TNA Production Values.

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Does the quality of the TNA Production truck affect your viewing pleasure? I must admit, that sometimes on a pay per view, when they miss an entire table spot or something of the like, it makes them look like indeed, a second rate show. Compared to WWE's production quality, how do you think TNA stack up? Do you even notice it? How do you feel this would affect January 4th?

I have friends who don't like wrestling. I'm sure we all do. When they turned on TNA, they started commenting on how poor the show seemed to be shot, even compared to the WWE, the bane of their existence. Granted they don't have a multi million dollar operation in the works, but would this pose a problem in attracting newer viewers who are used to the slick feel of the WWE?

Any comments?

 

[Tenta]

Look.... With how close TNA gets to Velvet Sky's ass when The Beautiful People enter, the TNA Camera Crew could be blind and deaf, and it still wouldn't matter to me.

Actually, in all seriousness, it is a problem. Part of it can be blamed on how quick people in TNA bounce around the six sided ring. It forces the crew to try and follow them around, and it's already very difficult to capture angles from a six sided ring, because there's so many places a wrestler can be. You can't miss spots, and that's granted, but I do feel TNA gets the marginal necessary things. Having said that, if TNA were to uptheir production value, I wouldn't complain. It stops fans from thinking of TNA as professionals, and on par with the WWE. And when they finally do correct these tiny mistakes, TNA will finally be for the better.

Just... Don't mess with my close up of Velvet Sky's ass.... Please?

 

[stingerfan]

Well there isnt many things TNA can stop or help with the camera crew with a six sided ring. One of the things they can help is the creativeness of the product itself.
For starts, they can stop getting old WWE wrestlers leading their ppv's.
Second, they can upgrade their own talents like styles and s. joe, why? because they are the future of the company and they could headline any WWE event IF!!! they were WWE talent to begin with.
Third, they could loose the professor and overall with double j.
Other than that, TNA's product could be belivable and reliable to watch because those two overall are killing the company from within.
'

 

[Hundred Dollar Man]

I listen to Bubba the Love Sponge on Sirius and about a week or so ago he had Hulk Hogan on the phone and asked him about the ring. It sounds like it's going to go back to a 4 sided ring as it should be. Therefore problems with a 6-sided ring should be a thing of the past.

 

[Reddannihilation]

Well there isnt many things TNA can stop or help with the camera crew with a six sided ring. One of the things they can help is the creativeness of the product itself.
For starts, they can stop getting old WWE wrestlers leading their ppv's.
Second, they can upgrade their own talents like styles and s. joe, why? because they are the future of the company and they could headline any WWE event IF!!! they were WWE talent to begin with.
Third, they could loose the professor and overall with double j.
Other than that, TNA's product could be belivable and reliable to watch because those two overall are killing the company from within.
'

Have you not been watching since the begining of the year? Jarrett hasn't been on TV for months, AJ is champion and Daniels is the #1 contender. Seriously, try keeping up to date with things if you're going to critique them. In regards to the production values I'd say they need to up their number of camera's only 2 or 3 more is really necessary just to make sure they have total coverage. It doesn't really bother me that much but they could still make slight improvements.

 

[DexVendetta88]

When I introduce people to TNA wrestling, the first impression is always that they find it as a "second-rate" or "knock-off" version of the WWE. But you all have to remember that a majority of TNA's shows take place in the ImpactZone which doesn't charge entrance since it's inside Universal Studios, that PPVs, whatever live tours they do, merchandise, and whatever they can get from Panda Energy are the only sources of revenue that are coming in. Because of that, TNA's production values are not up to the standards of the WWE. I don't feel that the production values would be much of an impact on TNA on January 4 as long as they are putting on an above-average show which could draw in some extra viewers.

 

[johnbragg]

The former (fired on bad terms) Director of Production for TNA has a lot to say on this at nawf.com/blog. He's a former wrestler, and has a lot to say about the business side of TNA. Obviously he could just be a guy with an axe to grind, but he has a lot of detail.

STuff I remember...

He says that, if he knows TNA, they're using second-rate Hi-Def cameras that a sitcom or drama would use, not the "sport-standard" hi-def.

He says they underpay their production crew compared to industry standards.

HE says they wouldn't spend a few thousand dollars so that STing's rappelling-down thing would come down in the middle of the ring like STing wanted.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Compared to WWE's production quality, how do you think TNA stack up? Do you even notice it? How do you feel this would affect January 4th?

I sometimes feel like that quality is similar to a show from oldschool WWF. It doesn't really affect whether I like the show as much or not though. I just see it as TNA not having as much money as WWE does and they are doing the best with what they have right now. I respect them for trying. As for January 4th, it might affect a few people here and there. Some might like that it seems a little bit oldschool compared to WWE. We won't know about that until January 4th gets here though. I don't mind the production value much at all really because the show itself entertains me and that's what it should be about.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

TNA might not be able to match WWE when it comes to slick promo reels and highlight packages. But when it comes to camera angles and presentation they should be their equal. There are things you see in TNA that you don't in WWE.

If a WWE show hasn't sold as well as they'd have hoped, you won't find them filming from high up in the arena. They'll also take measures to move fans forwards and make the arena darker. TNA doesn't think like that. They'll show an arena wide shot where you can see how few people are really there.

You also don't notice WWE cameramen as much. You see them all the time, but like their referees they're not distracting. I can't count how mant times I've seen poorly directed camera shots where you see a camerman on the apron or leaning half way in the ring.

There are also more examples, and they could easily be rectified. I don't think people expect TNA to be as well produced as WWE but you've got to at least expect them to be competent.

 

[Kesteral]

TNA's camera and directing work is so poor, nearly every match you miss a good spot or don't get to see a replay and it just takes me out of the match. I start becoming annoyed with the camera angle they select instead of marking out over a sick bump. It's almost as if the camera man have no idea what's going on and what to shoot, so they just stick their camera at anything that looks interesting but end up missing everything important.

If they want to match the WWE, they're going to need equal production values so they should really start hiring and firing. At least if the WWE miss something or don't get a good angle they show a replay that highlights it better. TNA on the other hand doesn't do that, and usually only show replays during the package at the end of the match.

To give them a little credit, a lot of the matches are so fast paced and full of spots that it must hard to follow all the action, but, they still shouldn't be missing the big planned spots (Daffnee going through the table for instance.) They already feel small time to the WWE in every way, at least make production something they can match.

Who's going to tune in to see Hogan if you can't actually see him?

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Absolutely, but I've been called many things for noticing, and conversely for wanting to change those things because they're seen as nitpicking, whereas there are "larger fish to fry", in a sense.

• The camera men who cover the action of wrestlers coming to the ring often zooms in and out, quite incessantly, which again makes them look amateur.

• They will miss spots entirely, or partially for what should be choreographed and known points in the match – especially at a PPV.

• They use a "voice of God" in-arena announcer who doesn't really have the best voice for what he's doing, and additionally, he talks too much with regard to explaining what happened to the crowd.

• They adjusted their entrance graphics to this odd blue-looking older style which doesn't fit their product as much as the worn metal look they used prior. They also started adding in wrestlers "finishers" in their bio, which is incredibly out-dated.

There are quite a few of these things I'd like to shore up were I given the chance, but the Bischoff signing IMO will do that for me, because when Bischoff went to the AWA, and the WCW, the first things he did was clean the product up to sell the brand better by eliminating things that a lot of people may not have really noticed – nit-picking – and it worked.

 

[Blade]

Maybe their production values shouldn't annoy me. But sometimes it really does. I mean sometimes there's a complete lack of professionalism, especially when it comes to the camera men. I mean, TNA can't compete with promo packages and pyro and graphics and such. But that doesn't mean they have to hire cameramen who are complete idiots. I can't count the amount of times a TNA cameraman has missed a vital spot.

And sometimes, you're just so aware that there's cameramen filming, which has never happened in WWE. Like the 6 sides of steel matches and there's little bits of cage removed so the cameraman can peak the camera through. That annoys the living hell out of me.

At this point, ROH is doing as good a job as TNA in terms of production values. TNA just look so amature sometimes. And if they keep it like that, well they won't stand a chance against TNA. We as a TV watching audience like loud noises, crazy explosions and fireworks, and entertaining, dramatic packages about what happened on last weeks episode. TNA does none of this very well.

It's simple, if TNA want to compete with WWE, they have to ask themselves one question. Do they want to spend their money on older wrestlers who have left WWE and are demanding big contracts? Or do they want to spend their money on a flashy, modern, attention grabbing show? To the casual fan, the in ring product doesn't mean much. If it looks half assed from the start, then people will turn it off.

 

[ABMorales787]

I guess I'm the only one who likes the TNA camera work. WWE's camera work tends to be a bit flat for me. They just stand in place. In TNA you have the cameramen zoom in and out and follow wrestlers everywhere. They even have that XFL style camera hovering around. They should really use that one more often, but I still think the camerawork is fine in TNA. They have to follow a fast paced style. WWE uses a lot of rest holds and a more routine based moveset, so the cameramen can actually tell where to go next for their camera shots, as opposed to TNA, which uses a more unpredictable style. Even if its harder to keep up, I prefer great wrestling and slightly bad camerawork than simplistic 4 Moves Of Doom wrestling in HD. I prefer quality programming over quality display. Just my opinion.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

The whole ''faster style'' line doesn't work with me. It was never a problem in WCW or ECW when they had people flying all over the place. Nor when they had arena wide brawls.

It's also only be possible to accept it if each wrestler didn't perform the same moves each match. You know what you're going to get with an X-Divison match. And that's more moves than you need and every one that goes to the outside is in the direction of the announcers desk.

Maybe TNA should emply people to speak to the cameraman through earphones. ''Table spot, pan left'', ''Don't get so close, we don't need to see Abyss cut himself.''

 

[JJohns]

As far as production values go, I could care less about them. Some of my favorite shows to watch were the ECW Extreme TV shows that looked like they were edited using camcorders and a Windows 98 machine (I think the latter may actually be true, but I could be wrong.)

Production values never mattered to many wrestling fans. If they did, when WCW switched to that rather horrible looking entrance stage for Nitro (everyone knows which one I'm talking about, if you don't, it was the one that was shaped like the second WCW logo) then it would have pulled in more viewers. It was a slicker looking program.

Most fans actually watch wrestling for the entertainment values (unlike the 5% or so that watch for, well, wrestling and the less than 5% that watch because of "production values"). Anyone saying that TNA looking second rate because of the production values is looking for a cop out. It looks second rate because of some of the nonsensical booking from Vince Russo and formerly Dutch Mantell. It looks second rate because of some of their characters, like "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and Cody Deener.

 

[school-of-hard-knocks]

Honestly, I think TNA needs to start running shows in bigger arenas. Running TV shows in front of 1,300 people compared to WWE running theirs in front of 15,000 is what in my opinion makes TNA appear second rate. I am not trying to knock TNA fans but everything about watching TNA screams a small company. The ridiculous crowd chants, small arena, mediocre camera crew, it just doesn't add up to something that could be a threat to WWE.

Don't get me wrong, creative is as important if not more important than all of this. They need to start doing something that will attract the people to watch TNA. But before they are able to do anything they need to find a way to sell out bigger arenas even if they sell the tickets for $10. A crowd of 10,000 would make TNA look a lot more credible than a crowd of 1,300.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

Honestly, I think TNA needs to start running shows in bigger arenas. Running TV shows in front of 1,300 people compared to WWE running theirs in front of 15,000 is what in my opinion makes TNA appear second rate. I am not trying to knock TNA fans but everything about watching TNA screams a small company. The ridiculous crowd chants, small arena, mediocre camera crew, it just doesn't add up to something that could be a threat to WWE.

Don't get me wrong, creative is as important if not more important than all of this. They need to start doing something that will attract the people to watch TNA. But before they are able to do anything they need to find a way to sell out bigger arenas even if they sell the tickets for $10. A crowd of 10,000 would make TNA look a lot more credible than a crowd of 1,300.

They have to establish more credibility toward the product in order to do so, first.

WCW worked out of the Disney studios for about a year before they garnered the ratings and fan-base necessary to start filling arenas for live events.

Hogan did for WCW exactly what he's intending to do for TNA – help raise the ratings over the course of a year on his name attraction alone, which in turn assures the company and it's parent owner (Panda Energy) that the investments are worth taking the next step.

It's one of the major reasons I'm so happy to have Eric Bischoff working with TNA right now.

 

[NSL]

I don't really get the problem with it. They miss some spots, but all of the big ones are always caught. When they miss something, it makes it seem less scripted, like they didn't know it was coming, and then we get a replay anyway.

What's wrong with going back to when we were kids, and didn't know wrestling was scripted? I like it. Whether it's real or not, I like it.

 

[BigAdz]

The biggest issue I have with the production value of TNA is the poor placing of the cameras that reveal kayfabe. IE. a camera pointing up into the ring at an angle that shows Wrestler 1 didn't actually make contact with that last elbow shot.
Stuff like that happens across the board of course but I notice it more with TNA and there's absolutely no excuse for that.

And to all those saying "they're not well funded" et al, let me give you one example to shoot that down completely: E-C-F'N-W. Paul Heyman and co. had far less funding than TNA do today and STILL put on a more solid show than Dixie/Hogan do. The cameras were grainy, the entrance music was barely audible but I can count more missed spots and camera fuck ups in the 2 odd years I've been watching TNA than I can in the entire 10 year history of ECW.

 

[makeitvab]

My biggest problem with their camerawork is they frequently masterbate by showing crowds chanting "TNA" and as a result you'll miss action, or they just cut to a guest commentator or hell even just taz and mike tenay.

My friend and I joke that with all their frequent cut-aways, one day you'll hear mike tenay exclaim "my god! a dragon just flew into the arena, only to be slayed by aj styles and it then disinigrated!" and by the crowd's reaction you'll know he's not lieing.

 

[Toroc102]

I don't know how exactly to explain it but to me TNA does look second rate. I dunno what it is but just the total look of it, its like their using 3rd generation hand me down camera's or something.

Also, they do need to travel outside of the Impact Zone more often, but then again if they don't have the fan base its not worth it. I would say that TNA definately looks like a second or even 3rd rate show for the most par. To me even ECW looked better, and looking at it on Ytube I'm going to say it was because of the ring the colors and the arena. I think something about the circularness of TNA makes it seem second rate, like from a square to a hexagon, also the fact that the Impact arena just isn't huge enough.

Also, many of the Impact fans kind've seem stupid. They kind've look and sound like morons too, I went to a couple Impact shows, I saw them doing the stupid thing where they move their arms up and down and point their fingers up, or how every othe chant is _____is awesome clap clap clap...
____is awesome clap clap clap. I was like wow, ya'll look like ******s.

 

[absent]

With TNA being shot in the same venue/studio almost every time they have no excuse for not having camera placement and spot placement worked down to a T. Not having the right angles on stuff is a failure in either not having enough cameras, not informing the camera men of what/when the important spots are, not having fast enough cutters in the truck or not honing your set-up enough. The only variable is the in-ring action, and given the fact that they use the exact same venue and set-up time after time without having to adapt to different environments, there's little excuse for not working out a damn good set-up that can cover action on the fly. But that said, the commentators can also cover up a missed spot realistically by commenting on it, acknowledging it was missed by the cameras and not ignoring the failing, 'cos it is "live" after all (for PPVs at least, TV tapings there is no excuse).