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Subject: If this really is the new era, how about a set change, WWE?
CamstunPWG187
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 03:06 PM
If this really is the new era, how about a set change, WWE?
I'm surprised I haven't seen this complained about here, but holy SHIT, it's been about 8 years since this company went HD with the
new set, and I must say, I'm tired of it.
The announcers are now calling this the "New Era", so why don't we actually change up the look? I think it's been looking stale for
quite some time, and I think anyone could agree that a fresh coat of paint can mean a world of difference in terms of old viewers looking at your
product and saying "oh wow, they changed it".
It's easy to know what era of WWE you are watching strictly by the set and look, and this last eight years has really blended together.
Why hasn't it changed? Certainly The Beav must have a say in it, being the director of television and all. Could it be money? A big screen
isn't that expensive to replace (for WWE), but is it a problem getting engineers to make a new set? I couldn't imagine it's that
hard for them to find some to get the job done.
I think it's high-time for a change in sets for all shows. Go back to interesting and unique PPV sets like the swinging blades from Backlash
or the wartime setting from Armageddon.
Do something interesting!
[Edited on 5-5-2016 by CamstunPWG187]
williamssl
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 03:59 PM
Think back to the Diva Revolution.
Now replace the words "Diva Revolution" with "New Era".
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Sam Is Neat
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 04:09 PM
A new set is good in theory, but in reality, how should they change it? The basic set up is pretty dialed in for television and with the exception of
some minor/cosmetic tweaks, I don't know what you can realistically expect from WWE. The big screen and set up IS expensive (yes, even for WWE)
and re-training your crew for a new structure, set up is also an expense. I am not sure how they can adequately change the arena presentation to
satisfy those that want something new.
If anything, I think where they can change is in the camera work. Different angles, less crash zooms on punches, kicks, etc. and perhaps make use of
technology with smaller, embedded cameras installed in various places. Having a Go Pro mounted to the top of a ring post facing in, for example, may
give you a couple of unique shots throughout a broadcast, or the camera suspended above the ring.
I also wouldn't mind them doing more Tale of The Tape style intros like they do in NXT. Anything you can do to try and legitimize the product
from a physical standpoint, as JR says.
CamstunPWG187
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 04:20 PM
What do you mean "How should they change it?". I've already stated already - give the set a new look. A new set doesn't really give
the camera crew that much to work around. What, new ring apron designs and rope color changes? Not seeing much camera work coming from the stage
area, as it is, so designing a new titantron area to look fresh shouldn't throw a wrench into production too much. If WWE's stage crew
could adjust to multiple set changes throughout the years, surely their crew could adjust to a new one. Hell, every PPV used to have an entirely
unique setup. RAW and Smackdown both used to have completely different sets.
It can be done.
Hell, they are apparently making a lot of money these days, so why not invest in a new set? It's been EIGHT YEARS, Sam, and you don't see
how one could complain that the set is feeling a tad stale?
I mean shit, if could they change it every 3-4 years back in the day, why can't they do it now?
[Edited on 5-5-2016 by CamstunPWG187]
nOOb
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 05:17 PM
I feel like a "new set" would also mean new intro music for Raw, and new intro music for Raw is a 50% chance of more Nickleback. I'm not
willing to play those odds.
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Sunday.
williamssl
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 05:46 PM
Changes, when they do happen, typically coincide with a new "season" and their season premiere, which is in early September. Music and opening
montage changes have happened then. If they're gonna do anything, it would be then.
My seemingly snarky comment about Divas Revolution was actually pretty on point. We're gonna hear a LOT of rhetoric about the New Era. Start
your drinking games re: every time you hear it. Set betting odds on over/under # of mentions in a show and run your own sports book.
Don't Mess With Texas
The Greek
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 06:53 PM
quote:Originally posted by Sam Is Neat
If anything, I think where they can change is in the camera work. Different angles, less crash zooms on punches, kicks, etc. and perhaps make use of
technology with smaller, embedded cameras installed in various places.
^^ YES, THIS! For God's sake, get RID of the crash zooms.... hated it back in the WCW days and even more now! OK, I'm just getting old
and cranky, but still.......
bigfatgoalie
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 09:32 PM
The NXT set is different and still has a video wall. Hell...even having the ramp/set on the other side would be a big change.
And I know the WWE paid a lot for the set when they went to HD...but haven't they got that money back? And if $$$ is the issue, I'll go
further....get ride of the video wall and have more premium, lower bowl seats.
They all ready have stopped using the screen during matches...so why have one? Most modern arenas have great screens on their scoreboards for
backstage skits. Go back to a Superstars curtain and logo. Have a side stage for interviews.
Save money, change the look, and improve the show all at the same time.
Sam Is Neat
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posted on 5-5-2016 at 11:53 PM
So you guys want them to go back to the 80's with their television product? Why not bring back green screen promos, too? Television audiences
are creatures of habit. Especially wrestling fans who can inexplicably complain about everything on the show, from the talent to creative, yet still
tune in every week. When that is your audience, I don't know if you want to change too many things in terms of presentation.
I still think they can change the presentation of the product without having to really change the set. The formatting of the show is really what is
stale, in my opinion. Every now and then when they start a show off with a match, instead of an in ring promo, it stands out since we are all so used
to seeing an authority figure/face of the company start off the show with some sort of promo.
I go back to the payback PPV where the Sami Zayn atack on Kevin Owens during the IC title match was refreshing since their segment seemingly bled over
into another one. Very much like the old Attitude/Crash TV days where seemingly anything could happen at any time. You don't see that to much
anymore as the TV formulas for wrestling has become very homogenized and bland.
Doing stuff like that a little more often, would help make the product look much more refreshing in my mind. Much more so than changing which side the
Titan Tron is on.
janerd75
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posted on 5-6-2016 at 12:57 AM
quote:Originally posted by Sam Is Neat
So you guys want them to go back to the 80's with their television product? Why not bring back green screen promos, too? Television audiences
are creatures of habit. Especially wrestling fans who can inexplicably complain about everything on the show, from the talent to creative, yet still
tune in every week. When that is your audience, I don't know if you want to change too many things in terms of presentation.
I still think they can change the presentation of the product without having to really change the set. The formatting of the show is really what is
stale, in my opinion. Every now and then when they start a show off with a match, instead of an in ring promo, it stands out since we are all so used
to seeing an authority figure/face of the company start off the show with some sort of promo.
I go back to the payback PPV where the Sami Zayn atack on Kevin Owens during the IC title match was refreshing since their segment seemingly bled over
into another one. Very much like the old Attitude/Crash TV days where seemingly anything could happen at any time. You don't see that to much
anymore as the TV formulas for wrestling has become very homogenized and bland.
Doing stuff like that a little more often, would help make the product look much more refreshing in my mind. Much more so than changing which side the
Titan Tron is on.
I'm more in this camp than the Feng Shui-ing the Titantron camp. Yeah, some simple aesthetic changes would be nice to denote a different era and
certainly that crash zoom thing is annoying as hell, but as always it's the homogeneous storytelling that bums me out the most. Like Sam
mentioned, I thought the Zayn attack on Owens blending into the IC title match was outstanding and harkened back to the Crash TV days. They
don't have to go Full Russo, but I always enjoy the product more when there's bleed over between segments and/or throughlines involving
guys you wouldn't necessarily pair together rather than it seeming like a bunch of unrelated wrestling vignettes strung together to make a 3
hour show.
My other peeve, as always, is the announcing. Ultimately, I think Maggle, JBL, and Byron are good soldiers "just following orders", so I can't
get too upset with them even though JBL to me comes off like a gladhandling chucklehead more often than not. Cole is Cole but otherwise fine so long
as they keep him behind the desk. I have no idea what Byron Saxton does. Seriously, can someone explain it? No offense to the guy, but I'd
rather see the General Manager laptop or Moppy or Head replace him as they are all a bit more lively and animated. I'd say bring Booker back at
least for the entertainment value of him shucky ducky quack quacking all over the muhfuggin' English language as per the custom of his people,
but I suppose that's off the table since We Are All Goo Backs Now.
And of course Vince and The Beav are in their ears so what are they to do? It's not like they'll go full Network and have a "I'm as
mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore" moment on live tv. Their blandness assures that they could be replaced and not missed within a
week if they even tried. Been listening to a lot of J.R. podcasts and watching old vids of Booby/Monsoon and Ventura/Monsoon and hell, even
Vince/Ventura and just those three teams alone blow away anything they've done in the announcing department for years. Shiiiiit, I'd take
Schiavone going on a hyperbolic bender over the milquetoast commentary we're getting now. Then agayn, that possibly could be the worst marriage
of producer and announcer in history as I can only imagine the shill storm that would arise from the hellish feedback loop of Vince screaming into
Tony's headset to remind him to tell viewers about the WWE Network for the eleventy billionth time in the first segment.
TL;DR The ol' girl might could use a paint job, but ultimately the driver is the one responsible for keeping it from hitting a wall or not.
�If only Africa had more mosquito nets, then every year we could save millions of mosquitoes from dying needlessly of A.I.D.S.� - Jimmy Carr
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posted on 5-6-2016 at 01:10 AM
What changing the packaging looks like:
What product innovations look like
Let's see this New Era thing become a sustained product innovation (or product re-invigoration) where the packaging is secondary if that.
[Edited on 5-6-2016 by williamssl]
Don't Mess With Texas
Sam Is Neat
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posted on 5-6-2016 at 06:58 AM
In terms of doing different and interesting things, why not link multiple backstage segments together in a one shot, single take style?
For example, showing The New Day talking and walking about Booty O's backstage, being their weird normal selves while they talk about who their
opponent is as they head towards the ring and passing another wrestler, say Kevin Owens, who is looking at them with a WTF look as the camera stays on
him walking up to Steph and Shane to complain about the IC Title situation, only to have the siblings stop him by setting up a match against Cesaro,
then walk off back towards another area backstage as the camera follows them (leaving Owens to go get ready for his newly announced match) as they
discuss the recent events of AJ Styles and Roman Reigns and how they plan to one up each other with stipulations for the next PPV before Shane or
Steph drops a cryptic sound bite before the fade to commercial.
Come back from commercial and The New Day's entrance fires up, they continue their nonsense on the way to the ring, talking about whatever,
before having their match.
You can replace the performers with whoever you want for the scenario above, but it would be an interesting way to bleed over various issues within
the WWE universe and present that backstage area as a buzzing world of activity, while still advancing story lines and giving relevance to areas of
the show that otherwise come off as time fillers and fluff.
Obviously this specific shot can't be done too often or else it is style for the sake of style. But these types of different ways of presenting
television should really be introduced into the product to catch the viewer's eye that this is different, therefore important. Because I do
agree that the presentation can, and is stale, but I think that is more of how it is filmed as opposed to what they are filming, if that makes sense.
janerd75
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posted on 5-6-2016 at 07:57 PM
quote:Originally posted by Sam Is Neat
In terms of doing different and interesting things, why not link multiple backstage segments together in a one shot, single take style?
If I get scenes like this one from "Charlie Work" backstage at Raw because of your suggestion I will give you all my monies.
If Dennis and Dee are Shane and Steph, that would make Frank Vince. So does that mean Charlie is Bucky The Beav?
�If only Africa had more mosquito nets, then every year we could save millions of mosquitoes from dying needlessly of A.I.D.S.� - Jimmy Carr
Don't they do that for The Rock everytime he's around? Walking backstage exchanging banter with several wrestlers on his way to the
ring.
[Edited on 5-7-2016 by First 9]
Sam Is Neat
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posted on 5-8-2016 at 04:59 AM
They have, yes. But that is a single tracking shot that focuses on one subject (Rock) as he traverses the landscape. Which is fine, and interesting
and different, all the same.
The main difference from The Rock skits and what was suggested above is that the subjects change from person to person, story line to story line.
Both are different from the regular filming you see on RAW though, hence why you are able to remember it easily (in the case of The Rock).
First 9
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posted on 5-8-2016 at 05:13 AM
Yeah, at this point I consider it a Rock signature because they only do it for him.
salmonjunkie
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posted on 5-8-2016 at 06:57 PM
quote:Originally posted by First 9
Yeah, at this point I consider it a Rock signature because they only do it for him.
He may be the only guy with the chops to be able to pull it off. A lot of those guys just can't act that well.
Sam Is Neat
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posted on 5-11-2016 at 04:11 AM
quote:Originally posted by salmonjunkie
quote:Originally posted by First 9
Yeah, at this point I consider it a Rock signature because they only do it for him.
He may be the only guy with the chops to be able to pull it off. A lot of those guys just can't act that well.
Okay again, no one is asking anyone to carry an entire 10 minute segment like Rock does with that. The idea would be to combine multiple backstage
segments that they are already doing, into a one shot.
And I think we (myself included...who actually brought it up, so shame on me) are too hung up on this specific shot. I used it as an example of how to
spruce up the existing product, realistically, without completely revamping the set, or even changing much of anything other than an occasional
difference in camera work.
Whether it is the aforementioned single shot, additional cameras located in new places, or even match placement at the top of the show, angles
bleeding over across segments or any other small thing that can be done to tweak the product in a positive way.
The overall point was that a new set isn't really needed, in my opinion.
The Bad Guy
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posted on 5-19-2016 at 10:35 PM
I've never liked the current set, and I particularly dislike how they stopped using a different set for Raw and SD.
Frankly the minimalist set they use on the "network specials" like the Japan show last year or Roadblock, that to me is a much better set than
anything else they use anymore. Pretty much the only time they put any effort into the set is for WM (and deservedly so) and I'll take just a
simple screen and walkway over the lazy shit their regular shows have been using any day.
Of course in WWE's view they probably consider it to be a different set now because of the LED board on the ring apron.
