A teleprompter for actors
blablabla is a teleprompter app for actors: it reads the other character off camera while you record, with a teleprompter for your own lines. It is the best selftape reader when you need to tape tonight and nobody can read with you.
A teleprompter that follows the scene, not a scroll speed
A normal teleprompter scrolls at a fixed pace and you chase it. Slow down for a beat and the text runs away. Speed up in an argument and you wait for it. blablabla advances line by line as the scene moves, so the text is where you are, not where a timer thinks you should be.
It moves when the other character finishes a line and when you finish yours. Take the pause, and the prompter takes it with you.
Your lines on screen while the reader speaks
The other character is read off camera in a distinct voice while your lines sit on the recording screen. You get the cue and the text in the same place, from the same phone.
A dial sets how much you see: the full text, a hint, the first letters of each word, or nothing. Turn it down as you get off book and back up on a hard night, without stopping.
Recording with the teleprompter on
Selftape mode records video on the phone you are prompting from. Prop it at eye height, frame the shot, and record with the text on and the reader speaking. Retakes are unlimited.
Use the prompter on the rehearsal takes and the early passes. By the take you send, the words should be in you and the screen should be there only as a net.
When to turn it off
Casting watches your eyes. A prompter beside the lens pulls them a little, and on a close frame it shows. Turn the dial to off for the take you send, and put your eye line on the reader's mark beside the camera.
If you are not sure whether it shows, record one take with the text on and one with it off and watch them back. The post linked below goes into when a teleprompter helps and when it shows.
Questions actors ask
Is there a teleprompter app for actors?
Yes. blablabla has a teleprompter built into its Selftape mode. It shows your lines on the phone you record with and advances with the scene, while the other character is read off camera.
Can you use a teleprompter for a self tape?
Yes, for rehearsal takes and for the early passes while the lines settle. For the take you send, turn the text off so your eyes stay on the reader's mark rather than on the screen.
Does casting notice the teleprompter?
They notice your eyes. If they drift to the text, a close frame will show it. Keep the prompter for the runs, turn it to first letters or off for the real take, and watch it back before you send.
Does it scroll automatically?
It advances automatically, but not at a fixed speed. The prompter moves line by line as the scene moves: when the other character finishes a line and when you finish yours. If you pause, it waits.
Put the prompter next to the lens
Your lines on screen, the reader off camera, on the phone you already own.