VM (not quite) Live from Philly!

[BRWombat]

Okay, you guys are kind enough to follow all my chatter about the Vocal Majority and support me through our contest ups and downs, but only a handful of you have actually gotten to see us in person. I've so wanted to share what I do with you all, but the Society keeps in pretty strict compliance with copyright laws and synchronization licenses aren't always easy or cheap to come by, meaning very few contest videos get put online.

Well, I just found out that the video of our Platinum*-winning uptune from last July's contest in Philadelphia is now on YouTube! So please enjoy:

The Vocal Majority Chorus performing "When That Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam'"! :D:

*The judges say our medals are silver, but they sure look platinum to us!

[Big Wallaby]

Back row, third from the right, between two short guys, right?

I've decided that you guys are not the Vocal Majority. No, Wombat, you're a part of the Acrobatic Vocal Majority.

That was a fun video!

One thing I rarely care for with video production, you lose everyone who is on the edges of the choir because the video director doesn't want to have any dead space. While I understand that mentality, you miss a few people in all your shots, except the very wide shots.

[Goofyernmost]

Please, please, please don't take me wrong. You guys are absolutely great. The harmonies and pitch are spot on. The enthusiasm of the chorus is unduplicated, the chords, oh the chords...I have never witnessed a chorus that could find that fifth note in the rafters with the regularity of the VM. The tags are always powerful and goose bump inducing. The chord changes are flawless.

That said, I do have one personal concern. It seemed to me that there was a tad to much movement. I found it to be totally distracting. I had to close my eyes and just listen to fully appreciate the beauty of the singing. I know showmanship is a big part of competitions now and there certainly should be a more relaxed stance then back when I used to have to stand rigid, hand by my side, during competitions.

The sound of shoes hitting the floor, the scrape of objects moved along the stage and objects flying every directions was a little more than was necessary in my humble opinion. It really did take away from the performance. I still think that choreography is a good thing. When there is unison and order to the movement however, this seemed to be just mass movement. Perhaps that is what was intended but I just thought it was too much.

Again, and I want to be clear here, YOU GUYS ARE GREAT. Your music is unsurpassed and I usually love the chorus involvement in the story, but just a little toning back would have been more to my liking on this particular piece.

Like I said, please don't take offense because none is intended, it is just my personal thought.

[BRWombat]

Please, please, please don't take me wrong. You guys are absolutely great. The harmonies and pitch are spot on. The enthusiasm of the chorus is unduplicated, the chords, oh the chords...I have never witnessed a chorus that could find that fifth note in the rafters with the regularity of the VM. The tags are always powerful and goose bump inducing. The chord changes are flawless.

That said, I do have one personal concern. It seemed to me that there was a tad to much movement. I found it to be totally distracting. I had to close my eyes and just listen to fully appreciate the beauty of the singing. I know showmanship is a big part of competitions now and there certainly should be a more relaxed stance then back when I used to have to stand rigid, hand by my side, during competitions.

...

Like I said, please don't take offense because none is intended, it is just my personal thought.

No offense taken! Actually, you're not alone, and we've received word from the judges that the line has been pushed a tad too far (not just by us, but all the top choruses), and the choreo expectations are being dialed back. In fact, I suspect one factor in our decision not to compete this year is that the standards are in flux right now, and the judges are not all in agreement of what they're looking for (and not just in the Presentation category, but Singing and Music as well). Give us a single standard and we'll meet it, but don't change what's expected without communicating it clearly to the competitors.

As an aside, that's a clear reason we finished second in Philly. The winning chorus sings very cleanly and purely -- they're younger and fewer -- and some of the judges rewarded that more than emotional color and impact on the audience (which used to be valued more than just clean singing). And they still haven't settled the question of which is to be scored higher.

Personally, it's fine with me if they dial the choreo back. The amount of work and repetitions it takes to get into condition to do such vigorous choreo and sing at that level is brutal -- rewarding, but brutal -- and not just for us out-of-shape guys!

Back row, third from the right, between two short guys, right?

...One thing I rarely care for with video production, you lose everyone who is on the edges of the choir because the video director doesn't want to have any dead space. While I understand that mentality, you miss a few people in all your shots, except the very wide shots.

That's me!

Agreed on the video. It's one reason we don't get many TV appearances, though we've tried in the past. Even in widescreen format, our setup is still too wide, leaving the bad choice of (1) show everybody but from a distance and with lots of dead space, or (2) get close-ups and lose lots of people and miss the big picture of what the chorus is doing.

The video people at the contests have at least learned to do more wide shots for choreographed uptunes and save most of the close-ups for our ballads.

Thanks for the compliments!

[DisneyMom]

I LOVED IT!!!!! Great Performance, I liked all the choreography, and appreciate how difficult that must have been to sing during all of it (backflips:eek :)

FANTASTIC VIDEO!!!!! :) :) :)

[hobie16]

Agreed on the video. It's one reason we don't get many TV appearances, though we've tried in the past. Even in widescreen format, our setup is still too wide, leaving the bad choice of (1) show everybody but from a distance and with lots of dead space, or (2) get close-ups and lose lots of people and miss the big picture of what the chorus is doing.

Three camera shoot.

[Goofyernmost]

Wombat...I don't know if you have ever heard of these guys or not. I have included two separate YouTube posts because in some respect they hang in together. Anyway, the second half of the second one is pretty cute concerning barbershop gestures.

Hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG5_-8UekZs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x45SLNA ... re=related

[Big Wallaby]

Three camera shoot.

I call for a boom camera. 45' boom in the middle of the audience, and two more on each side, and one hanging from the ceiling should do the trick and really make for some fun shots. We could even add that flyover camera the NFL uses.

What am I up to, 7 cameras now?

Of course, we'll need several roaming cameras, and two mobile on-stage jibs.

[hobie16]

Use GoPro cameras. They're cheap and shoot HD. Use them in a helmet can config. Put one on the director and a few on the singers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo3M6EB8 ... r_embedded

[ktulu]

Don't forget a helicopter and blimp!