Wait.... Laser light show? What about the fireworks? No fireworks? WHAT???
The thing that really gives CSM students a thrill that will last them until next year, the amazing fireworks display of E-Days, WAS CANCELED! Replacing it was a laser light show that would normally get a laser physics enthusiast excited. But this laser show was far from phenomenal.
What made the laser light show so bad? Here are just a few concerns I had:
1) The school was ill-equipped. There were only four, stationary laser projectors, two of which only emitted green lasers.
2) The animations were neat at first, but it was clear that they were put together hastily. Parts of the animations were just stationary outlines that slid across the screen, an underwhelming element of the show.
3) The music selection was terrible. Classic rock did not mesh well with a show that inherently felt like it belonged at a rave. People got up and danced to the single pop song that was included, but the urge to dance evaporated for the rest of the show.
4) The attempt at sex appeal was so terrible, it was less than laughable. The producers apparently thought that poor outlines of women roller skating and doing strange dances would turn on the viewers. I felt embarrassed just to watch it.
5) The scanning of the lasers through the fog was neat since the air currents added a dynamic experience to the effect, but the novelty of the stationary scanning soon wore off.
6) Saying the laser show was a replacement for the fireworks would make any CSM student feel wronged.
I'm not saying the show was that terrible. I know a lot of effort must have been put into making the show as good as it was. I could have done no better myself. But there was just a feeling of monotony and awkwardness to the whole thing. The technology was all there, but its implementation was lacking a professional touch and a fitting musical environment.
All I can pray for is some rain so that the fireworks will be allowed once again. Then things may be right in the world once more.
Good review. I'm ashamed to admit I've never attended an e-days event (not that they're for faculty anyway). But I can feel good to just be attending next year, when the fireworks are (hopefully) back.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Don't miss the fireworks. Best I've ever seen. I really enjoyed the ore cart pull this year and the casino night. The concert was pretty cool too. Unfortunately, the best part of the laser light show, in my opinion, was the free Panda Express beforehand.
ReplyDeleteOuch. A little harsh. But I play with lasers a lot and know how projectors work, so maybe I'm just used to the technology. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing a show like the one in this post's picture.
Yeah, I'm surprised they went so lame--they know the students are very amped about the fireworks. Has something to do with budget, I would guess...
ReplyDeleteYeah, maybe. They might still have the fireworks show later this semester, so they had to find extra funds for the laser show, I'm sure. And I don't know how long it takes to make an impressive animation, but I suspect it is probably longer than the time frame they had to work with. There was probably a lot of scrambling to find something to replace the fireworks when the fire ban was put in place.
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