Do I Need A Teleprompter?
Coming from the wild “Mirrorless Madness” world of Still Photography, I find many strange things are used in video production that at first blush made no sense to me at all. It was only after my video experience started to catch up to my enthusiasm that I begin to realize how much I actually do need some of the video only specialized pieces added to my normal “minnimal-is-beautiful” still photography kit.
A video monopod. A good, shoe mounted small shotgun mic. A battery powered LED fill light. Wireless or wired Lav. A teleprompter is another one of these incredible time savers, if you’re shooting informational videos, producing educational materials, or anytime you want to talk directly into your camera to your audience. In fact, second only to memorizing all the lines by heart, at teleprompter is the only effective way of delivering a convincing performance.
How A Teleprompter Works
Many solutions are available in many price points for a teleprompter, ranging from several thousand dollars down to the low end models at a few hundred bucks. All of them requiring transporting additional awkward shaped hardware, and a laptop computer or self contained computer/monitor to power it and at least one if not two pretty heavy duty light stands (and don’t forget the sandbags!) to set it all up on.
Clearly, most teleprompter setups are something meant for studio use, not something a wide ranging street reporter possessed by Mirrorless Madness could ever consider carrying solo, let alone doing the setup before using. Too complicated, too heavy, too much time to setup when the action is moving along. The very nature of Mirrorless Madness is moving quickly about with lightweight small and compact but powerful camera/lens technology. But we all carry our iPhone or Android now also, don’t we? There is a new device promising to solve these problems you can order today to ship in May.
The Parrot TelePrompter Is Small & Compact, Only Requiring Your Smartphone and Mounts Directly to The Front Of Your Lens Only When You Need It!
Enter Provo, Utah’s Brigham Arce, inventor of the Parrot TelePrompter who had this to say:
“Parrots have always been great at mimicking your speech, but this parrot can deliver your lines. The Parrot Teleprompter is an affordable, compact, and professional teleprompter designed for use with DSLR and mirrorless cameras.
If you have ever tried memorizing lines for a video you know how much time goes into filming multiple takes, and then editing out all the mistakes.
Professionals use teleprompters which results in a higher quality polished look. Teleprompters allow the subject to look directly at the camera which ensures proper eye contact. Other methods result in an obvious lack of genuine eye contact and warmth.”
There is still time to jump on the bandwagon for Parrot’s introductory offer on Kickstarter
PLEASE RATE THIS STORY! [ratings]
