Lots of college marching bands went virtual in 2020, and many published virtual performances. Then there’s Michigan. This video is above and beyond. They animated the Big House!
If all college marching bands did virtual performances like this, the world would catch fire with newfound enthusiasm for marching arts at the collegiate level.
What we like about it
It starts out pretty standard. But within seconds, they establish a really cool motif— performers “marching” or moving through the video frame. And it all just keeps getting better from there.
By about 1:30, the momentum of the video starts building toward something. 10 seconds later, we hit the payoff:
Performers are edited into a an animated version of Michigan’s famous “Big House” stadium.
Fitting for the title of the video: No Place like Home—the stadium is the Michigan Marching Band’s home. The video is complete with a gameday voiceover, an animated crowd and cheerleaders, and even a “Go Blue” banner animated airplane flyover.
The attention to detail on the semi-animated sequence of this video is absolutely incredible.
And we end with a familiar Zoom-style grid of 221 band members (yes, I counted) playing their fight song. A+ all around on this video!