MATCH THEMES

[Chief Rick]

For your Annual, State, Regional and/or National matches;

 

How do you come up with new themes/starting lines?

[Creeker, SASS #43022]

According to Google - and we all know they can't put it on the internet unless it's true...

Between movies and serials - since the creation of the "talkie" there have been approximately 4000 western themed films made.

 

Then you have western music, western literature, western lore, true event stories, and all the stories and movies that are westerns under their skin, (Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, etc.)

 

And then on top of that - you have the ability to adapt ANY film, music, story or personality that is a well known cultural touchstone.

 

I've done the Movies of Steve McQueen - westerns to Cool Hand Luke.

"What we have here; is a failure to communicate"

 

I've done Smokey and the Bandit.

"I'll get you - you sum..."

 

I've done the songs of Marty Robbins and the songs of Guns and Roses.

 

I've done Rango and Django.

 

And "If" you can incorporate anything further into the stage itself that supports the theme and starting line - even better.

 

When I did the Cool Hand Luke stage:

I found a movie poster image online that I blew up, printed and posted to add ambiance to the individual stage (I did this quite often with movie posters, book covers, album covers, etc.)

The shooters book got a short three line explanation of why Luke got arrested and sent to the labor camp (cutting the heads off of parking meters).

The starting line was the famous Strother Martin "Failure to comunicate" line.

I built some parking meter "facades" that stood in front of our static clay pigeon holders and you engaged the clay pigeons shooting thru the parking meters (obviously the facades were sacrificial).

 Write any decently entertaining stage and sequence to go with it and that stage is complete.

 

If you want to incorporate the theme into the shooting sequence - you just have to listen to whats being said and figure out "how" that works within the expected and accepted round count of a CAS stage.

An example of this is Clint Easywoods line from Fistful of Dollars as he passes the casket maker - he states, "Get three coffins ready" - after the gunfight, he walks back by and says, "My mistake, four coffins".

Setup 3 plates in a row - then a 4th plate offset from the others.

Engage the grouped plates 2x each - then the offset plate 4x.

Shooter starts with one hand on a pistol - other hand at chest level with 4 fingers pointing upward.

Starting line is "My mistake, 4 coffins"

 

Marty Robbins song "El Paso" gives an accounting of the cowboys giving chase as he returns to Roses Cantina - targets can be arrayed and engaged to correspond.

 

You are only limited by your own imagination and willingness to integrate your vision into a match.

Edited August 26 by Creeker, SASS #43022

[The Rainmaker, SASS #11631]

Usually use one of the many aforementioned Westerns; I try to keep up on what came out when and celebrate the anniversaries. Our last annual, we celebrated 30 years of Quigley Down Under. Props to go along with the theme (used during the stage or not) add to your theme. Last month, we celebrated the Tazmanian Devil's 70th birthday!

[Rattlesnake Slim]

At EOT, the next year's theme is the first thing discussed, often at the current year's Saturday night banquet. It seems that it is easier when everybody is in the moment, enjoying the event, and already excited about the next year. Honestly it seems like it gets harder to come up with good ideas the longer we put it off. Plus, we can't put it off too long because planning for stages, shooter's book layout, and numerous other things start almost immediately. Sponsors and vendors also appreciate knowing the theme as soon as possible for things like give-aways, tshirts, etc.

 

Also, don't wait for "a better idea". You don't have to take the first suggestion offered, but once you have something workable concentrate your efforts on developing it. Creeker has given some excellent ideas on how to flesh out the basic theme, the longer you give yourself to work on it the better it will turn out.