JAMES BOND: INTRODUCTION
The First Page:
As the initial statement a band makes to its audience, the starting set carries a great deal of importance to the overall show design. It should be capable of capturing an audience’s attention as well as visually reflect the musical character of the first bars and stage the initial musical voices.
Anthony’s arrangement of the Bond theme presents some interesting challenges to the drill designer. It begins with ethereal motif play in the woodwinds but quickly builds to the shows first musical hit in just nine measures (34 counts).
- Style of Picture:
Ordinarily, I would begin a show with such a layered beginning with diffused design elements and rely heavily on the color guard to set a mystical mood. However, the Sterling Heights HS Marching Band is not a heavy competition band and the bulk of its performances are for home football games. The directors and I deemed that my initial approach would likely be considered too “artsy-fartsy” for the audience and decided we should come of the line with a more “traditional” look. What we came up with is a simple but strong linear and solid pattern that sets the majority of the band on a yard line or splitting yard lines. The below set is strong enough for the casual marching band fan to recognize as well as easy for the band to set under the usual harried, football halftime conditions.
- Staging the First Page:
As the initial musical statements are made in the upper woodwinds and bass voices, I made sure to stage them toward the front of the field and fairly close to center stage. As the trumpets and mid-voices add in after a fashion, it was safe to use them as a frame for the featured instruments.
Utilizing Recognizable Images:
One of the first images that pops into my mind when I hear the words James Bond comes from the opening credits where the silhouetted Bond is framed by a spiraling “rifle scope”. The staff determined that most audiences would recognize drill movement that attempts to recreate this film moment so we worked it into the opening movement. To achieve this, I staged a guard soloist at the center point of the woodwind + (see below photo). As the woodwinds spiral away from center, the reveal the “Bond’ soloist at the center of the circle.
Building The Hit:
As with most marching band developments, Anthony Messina builds his impact moment by adding voices. As mentioned above, the first voices utilized are those of the upper woodwinds and bass voices. To maximize the performance of these two sections, they are staged well toward the front of the field and near enough to one another where side-to-side phasing should not be a major issue.
As we move to page two, we are introduced to our “Bond” soloist center stage as well as six color guard upstage. The trumpets, mid-voices and basses move into a supporting frame to keep all eyes on the spiraling woodwinds and guard soloist.
As we get to page three, the trumpet arc is compacted to a linear form. This pulls the trumpets, mid-voices and bass voices closer to the center of the field and the front sideline. (Note the strong set placement of the centerline of each diamond. This will alleviate many cleaning headache down the road).
Page four develops by gating the trumpets and horns into diagonals to match those of the alto saxes and bass voices. The woodwind circle collapses to further contract the form. As more voices are added, three more color guard performers are added to increase the intensity.
Finally, everything rotates into a solid form for the first hit. Ordinarily, it would be important to pull the trumpets down stage a bit more to take advantage of their power. In the case of the arrangement for which I’m writing, this is a very short impact and the woodwinds are to be featured again after the hit. For these reasons, the woodwinds are left down stage and the trumpets remain backfield a bit. Also, as this is a short impact, I pulled the color guard into the band form to make a more intense focus. Tight angular work in this form should pick up the percussive feel of the music well.
Next Week: The Opener
