Posts Tagged ‘Teleprompter aka Autocue’
Teleprompter and Green Screen
Posted by Bill in American Movie Company, Autocue, Green Screen, Presidential Teleprompter, Teleprompter Monday, 30 January 2012 19:15 No Comments
Teleprompter and Green Screen
My friend, Ana, on the Green Screen
Using a teleprompter (aka Autocue) and actually seeing what a green screen looked like were not part of our schedule. Let me explain. I was here visiting from Portugal with a group of 6 high school students, all aspiring musicians. We walked around Manhattan, mesmerized. We visited the usual tourist attractions and were lucky enough to see Wicked, Memphis, and Porgy and Bess!
Back at our hotel, the teenagers were watching television and reliving every moment of this wonderful trip. On one of the programs, I don’t know which one, they were showing a behind the scenes filming. They showed actors in front of a green screen stage and then magically transported to a foreign place.
Filomena, a singer with some experience performing in front of small groups both at school and in small town church halls said she’d give anything to be able to sing and visit a studio where they had a green screen stage.
The other students joined in and began to see how they could accomplish that. They called their parents back home, and I even heard one of them say they could use the money they’d saved up to rent a green screen studio. They all began to go on the internet and it will astonish you, but it is true – they came across the American Movie Company, which does have a green screen stage. The next day they called and the studio was free that very afternoon. So instead of going to the Cloisters we all went to the studio. They were in awe – they had never been to any studio – so to see a green screen stage and to see and actually use a teleprompter was beyond belief.
It was great, the energetic students from Juromenha sang and danced – it was like a scene from Glee, one of their favorite shows. Some were disappointed to learn that the newscasters on TV in Portugal are not as smart as they thought They too use teleprompters! They haven’t been able to stop talking about it. They are making plans to show off for their friends back in Portugal and perform live as their film is projected on a big screen.
This trip to New York and all they experienced will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
I’m the chaperone in the red hat!
At left is an example of their artwork for a local festival. My students are real artists in every sense of the word.
They got to use a teleprompter to introduce their songs in English (they speak only Portuguese) and got to act in front of a green screen. Amazing!
Teleprompter and green screen – two things they had never seen before!
Teleprompter Speech Led to Award
Posted by Bill in Autocue, Battery Powered Teleprompter/Autocue, Daylight Teleprompter, Presidential Prompter, Presidential Teleprompter, Teleprompter, Teleprompter aka Autocue Sunday, 29 January 2012 05:47 No Comments
Teleprompter Rental Made It Possible
I am not competitive by nature, or so I would have said last year before I used a teleprompter (aka Autocue) to sew up a friendly competition. I live in a gated community in Northern New Jersey. I belong to one of the many clubs devoted to fundraising for a variety of worthy causes, including Haiti.
Young boys in Haiti
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was devastating. Many countries responded to appeals for humanitarian aid. Words fail me - how to convey the catastrophic magnitude of such an event? My friends and neighbors just wanted to do our part. I wanted to raise the most money. I had to find a way to beat out my friends who depended on index cards.
When practicing my speech at home, I often became incredibly emotional and often lost my place. That is why I decided to buy one less designer bag and rent a teleprompter instead. I am so happy I did. My speeches in front of donors went flawlessly. They were all very impressed with my apparent self-confidence, my ease in front of large groups. I knew that the teleprompter was like my security blanket. If I became distracted or maudlin – the teleprompter was there to bring me back and I soldiered on. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that my speeches were in Spanish, French and English, of course! The teleprompter operator was not fazed at all by the foreign languages. Ok and we shot in bright sunlight so I had to have a battery powered, daylight teleprompter with a high bright monitor.
I don’t mean to brag but I raised a lot of money and in the process was judged to be the best speech giver! I got a certificate to that effect. When asked what gave me that edge, I said that the Presidential Teleprompter was it!
Thank you teleprompter!
Now, I give you a really great video of interviews we go with and without the teleprompters.
Teleprompter Came to New Jersey
Posted by Bill in Teleprompter Sunday, 29 January 2012 01:06 No Comments
Teleprompter Came to New Jersey.
Prompter in action
I was to meet an old friend, Eileen, at her house in New Jersey. We were to be filmed by our mutual friend, Peter, as we acted out a few scenes of a play written by her son who happens to be studying in Ireland. She’s a semi retired English teacher but still very interested in drama. I am a lawyer with a flair for histrionics.
What happened next satisfied our penchants for the dramatic.
Michael sent us the script by mail three weeks in advance – enough time for us to memorize the lines. However, to quote Robert Burns “…The best laid schemes of mice and men go often askew…” And so they did. The script didn’t arrive on time for our recording session. There we were unable to re-schedule given that Peter was away with his wife on a second honeymoon – they chose to go without what many consider indispensable – iPhone, iPad.
Peter showed up on the scheduled day ready to shoot! He trusted that we would be ready and eager to become legends! Alas… that didn’t quite happen as easily as we had envisioned. Peter is a problem solver. He called Michael in Dublin who immediately emailed the scenes in question. Peter has a friend who works in advertising in New York who was able to connect him with a teleprompter operator who drove out to New Jersey and saved our day! They coordinated and actually performed a miracle – they printed the script and Eileen and I acted our hearts out and actually found reading the teleprompter fun. We felt like real actresses.
We sent our interpretation to Michael and he has shown it to his classmates who were rather impressed with our dramaturgic skills.
We were both so thankful to Peter and his ability to make things happen.
Who knew that a teleprompter would save the day?
Obama TelePrompter Critics
Posted by Bill in Teleprompter Saturday, 28 January 2012 15:26 No Comments
I am going to share with you some teleprompter stories.
I am always amazed at the level of hypocrisy among the Republican contenders. Take a look at accounts of the most flagrant examples from two of the most unworthy women whose egos are enormous.
Hypocrisy 101: Obama TelePrompter Critic Bachmann Uses an iPad
POSTED BY JOE GANDELMAN,
Greetings, students. I hope you all have a copy of your syllabus. Yes, you are in the correct classroom. This is Hypocrisy 101 at Political University. Last year we dealt with the TelePrompter issue and how Sarah Palin was blasting President Barack Obama for using a TelePrompter and many conservative talk show hosts did, too. But then she wrote notes on her hand and she and the talk show hosts pretended that was somehow different than a TelePrompter.
And now we have Michelle Bachmann:
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has found a loophole in her pledge not to use teleprompters.
At a campaign stop in Creston, Iowa Wednesday, the candidate read her campaign speech directly from an iPad tablet computer.
“I have a statement I would like to read before I open up and take a few of your questions,” the candidate told the crowd, only pausing from her prepared remarks to yell “Good morning!” at a passing train.
The Minnesota Republican slid her finger across the iPad screen as she opined for over five minutes about a recent attack ad by GOP hopeful Rick Perry, President Barack Obama’s signature health care legislation, and the dangers of North Korea and Iran.
“And we should always use the full resources of our military when we go to achieve a victory,” Bachmann said, again raising her voice to compete with another train.
“That’s the Reagan doctrine. That will also be the Bachmann doctrine,” she added.
Throughout her presidential campaign, Bachmann has attacked Obama for his use of teleprompters, and promised they would not be part of her White House.
“I know you’re not used to seeing a president without teleprompters,” the candidate said in July. “But I’m just here to tell you President O’Bach — President Bachmann will not have teleprompters in the White House.”
Just hand notes and iPads which, as we all know, are sort of low-tech TelePrompters.
Oh, and students? If you’re in PoliSci 101 and you are wondering why some people remain political independents and won’t join a party, the TelePrompter charge and how it is really just a bunch of THIS is one reason why independents remain independents.
Ronald Reagan, the two George Bushes, LBJ, Richard Nixon — they all used TelePrompters.
But you know that and the people pushing the narrative know that — which is why it fits in so perfectly with this course..
And this one is beyond the pale!
Busted! Sarah Palin Exposed as a Teleprompter Using Fraud
By Sarah Jones
Sarah Palin and Her Teleprompter
Sometimes our life experiences come in handy. This is one of those times.
Who can forget Ms Palin’s endless mocking of President Obama for using a teleprompter and her cutesy way of referring to her hand notes (her three ideas for America were apparently hard enough to recall that they had to be written down for her) as the “poor man’s teleprompter”. And on every forum where some brave fool dares to write about Palin in a less than salivating manner, regardless of the actual issue at hand, a Palin fan comes to mock teleprompters.
At a Tea Party speech, Ms Palin mocked the President by saying, “This is about the people, and it’s bigger than any one king or queen of a Tea Party, and it’s a lot bigger than any charismatic guy with a teleprompter.” You must fill in the requisite sneer for full effect. The implication is that the President is a moron for using a teleprompter. This is made clear by the Right’s gleeful picking up of this meme and running with it at every turn, especially when they have nothing relevant over which to criticize the President.
Before we get any further into this story, I need to preface it by referring to my own work experience in film and TV. Some of that experience was behind an anchor’s desk, so I share Obama’s great sin in having used a teleprompter though I don’t recall turning into a Commie directly after it. Perhaps it’s too soon to tell.
So anyway, last week while watching “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”, I could have sworn I saw a teleprompter on her home studio camera, but I didn’t care enough to do a screen grab. After all, there are so many lies to deconstruct and so little time. But then last night, as I was watching the latest episode (which I must confess is now a fun distraction from her tweets), she was showing us her studio in the house she built next door to her home on Lake Lucille. Sarah and Todd were making a show of how it was just the two of them putting on her little show. And while she made cute and Todd told her her hair was above his pay grade, I saw the evil socialist machine staring me down, clear as day. So clear that I could read the logo. Yes, a teleprompter.
Close up of Sarah Palin’s teleprompter
Who makes Ms Palin’s teleprompter? Autoscript. The number one selling teleprompter. The gold standard in teleprompters. The elite, if you will, of teleprompters. The farthest cry from the “poor man’s teleprompter” as you can get. You know, the one that the evil lame stream media use at no less than NBC studios: “Autoscript is currently facilitating NBC with studio and portable on-camera teleprompter systems with high-bright LED backlit monitors, as well as WinPlus-NX news-prompter software, during the network’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Games….
Autoscript also designs all of the different software packages that drive its teleprompter systems. Autoscript teleprompting software features multi-tasking functions, including the ability to simultaneously prompt and edit, run multiple scripts, change the run-order, mix fonts, and change the font size. Autoscript’s WinPlus-NX news-prompter software provides seamless integration to all major newsroom-computer systems.
WinPlus NX software can operate in a number of modes, depending on the design of the newsroom-computer system it’s being used with. Autoscript’s software also works with a variety of control devices, enabling prompter operators to control the system using a desktop control, foot control, wireless hand control, or Autoscript’s unique Voice-Plus voice-activated software to pace the script. WinPlus NX software can also send the prompted text to a Closed Caption encoder.”
Now what in heaven’s name can a paid contributor who is only on the air for a scant few minutes and who’s been given the questions in advance need a teleprompter for? Yes, Ms Palin requires that all questions be given in advance. And of course, the teleprompter kinda gives that away because it would be impossible to load it up with a script if Ms Palin didn’t know what she was going to be asked in advance. Um, well, here’s what happens when Sarah Palin doesn’t have a teleprompter. Notice how she can’t remember her three ideas for America so she has to check her hand:
And her hands reads: “Energy, Budget Tax Cuts, Lift American spirits.”
Or perhaps because one is attempting to avoid another embarrassing moment like the Couric interview or the Gibson interview, during which Ms Palin froze and the flop sweat broke out on her upper lip as she stammered for a non-answer. A teleprompter covers the sputtering non-answer and allows Ms Palin to converse about topics she knows little about.
Palin flop sweat:
And for those who don’t know, when using a teleprompter there are all kinds of neat tricks to help the talent: you can have the names of Iraqi officials phonetically spelled out, you can have smiley faces put in when you’re supposed to be happy, you can have text bolded to place emphasis on it. In fact, there are so many tricks that you can almost read the script for the first time on the air if you choose. If you’re good at it, that is. Although most professionals will at least do a cursory glance to get the flow of the piece before taking to the air and those with a work ethic will want to understand the topics they’re speaking to their audience about.
This might be a good time to take a walk down memory lane to the 2008 RNC convention.
US News & World Report reported:
“ST. PAUL—Interesting bit of myth-making, mistaken reporting or both. Did Sarah Palin’s TelePrompTer malfunction? A very little bit, but not much.
RedState is reporting that Sarah Palin’s TelePrompTer broke last night, scrolling “significantly from where Governor Palin was in the speech.” Politico’s Jonathan Martin disputes the report. “Perhaps there were moments where it scrolled slightly past her exact point in the speech,” Martin writes. “But I was sitting in the press section next to the stage, within easy eyeshot of the Teleprompter. I frequently looked up at the machine, and there was no serious malfunction. A top convention planner confirms this morning that there were no major problems.””
Myth making indeed. That is a talent Ms Palin has developed to a finely honed skill. Like the myth that little poor Ms Palin, the hockey mama, doesn’t use a teleprompter. She’s too “real” for that.
As for the RNC teleprompter myth, little hiccups are normal — especially because on the older systems, whoever is running prompter had to anticipate the speaker’s rhythm, so if the speaker changes or pauses, the prompter operator might need a second or two to catch up or slow down. I’ve also been responsible for running a teleprompter; and I can attest that things don’t always go smoothly. Software can malfunction or the computer can just pause for a second. But of course this happens to everyone who uses it, not just Ms Palin – and so far, no one else has been hailed as a mythical warrior for managing to ride it out.
This is one reason why it helps if the person is somewhat familiar with their script, and why it helps if the person can talk freely about the subject at hand. The teleprompter can help a speaker who’s under a lot of pressure remember words, key phrases, and jog their memory or it can be used as a complete crutch when you don’t know your script. It’s simply a tool, and a ridiculous criticism to hurl at someone. Only people who aren’t in the business would even buy this as a criticism. But of course, that’s Ms Palin’s audience.
Not only does this put a wee dent in Ms Palin’s constant mocking of Obama for using a teleprompter, but it should also be noted that the myth she sold on her show of just she and Todd doing her little show is simply not possible. Here’s the deal (and probably one reason why she didn’t want Joe McGinness to see over that fence): It takes at least three professionals to run the small set-up they have: A camera operator (who will also adjust lights even if the lights are pre-set as they are in most studios), a prompter op, and someone in the control room (like a producer) to watch the monitors for problems, monitor the sound, and make sure the talent doesn’t go off script.
And this doesn’t cover the professional make up artist and hair stylist, or the wardrobe stylist. Or the production assistants. And it is very obvious that Palin is getting her hair and make up done, at the very least. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s simply another thing she’s not being authentic about. Even the ex First Dude can’t do all of those jobs simultaneously, assuming he could magically learn all there is to learn about running a camera and loading the prompter and getting it to flow with the speech patterns of the speaker (lord help whoever is running hers).
Frankly I couldn’t care less if she uses a teleprompter. It’s a good tool for on air talent and politicians and there’s nothing wrong with it. What I have a problem with is that once again, Ms Palin is selling a myth that simply isn’t true and in the process she mercilessly mocks a good man, who has every reason to use a teleprompter because he’s a bit too busy running the country to memorize speeches, although I deeply suspect he spends more actual time writing and editing his speeches than does Palin. And goodness knows, Palin has free time on her hands now since she quit her job as governor to pursue her TV career.
The unveiling of this lie goes to the content of her character. And once again, Ms Palin flops when it comes to accuracy, integrity and honesty.
I trust you enjoyed reading the above incredibly interesting and well written accounts.
Teleprompter – here to stay!
Obama Not the First President to Use Teleprompter, Just the First to Do it Well
Posted by Bill in Teleprompter, Teleprompter aka Autocue Friday, 27 January 2012 20:46 No Comments
Obama Not the First President to Use Teleprompter, Just the First to Do it Well
Compiled from a New York Times Article.
Presidents have been using teleprompters for more than half a century, but none have relied on them as extensively as Mr. Obama has so far. While presidents typically have used them for their most important speeches — an inaugural, State of the Union or Oval Office address — Mr. Obama uses them for routine announcements and even for the opening statement of his only news conference so far.
For Mr. Obama, a teleprompter means message discipline, sticking close to the intended words. While some presidents prefer extemporizing, Mr. Obama likes the message to be just so. After all, he is a best-selling author who has helped write a lot of his major speeches, so he presumably feels a certain fidelity to the crafted text.
Michael Waldman, who was President Bill Clinton’s chief speechwriter, said Mr. Obama was one of the few politicians able to use a teleprompter effectively.
“If he were just reading something someone handed him and didn’t understand what it said, that would be one thing,” Mr. Waldman said. “But I don’t think anybody doubts that he’s expressing his own thoughts Presidents have long had a love-hate relationship with teleprompters. Harry S. Truman refused to use them, concluding it would make him look insincere. Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first president to use them but he was not a fan either, grousing about having to “use that damn teleprompter.”
Some had particularly bad experiences. In 1993, when Mr. Clinton addressed Congress on health care, the wrong speech was fed into the teleprompter. It took George Stephanopoulos and other aides a nightmarish seven minutes to fix the problem while Mr. Clinton winged it. Some thought he did better without the script.
Mr. Bush, whose unscripted gaffes were legendary, used a teleprompter for his 2002 speech to the United Nations on Iraq. But when the speech scrolled across the screens, the key line about seeking a new Security Council resolution was missing. Mr. Bush noticed and ad libbed it. The trouble was that he said he would seek “the necessary resolutions,” plural, which later gave the Europeans ammunition to press him to return to the Security Council one more time.
Take a look at yet another report about Presidents and their use of the teleprompter – you’ll find it interesting.
The (very) scripted president
By Peter Baker
As he introduced his new choice for secretary of health and human services in the East Room of the White House this week, President Barack Obama turned his head from right to left, but he wasn’t looking at the audience. He was reading from two teleprompters, strategically set up outside the tight television camera shot.
When he was done, the teleprompters quietly began retracting down to the floor. As she stepped forward to make her own remarks, his nominee, Kathleen Sebelius, seemed momentarily surprised.
“Don’t mind the little – ” Obama said with a smile.
“It’s disappearing!” she joked.
Presidents have been using teleprompters for more than half a century, but none relied on them as extensively as Obama has so far. While presidents typically have used them for their most important speeches to the nation – an inauguration, a State of the Union or an Oval Office address – Obama uses them for everyday routine announcements, and even for the opening statement at his news conference.
He used them during a visit to a Caterpillar plant in Peoria, Illinois. He used them to make brief remarks at the opening of his “fiscal responsibility summit.” He used them during a visit to the Interior Department to discuss endangered species, even as he recalled a visit to some national parks as an 11-year-old. “That was an experience I will never forget,” he said, reading from the teleprompter.
For Obama, a teleprompter means message discipline, sticking close to his intended words. Every president uses prepared remarks, of course, often reading from paper or note cards. But while some of his predecessors liked to extemporize, Obama prefers the message to be just so. After all, he is a best-selling author who has had a hand in writing many of his major speeches, so his aides say he feels a certain fidelity to the crafted text.
Michael Waldman, who was President Bill Clinton’s chief speechwriter, said Obama is one of the few politicians who is able to use a teleprompter effectively.
“If he were just reading something someone handed him, and didn’t understand what it said, that would be one thing,” Waldman said. “But I don’t think anybody doubts that he’s expressing his own thoughts.”
Yet Bradley Blakeman, a former White House aide to President George W. Bush and a Republican strategist, said the teleprompter makes Obama look robotic.
“He is extremely scripted, and he is cautious to the max and afraid of gaffes,” Blakeman said. When answering questions without a script, Blakeman said, “his speech is very halted, and you can see him take a lot of time to think about what he’s going to say.”
Presidents have had a love-hate relationship with teleprompters for generations. Aides tried to get Harry Truman to use them, but he scowled that it would make him look insincere. Dwight Eisenhower became the first president to put them to use, but he was not a fan either, grousing to aides about having to “use that damn teleprompter.”
Some have had particularly bad experiences. In 1993, when Clinton addressed Congress to promote his health-care plan, the wrong speech was fed into the teleprompter. It took his aides a nightmarish seven minutes to fix the problem while Clinton winged it. Some thought he did better without the script.
Four years later, it almost happened again. A last-minute change to the State of the Union in 1997, made during the motorcade to the Capitol, somehow caused the entire text to be formatted as a single endless paragraph. As Clinton mounted the lectern, aides rushed through the text trying to reinsert paragraph breaks, finishing just as he started.
Even when Clinton had the right speech in the teleprompter, though, he often drifted so far from the prepared text that the operator controlling the tempo of the scrolling struggled to figure out where the president might reconnect with the script.
“The guy was like a fighter pilot, with a bead of sweat on his head, trying to land on the carrier,” Waldman recalled.
And then there was Bush’s speech to the United Nations in 2002 about the looming confrontation with Iraq. After a tough debate among his advisers, Bush agreed to seek a new Security Council resolution, but when the speech scrolled across the teleprompter, the key line was missing. Advisers panicked when he kept going without saying the line, but then Bush noticed its absence and ad-libbed it.
The trouble was, he said he would seek “the necessary resolutions,” plural, which later became an issue when the Europeans pressed him to come back to the Security Council for a second resolution before going to war.
Obama never used a teleprompter until his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention, but he relied on them regularly on the campaign trail last year. After one speech, he was spotted in a tense exchange with an aide, a flash of temper that his spokesman later attributed to a teleprompter malfunction.
The machines became a point of attack in the blogosphere, with one critic even setting up a Web site called teleprompterpresident.com to post videos of the candidate stumbling over words when he did not use the machines.
The continued presence of the teleprompters after the inauguration was widely noticed when he used them to read an opening statement at his news conference. The teleprompters then lowered to the floor when it came time to answer reporters’ questions.
The White House dismissed questions about the use of the machines.
“Whether one uses note cards or a teleprompter, the American people are a lot more concerned about the plans relayed than the method of delivery,” said Bill Burton, a spokesman. “This is not always true of the media.”
Kevin Sullivan, Bush’s last White House communications director, said he was surprised to see the teleprompters used so frequently, and said that it risked making Obama look staged. When the camera angle widened during the announcement of Sebelius’s nomination, he noted, she was obscured by the teleprompter.
“This is the most gifted and effective communicator of our generation,” Sullivan said. “I find it hard to believe he needs it.”
But Nicolle Wallace, another former Bush White House communications director who carefully studied Obama when she worked for Senator John McCain during the presidential campaign last year and admires Obama’s speaking skills, said the new president should stick with success.
“I’d say, for a guy known around the world for being as effective as he is at communicating, he shouldn’t change a thing,” she said. “If that’s what works for them, that’s what he should do.”