St Louis Video Production – Client Talent on Camera with Teleprompter

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St Louis Video Production – Client Talent on Camera with Teleprompter

01 27 18

We’ve been doing a lot of Teleprompter shoots for many types of companies.

There are certainly a lot of things to consider prior to enlisting a teleprompter on your shoot.

Consistency between takes – Probably the most obvious. You have a script. In theory, your Talent will read it. And you know what they are going to say. This helps a ton in conducting the interview, a keeps everyone on the same page as to what is going to be said.

Controlled message – On that note, having a pre-approved script means that all team members know ahead what will be said on set. This is a big help with larger teams, or making sure that higher-ups know what content will be included in the video. Your biggest job on set though, is to make sure your Talent doesn’t look like a robot delivering this message.

Faster turnaround time – (In most instances) shooting with a Teleprompter improves turnaround times in the post production realm. Your shooting ratios should also improve using a teleprompter compared to straight interviews.

Can easily adapt message on the fly – Even though there’s a script, it’s easy to tweak the script on the fly. That said, if there are major changes it can get a little tricky. You need to make sure that the message stays consistent and on target with your team’s goals. But BEWARE this can be a Pandora’s box! We’ve been in too many shoots where the script opens up for discussion, and everyone thinks they have an answer. Dedicate one person as the script supervisor. Someone who won’t get caught up in listening to everyone’s opinions and who can keep the shoot on track.

Consider the camera angle – Most of the times, your Talent is looking directly looking to camera. This is important to keep in mind. This means a second camera is going to be at an angle (the Talent won’t be looking directly at the camera unless they turn to address it, and that camera too has a teleprompter). Just keep in mind that some viewers find switching to an an angle where the Talent doesn’t address the camera awkward if the Talent was just looking directly at the camera.

Sense of timing – With a teleprompter script, you’ll get a pretty accurate understanding as to how long your video will be. You can eliminate sections on the fly if you find your video is running too long.