Horrendous production quality
Sept 10, 2013 0:11:59 GMT -5
MichaelMartini, Thunderbolt, and 2 more like this
Post by hitman4ever on Sept 10, 2013 0:11:59 GMT -5
Let me first start by stating the almost cliche enough to be WWE "long time lurker/infrequent poster" intro. With that out of the way...
I've been following the product since back in the mid 80's, and never have I had so many issues with the production quality of the product as I do now. WWE used to be the gold standard of production quality on wrestling shows. They always had the best camera angles and shots to appropriately frame the action and make the viewing experience enjoyable. Nowadays it seems the bar has been set so low even earthworms can't limbo beneath it.
Of course, we have everyone's favorite "seagull cheer" they seem to dub in to all their taped shows in the hopes that We The Sheeple will cheer for the workers they're trying to get over. That's pretty old hat and unlikely to ever be remedied, but it still irritates me to this day that We The TV Audience are subjected to such unauthentic and misrepresentative crowd reactions just because a show is pre-recorded. I refuse to watch any WWE product that isn't aired live just because of that. I have only watched enough Smackdown since it stopped airing live to determine that I don't like pre-recorded and heavily edited wrestling shows. For eff's sake, there's enough scripted content on the show already, how do we need scripted crowd reactions? We the audience are not now, nor were we ever dumb enough to buy into the forced push of talent who lack the ability to get themselves over. "Let's go Cena/Cena Sucks" being the proof of concept. Classic example of hearing without listening. Enough is enough, and it's time for a change.
Then there's the "Moments Ago/Earlier Tonight/Last Week On RAW" endless recaps of segments we've all already watched and haven't even had time to forget. DID YOU KNOW? WWE programming is watched by millions of viewers each week on DVR instead of live, so they can skip over your ridiculous intelligence insulting recaps. Even my father (who has late stage Alzheimer's) complains about having just seen those segments. Enough already, you have a 3 hour LIVE slot for RAW and 2/3 of your talent roster earns their living changing in and out of their gear whilst keeping the seats warm in the locker rooms, or testing the structural integrity of the stage area by all standing on it simultaneously. I stopped attending live events a few years ago simply because it becomes incredibly boring to sit on my hands until they go numb while you endlessly recap the 15 minutes of actual live TV you produced a week prior. I'm not paying $50 per ticket to watch WWE Rewind live on an arena jumbotron amongst a crowd of smelly and sweaty wrestling fans. Smarten the hell up.
Next up we have some relatively new issues, such as the MAZDACAM. Zoom Zoom? Also, the TENTACAM - holy crap it's an earthquake! Did you guys hire some amateur UFOlogist from YouTube to direct the cameramen? This is obviously deliberate on the part of the directors, because it's so damn predictable. Whose idea was it to keep the camera continuously moving while attempting to keep the subject as out of frame and out of focus as possible? I just watched what I *think* was the main event on RAW... I can't be sure though because it looked an awful lot like rafters, and some turnbuckles having a seizure. I mean, I really would love to see what this "Shield" faction is all about, but it's hard to become a fan when I can't actually see any of their work, you know? BIIIIIG BACK BODY DROP that hot garbage yesterday, please.
The last issue which I feel is worth a rant is the hard camera pandering. Every pinfall, every gesture, every taunt, every single finish - is now set up for presentation to the hard camera. Back in the day when we all watched rasslin', the finishes came suddenly, out of the blue, and weren't always set up to play to the hard camera. That gave the product the much needed illusion of authenticity. It helped the TV audience suspend their disbelief for a few fleeting moments - as if even the camera crew and directors weren't EXPECTING the finish, and they were caught off guard. Nowadays, every false finish has a simple tell in that you know the match isn't going to end because the tease isn't set up to play to the hard camera. OOPS. Way to ruin the drama. Oh look, it's the hard camera angle - 1...2...3! How absolutely shocking.
Anyways, I know most of these issues have been brought up here before (Moments Ago - I mentioned I'm a longtime lurker here), but my hope is that with a single thread dedicated to airing these grievances (along with the support and contributions of all you FANs and former Crappers), that maybe the WWE moles who read these boards will take the message back to whoever is in charge of these decisions and that we can actually make a difference and help improve the product for the future. If you have a gripe with the production quality of the product, please share it here even if it's a dead horse you've beaten in other threads past. These issues affect us all and your voices need to be heard.
I've been following the product since back in the mid 80's, and never have I had so many issues with the production quality of the product as I do now. WWE used to be the gold standard of production quality on wrestling shows. They always had the best camera angles and shots to appropriately frame the action and make the viewing experience enjoyable. Nowadays it seems the bar has been set so low even earthworms can't limbo beneath it.
Of course, we have everyone's favorite "seagull cheer" they seem to dub in to all their taped shows in the hopes that We The Sheeple will cheer for the workers they're trying to get over. That's pretty old hat and unlikely to ever be remedied, but it still irritates me to this day that We The TV Audience are subjected to such unauthentic and misrepresentative crowd reactions just because a show is pre-recorded. I refuse to watch any WWE product that isn't aired live just because of that. I have only watched enough Smackdown since it stopped airing live to determine that I don't like pre-recorded and heavily edited wrestling shows. For eff's sake, there's enough scripted content on the show already, how do we need scripted crowd reactions? We the audience are not now, nor were we ever dumb enough to buy into the forced push of talent who lack the ability to get themselves over. "Let's go Cena/Cena Sucks" being the proof of concept. Classic example of hearing without listening. Enough is enough, and it's time for a change.
Then there's the "Moments Ago/Earlier Tonight/Last Week On RAW" endless recaps of segments we've all already watched and haven't even had time to forget. DID YOU KNOW? WWE programming is watched by millions of viewers each week on DVR instead of live, so they can skip over your ridiculous intelligence insulting recaps. Even my father (who has late stage Alzheimer's) complains about having just seen those segments. Enough already, you have a 3 hour LIVE slot for RAW and 2/3 of your talent roster earns their living changing in and out of their gear whilst keeping the seats warm in the locker rooms, or testing the structural integrity of the stage area by all standing on it simultaneously. I stopped attending live events a few years ago simply because it becomes incredibly boring to sit on my hands until they go numb while you endlessly recap the 15 minutes of actual live TV you produced a week prior. I'm not paying $50 per ticket to watch WWE Rewind live on an arena jumbotron amongst a crowd of smelly and sweaty wrestling fans. Smarten the hell up.
Next up we have some relatively new issues, such as the MAZDACAM. Zoom Zoom? Also, the TENTACAM - holy crap it's an earthquake! Did you guys hire some amateur UFOlogist from YouTube to direct the cameramen? This is obviously deliberate on the part of the directors, because it's so damn predictable. Whose idea was it to keep the camera continuously moving while attempting to keep the subject as out of frame and out of focus as possible? I just watched what I *think* was the main event on RAW... I can't be sure though because it looked an awful lot like rafters, and some turnbuckles having a seizure. I mean, I really would love to see what this "Shield" faction is all about, but it's hard to become a fan when I can't actually see any of their work, you know? BIIIIIG BACK BODY DROP that hot garbage yesterday, please.
The last issue which I feel is worth a rant is the hard camera pandering. Every pinfall, every gesture, every taunt, every single finish - is now set up for presentation to the hard camera. Back in the day when we all watched rasslin', the finishes came suddenly, out of the blue, and weren't always set up to play to the hard camera. That gave the product the much needed illusion of authenticity. It helped the TV audience suspend their disbelief for a few fleeting moments - as if even the camera crew and directors weren't EXPECTING the finish, and they were caught off guard. Nowadays, every false finish has a simple tell in that you know the match isn't going to end because the tease isn't set up to play to the hard camera. OOPS. Way to ruin the drama. Oh look, it's the hard camera angle - 1...2...3! How absolutely shocking.
Anyways, I know most of these issues have been brought up here before (Moments Ago - I mentioned I'm a longtime lurker here), but my hope is that with a single thread dedicated to airing these grievances (along with the support and contributions of all you FANs and former Crappers), that maybe the WWE moles who read these boards will take the message back to whoever is in charge of these decisions and that we can actually make a difference and help improve the product for the future. If you have a gripe with the production quality of the product, please share it here even if it's a dead horse you've beaten in other threads past. These issues affect us all and your voices need to be heard.
