In search of 'America's Core'
by Holly Strother
He's seen the devastation of Hurricane Katrina while helping film "After the Storm" with documentary filmmaker Hilla Medalia. He's even created a few short films and directed the feature film "Autumn Angel" in 2005.
But this will be the first solo documentary for Idaho director Michael D. Gough.
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Gough and his sound engineer Aaron Greggory will spend the summer traveling with and filming the Casper Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps for the documentary "America's Core."
"This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time, ever since I was really in the drum and bugle corps," said Gough. He performed from 2000-2004
He started as a trumpet player for the first three years, then served as drum major for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
"I never really expected it to be huge, but it's getting bigger by the second. When I found out the corps was going to be back on track this year, I was like 'Oh I should try and pull out the documentary this year,' and just kind of follow the corps and see what happens," Gough said.
"I didn't really know that it was going to be such a big year. Everything is getting so big so fast. There are so many more members in the corps and everything is just running a lot smoother than it had and just looks like things are going to be great," he said.
Gough struggled to drum up sponsorship of his documentary, but soon found a close friend who lived next door to him in Boise, Idaho, who was willing to help him get his project off the ground.
"There's an old country musician named Pinto Bennett.He used to have a band called Tar Water back in the '70s," Gough said. Over dinner, Bennett asked to see some of Gough's past work with the corps and his complete project idea.
"He was really supportive of it and wanted to do it."
"America's Core"
Gough said it is hard to explain what it feels like to age-out or get too old to be a member of the corps.
"For me, I want this to be the best thing I've done so far, and I really think it will be. I've got the equipment; I've got the knowledge, and I've got the corps."
He hopes to catch what it means to be "America's Corps" in 170 hours of footage that will be condensed into a two-hour documentary.
"The Troopers are known as America's Corps and I kind of want to figure out - while documenting this thing, I think the angle is going to be what does that mean? And how is the Troopers America's Corps in the 21st century," Gough said.
"It is such an American thing really, to be able to go out and do these things and go to 21 states and perform before 500,000 American fans all across the country. And that's something that I want to try and capture and see how it ties into being America's Corps."
Gough and Greggory arrived in Casper with their equipment May 24 and will join the members at their pre-season camp in Cheyenne this weekend. They will wrap up filming a week after the corps final competition in Pasadena, Calif., later this summer.
After filming is complete, Gough will begin the editing process and said he hopes to have the finished product ready by next year - the corps' 50th anniversary.
Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part series about the Casper Troopers and its upcoming 2007 competition season.