Pubic Speaking SOLVED!!!! In-ear prompting??

[Existential Angst]

Awl --

Apropos of the previous excellent discussions on teleprompting, I googled
in-ear prompting and found a couple of sources.
http://www.ear-prompter.com/p_prodguidehardwire.html wired vs. wireless.
http://www.jimpowell.com/WirelessEar2.htm using ear prompters
http://www.jimpowell.com/DirectingTips.htm directing tips, jim powell
http://www.ear-prompter.com/p_order.html this company's products

http://www.earprompter.com/wp/?page_id=195 another company, wired
http://www.earprompter.com/wp/?page_id=182
wireless

Oh, oh, and a MUST see: babyBush and his ear prompter..... oh, the gift
that keeps on giving!!

Plus other funny prompter-type vids, Obama et al.... what a diff prompting
makes, eh??

http://www.business2community.com/marketing/video-marketing-use-an-ear-prompter-to-get-it-right-0163600
This is an inneresting site, that in point #5, seems to "reveal the secret"
to seamless pubic speaking:
5. The secret is to let the audio play 1-3 seconds ahead of where you're
speaking, that way you will have time to think about your expression,
intonation, body language etc. It will feel very strange at first, but
after a few tries you will get the idea.

Holy Shit, this is IT!!! This is the Holy Grail of seamless Pubic
Speaking!!!

The video example (with Mark Bruno), they claim, was done in *one shoot* --
altho there is a conspicuous edit.... hmmmmm.....
Very inneresting, and some good tips, for newbies such as myself. Good
effective self-promotion in that segment, as well..

Now, here is what I glean:

There seems to be two kinds of in-ear prompting:
The kind Bushbaby got caught with, interactive, where someone is feeding
the stuff bit by bit -- which is good cuz, it allows improvisation,
extemporaneous delivery, etc, as well is feedback, direction, etc etc.

In contrast, what most of the products/articles above seem to be about is a
literal recording of your presentation, whatever it may be -- 1-3 seconds
ahead of delivery, that you simply duplicate.

Even tho this seems to be the Holy Grail, and even tho Mark Bruno sez all
this stuff isn't rocket science, it certainly is a definite skill, as Steve
has pointed out.
Having stuff buzzing in your head for dozens of minutes on end, duplicating
it seconds later while new stuff is streaming in, and keeping track of all
the other crap you have to do in front of the camera/audience is, for me,
cruising for a breakdown -- just too much simultaneous stimulation!

But, at any rate, at least I think I have a grasp of "the trick" . Altho
Steve mentioned some really talented memorizers etc, it seems this in-ear
stuff is the script-equivalent of AutoTune, for singers..... a kind of
"lowering of the bar", talent-wise, but distinctly raising the bar,
technology-wsie.

The bottom line, tho, is that this is a skill/technique that can make a BIG
difference, on several levels, from perceived product quality to raw
thru-put in production time.

Q:
The product links seem pretty pricey. It seems all's you need is a nice
earbud (like what Mark Bruno was wearing, on his LEFT ear -- almost
invisible), and a cassette recorder, with some start/stop buttons if you're
going to improvise, or whatever. $650 for that seems a bit much.... Any
DIY advice??

[Steve King]

Post by Existential Angst
Awl --

BIG SNIP

Post by Existential Angst
Having stuff buzzing in your head for dozens of minutes on end,
duplicating it seconds later while new stuff is streaming in, and keeping
track of all the other crap you have to do in front of the camera/audience
is, for me, cruising for a breakdown -- just too much simultaneous
stimulation!
But, at any rate, at least I think I have a grasp of "the trick" . Altho
Steve mentioned some really talented memorizers etc, it seems this in-ear
stuff is the script-equivalent of AutoTune, for singers..... a kind of
"lowering of the bar", talent-wise, but distinctly raising the bar,
technology-wsie.

My experience is that once developing the skill of using an in-ear prompter
the actual use of it in a production or live situation is not stressful at
all. For corporate video work, I record scene by scene, a habit I developed
back, when using a micro-cassette recorder. If the camera operator blew a
move, or I blew a line, or the director wanted to re-do the scene with a
different shot, it was easy to rewind the tape to the very beginning without
worrying about finding a cue point for the start of the scene...very
difficult with tape as you know. Recording scene by scene also means that
the material is very fresh in your mind. The words and ideas are like old
friends as they play back in your ear. The mind is a wonderful thing. I
find it easy to even put a different spin on the words and ideas compared to
my recording, where I am most concerned about clear enunciation. In other
words, I can deliver a completely different character and energy level
compared to my 'cue track', which supports my strongly differing with your
comparison to AutoTune. The cue track is a tool; it is not necessarily a
performance to emulate. As far as "lowering the bar, talent-wise", I differ
with that characterization, too. I challange any human being to receive a
long-form script as he or she arrives on set, particularly on an esoteric
subject like scientific, medical, or computer programming material, and be
ready to go to work on camera teaching the material with authority minutes
later in big time-chunks without some sort of prompting. But, that sort of
performance is expected today from performers doing this work. When I
started in the 70s, it was normal to get a script at least several days
before shooting. There was time for memorization, which at that time was
really the only choice in field (as opposed to studio) production other than
big cue cards. There was the added pressure of shooting on film and knowing
how expensive it was to blow a scene. When the ear prompter came along, it
was a beautiful thing---for everyone, actors, producers, camera operators.
One thing I haven't mentioned is the ability to add cues for the use of
props and for moves right on the cue-track: 'pick up scalpel' or 'point to
bracke caliper' or 'slow walk to mark 2'. Believe me, in a 5-minute long
scene being shot with two cameras, one on a dolly and expecting a move from
you at a particular point in the script, those cues are really helpful.
Early adopters of the ear prompter back in the day were thought by their
director/producers to be miracle workers because we saved them so much time
and money. Today, they expect this skill as the norm, at least in the
markets I work.

I use a digital note-taker type recorder and a neck loop which feeds a
wireless earbud. It is essentially invisible to the camera. In very noisy
environments like factories, airports, and big crowds I use an ear bud in
each ear. The wireless units are expensive. Like most things for which the
market is very small. A wired ear bud is much less expensive; however, it
is a pain in the #$%# to keep taped to the back of your neck and invisible
unless you wear your hair long....much easier for a woman. The wired type
does have much greater audio fidelity, which is nice. As far as cost, I
think I paid around $400 for the neck loop and a couple of ear buds at least
25 years ago. They've served me well for hundreds of jobs. They still work
like the did when they were new. I used my prompter on a construction site
a couple of months ago. We did all the on-camera (and voice-over) segments
of a 40-minute video in one relatively easy day. A few static shots. A
couple of nice dolly shots. And, a bunch of walk and talk steady-cam shots,
delivering copy, interacting with construction workers, and demonstrating
some air quality measuring equipment I was unfamiliar with. The $400
investment pro-rated over all the jobs I used the equipment on is less than
a pack of chewing gum per day used. The lowered stress level, priceless.

Steve King