![]() But even knowing that the anchor was reading the words as they scrolled across the front of the lens, instead of talking from memory, the effect of looking directly into the camera while speaking was a powerful new tool in communications. Over the years news viewers figured it out, of course. "You rarely look down at your script! Amazing!" "How do you memorize all that news copy every night" people used to ask me. But despite its awkwardness and tendency to humiliate actors by suddenly running backwards, it undeniably gave anchormen a good chance to look cool, calm, and in control. Then you would need to run cables to another electronic device that contained and controlled the words that would appear in front of the TV lens. You had to hang a black-and-white monitor below the lens of the camera and mount the reflective magic glass on a bracket that could support the weight of both. Since their infancy, teleprompter set-ups have been large, bulky, and expensive. Those evil cue cards, in other words, can finally be put out of our misery. It used to be something that only fully equipped studios would have, but now there is no excuse for not having a teleprompter wherever one would be helpful, including commercial auditions. The teleprompter, an indispensable tool for TV news broadcasters since the 80s, has grown up. ![]() If you've ever auditioned for a commercial where you were asked to read cue cards, held somewhere in the vicinity of the camera, and hated every impossible second of trying to do it well, your moment has come. ![]()
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