Review: "From the 50 Yard Line" puts you in the middle of the field of effort and emotion

About 10 years ago I heard a rumor about a movie concept that centered around a kid who had to overcome some adversity or another to perform with drum corps, specifically the now-defunct Magic of Orlando, something probably given a bit of legs given the connection between DCI, Disney and Orlando. I don't know if it was just that - a rumor - or if it was the early rumblings of what would become "DrumLine."

That movie was okay. But in reality, while the passion for band and drum & bugle corps and winter guard is individual, its source is a group-driven energy, from being part of something greater than one's self. The group itself matters, something that is hard to explain in film, a medium given to focusing on a individual characters.

All that to say this - today my oldest and I scurried up to NJ to screen "From the 50 Yard Line" (see a few posts below), the latest attempt in telling the story. And to my surprise - they get it right. Wait. Right? No. They get it dead on.

The Centerville (OH) HS Band is the focus of the documentary-that-is-really-a-movie, although it also touches on the West Hollywood (CA) Fairfax High School, a "new" band in a school that hasn't had one in 18 years. The story is a simple year (April 2006 to April 2007) in the life of the band, one that captures all of the things I have seen and experienced in band.

Joy. Tears. Work. Life-saving. Life-enhancing. It is every cliche' in the band book, but none of them. It tells the story to those who don't know it. It affirms it for those who only experience it from the outside looking in. And it validates it for those that live it. You know, the kids who ... and the kid who ... and then there is the kid who ... all come together to be ... a band.

From auditions, to band camp, to group sessions, to rehearsals, to rain, to sun, to personal confessions, to the airlock, to the speech, to the banquet ... with third party humor thrown in (Bandology 101, 201 ...) ... the story captures one band and every band. It was immensely personal to me - the trumpet-to-mellophone conversion made me grin large, and then one student makes a short speech that pulled my heart hard because it was ripped right out of my son's band during his freshman year.

"From the 50 Yard Line" celebrates band, its relationship with football, and just plain fun. It lets the kids tell the story in a Charlie Brown-esqe fashion, with only appropriate interference from the teachers and with parents vital yet all but invisible. It shows the "show" like I think a good band movie should (and I think uses some digital tricks to enhance the viewing experience - see if you can find them). It uses modern camera techniques ("the band cam") but doesn't overplay them. The trailer soundtrack bothered me because I never heard the band itself, but now I have to say that the soundtrack was very fitting AND moved the story along.

The film is about 90 minutes long, and it is tight packed. If I had a one complaint, it is that I wish it would have done more of the compare/contrast with Fairfax. But this is a soft and pretty much personal complaint (my own North Dallas HS was similar in size and demographics and history of famous alumni); it would have been difficult to do this without shortchanging the story of each.

So - go find it, and go see it. I'm going to try to get more screenings set up even here. I wish today's good host, the Williamstown (NJ) HS band, had been able to fill the 1000 seats of the auditorium instead of just a few dozen. I think they tried, but needed more band support in the area.

But hey! Band camp is just a few months away ... less time then that when you take out two months for summer. Find a chance to screen the film for your band. Include the 8th graders. And do it before band camp (or so my son says).

Oh - and Mr. Harris - thanks for helping change my life ...

(Blogger's note: I visited Centerville a number of years ago when a tour volunteer for Carolina Crown, however I don't recall much other than Soaring Sounds being a well run drum corps show in a great venue. However, the fine two organizations are now linked through CrownTickets!)