Hey this is the Internet, why can't we have two introductions to the same article? When I first learned the Cavaliers were doing a James Bond show, I immediately began thinking of headlines to use on DCI.org about their program: "March Another Day"
"From Rosemont with Love"
"The Corps that Loved Me" And on and on. It was if old Ian Fleming (original James Bond novelist, who died in 1964) had written his novels with pun-addicted headline writers and multimedia producers in mind. Meanwhile, after we'd heard the show, a short description ("James-Bond-meets-spaghetti-western") was employed frequently here to make the music make sense online. For this series of articles, which centers on how the "007" show came to be, I sent out a series of questions to members of the Cavaliers' braintrust at the beginning of September. Scott Koter and I had an hour-long phone discussion in mid-September, and I finally compiled all the other interview material this week via e-mail. Meanwhile, here's how the rest of the summer progressed for the DCI.org team: As the spring wore on, DCI hired Katie Ford, a Colts alum, and former Cavaliers drum major Chris Weber to be a summer interns, working on DCI.org as well as other office tasks. Both handled writing, photos and multimedia Web production while at live events, and contibuted early season reports for the Web site as well. While getting acclimated to a truckload of new equipment (see below), the three of us took off to the nether regions of Illinois (we got lost somewhere past DeKalb) and came back with this early-season report of how the "007" season was progressing. We always like to head out to nearby spring rehearsals, and we got a lot of material from that visit to the metropolis of Norway, Ill. Periodically we jumped into the DCI.org Aston Martin (actually a crappy gray minivan) to visit corps near to the DCI office. As summer came around, the DCI.org crew hit the road. At events like Louisville, our ranks included Ricky Fritzsching (DCI.org's biggest computer geek), his wife, Tracy (a graphics expert), the intrepid Michael Boo, me, Katie and Chris. During Finals week our ranks also included Christina Mavroudis-Dempsey and Stefanie Kressaty, two better-known drum corps writers who were likewise turned into instant photographers. Matt Chavez, a software baron, also joined us for APD recording quality control. On the road, our gadgetry rivaled that of Q (the gadgetry expert of the James Bond films). Here's generally what we hauled along:
"From Rosemont with Love"
"The Corps that Loved Me" And on and on. It was if old Ian Fleming (original James Bond novelist, who died in 1964) had written his novels with pun-addicted headline writers and multimedia producers in mind. Meanwhile, after we'd heard the show, a short description ("James-Bond-meets-spaghetti-western") was employed frequently here to make the music make sense online. For this series of articles, which centers on how the "007" show came to be, I sent out a series of questions to members of the Cavaliers' braintrust at the beginning of September. Scott Koter and I had an hour-long phone discussion in mid-September, and I finally compiled all the other interview material this week via e-mail. Meanwhile, here's how the rest of the summer progressed for the DCI.org team: As the spring wore on, DCI hired Katie Ford, a Colts alum, and former Cavaliers drum major Chris Weber to be a summer interns, working on DCI.org as well as other office tasks. Both handled writing, photos and multimedia Web production while at live events, and contibuted early season reports for the Web site as well. While getting acclimated to a truckload of new equipment (see below), the three of us took off to the nether regions of Illinois (we got lost somewhere past DeKalb) and came back with this early-season report of how the "007" season was progressing. We always like to head out to nearby spring rehearsals, and we got a lot of material from that visit to the metropolis of Norway, Ill. Periodically we jumped into the DCI.org Aston Martin (actually a crappy gray minivan) to visit corps near to the DCI office. As summer came around, the DCI.org crew hit the road. At events like Louisville, our ranks included Ricky Fritzsching (DCI.org's biggest computer geek), his wife, Tracy (a graphics expert), the intrepid Michael Boo, me, Katie and Chris. During Finals week our ranks also included Christina Mavroudis-Dempsey and Stefanie Kressaty, two better-known drum corps writers who were likewise turned into instant photographers. Matt Chavez, a software baron, also joined us for APD recording quality control. On the road, our gadgetry rivaled that of Q (the gadgetry expert of the James Bond films). Here's generally what we hauled along:
- 6 laptop computers of various shades and species (at least one dedicated to APD production at some events)
- 2 MP3 recorder/players
- 2 basic digital cameras that didn't take night photographs too well
- 1 digital video camera for features like "10 Questions"
- 1 superincredible camera for taking high-quality pics any time of day (courtesy of Katie Ford)
- 1 stationary Web cam for pictures
- 1 stationary Web cam for video captures like Sing Sing Sing - En Masse
- Approximately 2 miles of Cat-5 Internet cable
- An armada of power strips and mystery AC adaptors For live events, we interviewed corps members as they left the field, rushed back to an Internet connection, typed the stories, added pics and audio clips, and started all over again. Deadlines were every 11 minutes. Crazy. But really, there's no other way to do it.