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Post by Gormy on Jul 4, 2004 22:16:38 GMT 1
I know you think that I am probably going to tell you all that I have had a brain transplant ala 'The Man With Two Brains' but I'm not.
However, I am going to get some feedback from everyone and especially the staff on something that has come to light in the Mckenna/Sykes household.
We were playing poker and having a few beers, as you do. I was winning, (eventually) and the discussion turned to promos. I said I had to write an extra one (I always do if I'm not in a match) and UKG said he had to vote.
I must point out we are not lazy shits that leave it to the last minute, our PC has been in intesive care with round the clock nursing care for the last week or so.
Anyway, we were discussing Rage promos. UKG said he likes a Rage promo to be more about the match ahead, opponent etc and be downright meaner as well as being a good read. I then pointed out, if I was in a Rage match and felt it vital for my character to be in a field of flowers looking at the clouds then I would write it. He said it would be probably voted down by him because of that.
I reckon it is only down to the quality of writing, whatever it may be about, UKG says it is also down to the content of the writing.
I would love feedback from everyone on this. Only because I am determind to throw my hand in at going for it!!!!!!!!!
Discuss
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Post by soulreaper on Jul 5, 2004 2:10:25 GMT 1
I dunno, I see a lot of the people promo votes tending to be the same old shit, and if you don't think they are, check out the promo votes when they are released, the same people are typically getting the same score...one vote surprised me in a bad way and I'm gonna talk to this person in private about it, as it doesn't quite fit. Either way, I tend to think people don't read the promos or are just not really grading them on any sort of criteria.
Sometimes I notice somebody will say "better than last time and thus half a point better", blah, if thats all you care about don't grade it. Try to see the point that is being made, or rather don't try and grade it by what you WANTED out of it rather than the message that the writer was trying to get across.
To be honest, whenever I get around to looking at promos tonight, I will look for, grammar, a point, depth of character, how well it flows, and if its believable. Thats what I look for, depth of character is a real big one on me, I mean if your just cranking out the same promo with a different opponent then your gonna get scored lower by me.
A 5 promo is going to be something new, something with a good flow, and something I could imagine on TV and saying "Damn that was cool/trippy.
Like I said, though most of the time I see the same score with a different week attached to it, and no real reason why.
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Post by Reaper on Jul 5, 2004 14:19:23 GMT 1
Hmm. This is a tricky one. I'll take things as I think of them here.
First off, I think a RAGE promo should be different from an ordinary one. When you see the efort that UKG has put into promos when winning/defending the RAGE title, you will see a difference between promos than when he writes just to get promo points for a non-title match. Or even an extra promo. And I don't mean that badly. It's just the way we all do things. RAGE rules are more...prestigious...in a word, so more effort is put into them. Whether that be a nice, flowery, sunrising promo, or a totally sadistic and downright evil promo, depends on the character.
The way I see it is, Gormy, you have crowd loving face character, so it would be out of character for you to start writing about killing kittens or something like that. Unless, and herein lies the twist, you were feuding with someone and it had become so intense. A nice flowery promo isn't going to fit with the storyline. I couldn't see it....
"Ok Wench. You kidnapped me with Firefly and Reaper. Yes, you had me tied up for weeks. Yes you barely fed me. Yes I was sleep deprived in fear of my life, But hey, lets be buddies! What do you say?"
Hmmm....
I would score that lowly, regardless of how well constructed or grammerly correct it may be. Why? Because it doesn't flow with the current storyline.
That should answer your question regarding that.
A high score would be the relevance, style, humour if any, depth of character, grammer, flow and visual.
Relevance - As I said above, some promo just wouldn't fit. If it doesn't fit and isn't relevant, I will score it low.
Style - Everyone needs a style. I personally feel that promos are delivered better if they are constructed the same way week in, week out. Some people prefer monologues. Some prefer scripts. Whatever you choose to do, I don't think chopping and changing all the time works.
Humour - Comic relief is always welcome. Obviously it would be odd if someone just cracked a joke in the middle of a serious promo, but there are a few characters here that could get away with that. Namely Shinn's, Shane and Diddly. It isn't need for writers trying to deliver a serious and intense promo.
Depth of character - This is, as Reaper said, a necessity. If there is no depthe, then there really is nothing. Wooden characters don't get anywhere in the real wrestling world, so I wouldn't rate a promo with no charatcer highly at all.
Grammer - An absolute must. Reading promos that aren't well written is a bit of a turn off to be honest. While we can see that they are great promos, it is still too messy and will be penalised in the scoring.
Flow - The flow kind of comes under style and depth of character. It has to be snappy. It has to keep going smoothly from scene to scene, character to character, dialogue to dialogue.
Visual - You have to be able to see it in your head. The sign of all great promos. If I can see it happening, then I will mark it highly. This also comes down to believeing in your character.
As for what Reaper said about scoring. I personally don't give a alot of 5's. There has to be something truly special. I have given a few to different people, because I think they deserved it. Not just because I wanted to. Promo's should be rated on all of the above that I listed, in my opinion. That's my code. That's where you will get your points from me. And if I feel that someone has progressed half a point from one week to the next, I will grade them on that extra half mark.
Sorry for the long reply, but it's something I wanted to say for a while.
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Post by McKenna on Jul 5, 2004 14:21:53 GMT 1
Since we started with the Rage title, they have always been a more mental picture, than a physical one.
If a Rage promo was written in such a way outside of this, but totally grabbed my attention, then I would give it the necessary mark.
In my opinion, the Rage promos are of a darker nature, and that is why I look at the content of the promo when giving my mark, as well as its structure.
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Post by Reaper on Jul 5, 2004 14:40:11 GMT 1
The interesting thing about voting is, we all do it differently. It all comes down to taste. I will like a promo better than UKG would like it and I would score it higher. If it has all of the things I stated above, but is just a poor promo, then I won't rate it highly.
There is no right and wrong when it comes to scoring. If someone glaringly gives a very bad mark for no reason while everyone else is rating it highly, I am am sure a discussion would be started about it in the thread in the staff room.
The plus side of the new system where you all get to see the scores from individual raters, is that you can see where we feel you need to build on. And that doesn't mean that we are better promo writers than everyone else. That isn't why we rate promos. And this will reflect on the new system.
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Post by Gormy on Jul 7, 2004 22:54:42 GMT 1
Thanks for the feedback. It is appreciated and I will take it into account when writing a Rage promo. I agree, I always see them as being a little bit special and I am more proud of them usually. (except the last one I did. I had terrible writers block!)
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Post by McKenna on Jul 7, 2004 23:20:07 GMT 1
Writers block happens to all of us. The fact that at some point you find a way through it is a talent that everyone here seems to have.
With practice comes the character, the style, the depth, in fact the whole package.
I do strongly recommend that people use the extra promo thread, even if they dont have a match that show. In there you can develop your stlye, experiment, or even go along with the storyline that is being developed in there.
The continuity of promos is unreal, and fantastic to read these days, and that is a credit to ALL the people who contribute, not those who promo week in, week out.
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