas for the show. Brilliant! This gives me something to refer to as I’m starting my process. My process? Well here it is.
I collect as much information as possible. Musical scores, numbers of performers (they always change….but what are you gonna do?), input from other members of the creative team or director/client, and audio recordings of the music to be performed.
I spend a lot of time just listening/studying the musical scores. I’m looking for changes in feel, key, texture/voicings, tempo, etc. as clues to where visual ideas should change. I’m also looking for those big moments where dramatic effects HAVE to take place. I’m also looking for musical phrases where a particular shape should be formed by the group to communicate the idea behind the show or just that particular phrase. I usually use my iPod and build a playlist for each show. That way I can listen to it on the go while on a bike ride or walk. I’m really trying to figure out what the music is saying and how it works with the overall concept of the show. WHAT WILL THE PERFORMERS BE COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE MUSIC AND VISUAL PERFORMANCE?
I begin blocking the musical phrases in the music. I like to do the entire show before beginning to do any designing. I may generate some general ideas as I’m going through this process, but it’s really about identifying the phrasing and setting up the pacing for the design. By doing the entire show before moving to the actual design phase, it gives me and the client an opportunity to see the show’s pacing as a whole and then make adjustments if needed. Will there be too many sets (different pictures)? Should there be more? Can the group handle more? This also gives the rest of the creative staff an opportunity to chime in with their ideas BEFORE anything goes into the drill design software.
As I’m going through the blocking process, I’m jotting down words that come to mind to describe the music I’m hearing. Then I’ll go to the internet and use Google search to find images that are associated with those words. I may just find something I can use. The words may be descriptive of the music or related to the concept of the show.
All of this blocking information/word association is compiled into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will list the measures of the musical score identifying each phrase of the music along with the descriptors, notes about texture/voicings, tempo, and a few of the shapes I want to use in the design. At this point, I don’t know every shape for every phrase. I just know where the big moments are and what I want to do with those. The other shapes will come as I work from one big moment to the next.
Another strategy I employ involves Google (this is starting to read like a commercial for Google isn’t it?) once again. If the show’s theme is easily identifiable…..say a show of Spanish music. I will go to Google and do a search of Spanish art and architecture. I’ll look for inspiration for the flow of the design as well as possible shapes to use. Spanish iron work comes to mind as something I have used several times when designing a Spanish themed show. Even if the casual observer doesn’t see the connection, it gives me something to work with for inspiration and generating ideas. Much like a film composer may use a number to notate the number of pitches in a musical theme. The number of pitches may be derived from the number of characters in the movie. As movie goers, we probably won’t pick up on that, but the composer uses it in a creative way to inspire their work and to compose the score. Once I have made some decisions about what shapes can be used, I start looking at where in the timeline of the show to place them and in what order they need to happen. Are there shapes that naturally flow from one to another? Is there a particular shape that needs to be reoccurring as a motif?
Now I’m ready to begin working in the drill design software. You see, there is a lot more to this than just using the software. The software is a notation tool just like a typewriter or word processor. It doesn’t write the show or do the design for you. It merely helps you communicate your vision to the staff who will teach it and the performers who will bring it to life.
Love hearing from readers like you. Please leave a comment and/or share this blog with a friend. —DB