Property Council NZ Awards- Producer: I Want Orange, Photographer: Dillionphotonz
In more than 25 years prompting for stage and screen we’ve acquired a fair bit of knowledge. Usually the information provided to us when a booking is placed through our online booking system, and to the client when the job is confirmed, is enough to head off many issues.
But occasionally, sometimes due to a breakdown in communications the rigging and even the smooth running of the live event are compromised. So here are the most common things for event clients to bear in mind when engaging a prompter service.
1/ Multiple presenters of different heights?
Robotic systems like our Telestepper allow for fast and simple height adjustment during the show, lowering them when not required and even using them as remotely height-adjustable mic stands.
2/ Presenters needing to present away from the lectern and prompter stands?
We can feed the script to a tablet or phone display via a free app receiving our wireless prompting system. Perfect for presenters roaming into the audience or to a satellite stage for a short period.
NZ Media Awards Dual lectern rig
3/ Once the prompter is set for presenters at a lectern, some finessing of the stage rig is required if it needs to be removed and reset and that’s not a quick and easy job. This is partly because we’re working with glass panels on poles but also because, once the equipment is positioned in front of the lectern, we have to ensure the glass panels are at the correct height and angle for the presenter/s to read them.
If the lectern and prompter need to be removed- say, for intermission entertainment- clients might need to schedule the resetting of the lectern and prompter for a subsequent break in proceedings, or consider a robotic system which can be raised or lowered.
4/ Allow for prompter cabling to the lectern from off-stage. At a minimum the two monitors for each lectern require power and a video cable- usually daisy-chained between the two monitors- but robotic glass stands also need their own power as well as a remote control cable. So there can be up to 7 cables feeding to the lectern from offstage and all needing to be tidily hidden.
This isn’t usually an issue if the lectern is positioned near the front edge of stage as they can be run from the control station under or around the stage and up behind the stage drape. But if there’s no staging, the cabling will need to be covered with a black cloth or some other sort of cover- some artfully placed shrubbery can be useful.
A white or clear stage and/or having the lectern in the centre of a stage creates further challenges with cabling, solutions for which are best considered before rig day.
5/ Did you know that our Winplus software includes the option to use the prompter display to communicate with presenters during the event.
Short messages for presenters can be overlaid on the prompter monitors, including countdown and/or a live clock.
6/ The optimum placement of a presenter’s prompt display is in their eyeline directly between them and the back row of their audience. When presenters are not using a lectern, need freedom to travel the stage, or when there are multiple presenters in multiple positions on stage the most appropriate prompting solution can often be large screen monitors. Priority camera coverage for broadcast, live streaming or clean IMAG can also benefit from this option.
Placing large monitors at the back of the room, below the main camera for broadcasts to an audience outside the room, or even in each rear corner of the room has the benefit of a clear stage and the ability for the presenter/s to freely roam the stage while addressing the room with the script still in their eyeline.
Back wall- or even front of theatre circle- monitors are usually the best option for theatres or raked auditoriums where a large proportion of the audience are viewing the presenter from above. For the presenters to use a presidential prompter and have the glass panels in the optimum eyeline to present to the back of the room would mean the glass would look weirdly high (and in fact the stands may not go high enough to accommodate this).
7/ Every script we receive is carefully formatted for ease of reading from the prompting monitors. What reads well on an A4 paper script doesn’t display as clearly on a screen, so we carry out additional formatting such as including line breaks after full stops (making it easier to identify the end of a sentence), a new line after a punctuation mark and keeping whole phrases together. All of these things mean the presenter’s brain has less to decipher allowing them to concentrate on their performance.
We regularly remind clients throughout the pre-show process that changes to a script made after we’ve received it for formatting must be tracked or clearly noted so that they’re easy to identify and quickly update on the prompter.
Formatting an entire script again because of a small handful of revisions is time consuming and can hold up proceedings.
8/ Finally, always have a printed copy of the script as backup. So that it’s not required… 🙂
Bespoke Fonterra Award stage | Kiio Productions
