TNA International Champion Steve Maclin discussed his creative process for vignettes with Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert and Joel Pearl on their show, In The Weeds.
Maclin said, “The original vignette, I had the idea maybe two or three years ago where it was going to be a lead in to a pay-per-view, kind of almost like Apocalypse Now. It was supposed to kick off a pay-per-view when I was still champion, or getting to the world title. I wanted it to be a holy shit moment. That cinematic world that blends right into the show. That’s how my mind works. I have a movie-style mentality because that is what draws people in. Those movie trailers that hook you as a fan and makes you want to see it in a theater. I feel like that’s something with a trailer going into a show as a lead in or a build up to matches where you have to hook that fan that isn’t a casual fan or how do I get more people to get eyes on it or asses in seats. Some fans show up and they don’t know the full story, so they have to ask questions. If they’re shown visually, I can now have the match in front of you where you understand what’s going on.For me to get these visual ideas out there, I wanted to show my side of things where it’s very hard verbally for me to explain PTSD. Everybody knows the ramifications that come with it and the result of traumatic events, but you have to see certain things where it resonates with somebody or certain ticks like driving down the road and it’s somebody in a car accident that has gotten t-boned. You always have that thought process that you can visualize and it’s always stuck in your mind as a highlight or quick flash.”
On bringing his real life into his creative work:
“That’s what I wanted to get trying to incorporate life as Steve Maclin into taking my real life as Steve Kupryk and bringing things into that world.With the vignettes, I’m looking forward to doing more of those in the future. Pitches are constantly ongoing for me and my crazy brain in the gym when I’m working out and losing my mind of different ideas and watching certain videos of Marvel or comics or seeing something online. I’m looking forward to the future.”
You can check out Maclin’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
