It was a frustrating theme that greeted the Posse when it was announced in the summer of 2009. A largely visual theme that would challenge the Posse to employ audio techniques to simulate audio depth. The trickery would be minor as the main producers (Capt F., Phal, and Coco) went with tried and true theme communication though the use of savvy clip selection.
It didn’t take long to realize that up until this year there are very few clips in film and television that have people saying “3-D” or like-minded banter. The intro would employ a sub-them of “going to the movies” to fill in the gaps. It was originally thought that 1950s Sci-Fi movies might provide a gold mine of clips, however that tack only yielded the opening pitch. Thanks to Family Guy and The Muppets in 3-D, some very useful clips helped carry the intro through.
As previously mentioned, the audio 3-D aspect of the intro is best represented by music selection, mild reverb, and editing. More extensive plans were made but time was a cruel mistress. A “Director’s Cut” is forthcoming with additional enhancements.
The final sequence or “toss” to the announcers continues to mature. This year the scripting was very overt with Phal providing the branding, Jack P. Diddley the station IDs, and Capt. F the final toss as for the first time in Trivia history the actual announcers for Trivia were introduced by name as the contest opened. One of the emerging traditions in this segment of the intro is a yearly statement that warns of “50 hours of non-stop …” followed by a phrase that references the theme. This concept was first used in TSI: Trivia Scene Investigation took a break for two years and returned in Vote Trivia ’08.
This sequence was a monumental challenge for Coco since he was tasked with creating a custom music bed that had specific backing elements tailored to the spoken script. It was like Tchaikovsky with his Nutcracker as Coco time and time again adjusted the bed timing as Capt F. requested maddening change after maddening change. This was aided by Coco’s discover early in the production process of digital studio master copy of I’ve Got a Feeling by The Black Eyed Peas. With over 26 tracks of elements that most of us only hear in mixed form, Coco was able to tailor the bed for the exact emotional feel as dictated by Capt F. Of course the exact emotional feel of Coco toward Capt F. after the experience was one of homicide.
A final kudos to the Voice of Corn and KVSC Station Manager Mamma Jo for executing the on-air playback of the intro. For the first time since Capt F. conceived of the intro and its role in building emotion toward the beginning of the contest there were no glitches such as mis-timed studio clocks to ruin the carefully crafted timing of the piece. This year the Voice of Corn, who has been hosting the Trivia Pregame show for the past five years, launched the intro with his usual back-timing savvy so that the legal station ID’s contained in the intro would hit at precisely at the top of the hour. Save for a few of the intros, most finish with a music bed to allow Mamma Jo to carry the energy as she begins hour one. This year her technique, tone, and word selection was perfection of execution as if in Capt F.’s minds eye.
