Prompt Service

Winter 2012

Steve — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:26:33 +0000

Wow, the RWC2011 seems a distant but exciting memory. Not surprisingly Prompt Service had it’s busy ever quarter at the end of last year, with 5 kits on the RWC for the last fortnight followed immediately by the IRB Rugby Awards and not long after by the Sky Rugby awards and the Westpac Halbergs. In fact conference and event prompting has double over the same time last year, a highlight being The Audience with Tony Blair.

Of course non-broadcast productions continue to be our bread and butter including our regular client of many years Les Mills International who have a seemingly continuous production schedule of trainer training videos. RealTV is another very busy client, as is Screentime Communications.

The RWC windfall enabled us to invest in major upgrade to our equipment offering. Not only do we now have 3 kits (1x kart system and 2x case kits) but the 2main systems have brand new Win7 laptops and both kits run the latest Autoscript WinPlus prompting software.

Finally, if you have an iPhone running the ProPrompter app our Prompter clip-on hood unit might be just what you need for an emergency prompting of a couple of lines- especially as the the app can now be controlled with the volume buttons on a standard iPhone headset, as well as remotely via Bluetooth from another idevice running ProPrompter!

Rates

Steve — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:12:58 +0000

12″TFT Superbrite Camera Hood – $800 p/day, $480 half-day
Mounts to your tripod. Typically- unless you have special requirments- this is the unit you want. Especially if you have exterior locations or blue/green screen work. Can run off battery power.

7.5″LCD Camera Hood – $800 p/day, $480 half-day
Clips to the front of the camera lens. Really only suitable for extreme close-up, in-car or hand-held work. Can run off camera or external battery power.

Conference System – 1 podium = $900 p/day, 2 podium = $1000 p/day
For stage presentations. Floor stand-mounted glass reflects flat-profile.
***NB: this system is NOT suitable for live TV recordings. For these we recommend using a large flatscreen display- POA
13″ LCD monitors. Read from 2-5 metres.

Presenter Training – Half-day: $1200 [ click here for details ]
Half-day seminars, limited to 10 people.
Includes: Script workshops, video record/playback, direction.

* All quoted rates are GST exclusive
* All system rates include an experienced operator.
* We accept all standard word processor file formats.

Book Us Here

2011 News…

Steve — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 03:57:40 +0000

Welcome to the new-look Prompt Service website. Not only have we given the design a refresh but we now have a smarter and cleaner booking enquiry page and I can update it from my iPhone. I’m sure that’ll come in handy at some point.

We’ve now locked in our first bookings for what will be our busiest period since starting in 1998 with the Rugby World Cup scheduled for September and October this year. Not only will we be supplying systems to broadcasters at Eden Park for the finals but also to the Viaduct Basin media centre.

Over the past year we’ve worked on new TV series like “The Politically Correct Parenting Show” and the Documentary Channel’s “Little Miracles”, as well as third series of Greenstone’s “in beTWEENs” and Satellite Media’s “Rocked The Nation”, and 4th series of “Beyond The Darklands” for Screentime.

Even Spartacus and the Power Rangers benefited from our unique service for interstitials and promotional pieces over the last year.

In the live event field we prompted the Sky Rugby Awards for the 6th successive year, as well as The RSVP & Nexus, NZ Marketing, QANTAS (and now Canon) Media, NZ Radio, Property Council and Gen-I Super Achievers awards shows.

And of course there were the bread and butter non-broadcast and corporate shoots that make up the majority of our work. Production companies for ANZ, Westpac, Coca-Cola Amatil, Les Mills, Mighty River Power, Fonterra and Air New Zealand engaged us to prompt everything from CEO’s monthly staff updates to broadcast annual reports to retail catalogue launches.

You can see a more comprehensive list of our clients and recent work on the Clients page of this site.

Our location autocue kits are still the only full size, fully battery powered systems available, with head-units light enough to mount on a jimmy-jib or hot head, and adapter plates to quickly and easily mount most camera sizes from mini-DV to 35MM or RED.

And of course all our operators are thoroughly trained, with their own jandals, and with the experience to help your production go faster and smoother.

Highlights from 2009

Steve — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 06:26:53 +0000

On the TV front we worked on a range of projects this last year including:

- “Media 7″- TVNZ

- “Spartacus” EPK- Pacific Renaissance

- “Maorioki” ser6- MTS

- “7 Days”- TV3

- “in Betweens” series 2- Greenstone Pictures

- “ Kotahi Te Ra 2010″ – MTS

- “2009 Rugby Awards”- Sky TV

…as well as dozens of TVCs, stage and conference events (inc. 2009 Netguide Web Awards) and corporate videos.

Prompt Service Launches ProPrompter in NZ

Steve — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:00:46 +0000

Prompt Service is the first prompting service in NZ capable of providing production companies and broadcasters with the smallest and lightest prompter hood unit in the country.

Perfect for handheld and close-quarter(such as in-car) PTCs, the ProPrompter hood unit weighs only 2.5lbs, features a 7 1/2″ LCD display, and attaches to any internal focus camera by use of a step down ring directly on your camera lens. No rails, stands or tripod needed. The ProPrompter fits any lens diameter from 100mm down to 52mm via adaptor and step-down rings and we have a wide range available to fit most lenses.

It’s fed from one of our existing prompting kits or, if circumstances require, directly from a standalone laptop running Pro-Prompter’s proprietary software.

All is not Lost

Steve — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:11:32 +0000

Prompt Service was Castaway from February to May 2007 on the 2nd series of the BBC produced reality TV series that started the genre. As well as acting as camera assistant (and occasionally shooting) Prompt Service operator Grant Findlay prompted the show’s host Danny Wallace.

Grant described the experience as a blast, but missed his own bed. Ahhhh… bless.

Aw shucks… we’re loved.

Steve — Sat, 15 May 2010 06:21:26 +0000

“Personally, I find that Prompt Service autocue ensures that nothing is left to chance when I give presentations. It gives me the confidence to speak professionally with passion, engage the audience throughout and know I will get it right every time.

No more referring to notes …, just constant eye contact with the audience which has provided me with great feedback, further reinforcing why I would not leave home without it!

Get Prompt Service technology, get Steve, become truly professional in your presentations.”

Gordon Smith, Chief Executive- FMG

Farmers’ Mutual Group Insurance AGM- 2005, 2006

From Script to Screen

Steve — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 06:25:25 +0000

There are a number of TV and video production companies around New Zealand providing their clients with our unique, free presentation training DVD before they appear on camera for the first time. Here’s some feedback from a couple of those apprehensive “first-timers”.

“I want to say how impressed I was with the “From Script To Screen Autocue Guide” you sent to me before the… …interview. Being a first timer in front of a camera, the advice from the DVD was extremely useful and enabled me to understand simple tips and tricks that I would never have considered if I hadn’t seen the CD.”

Allan Dorne, IT Technical Services Manager, PSIS Ltd

“Having never used an autocue before, I thought I may have come across a little wooden and unnatural. At first I actually requested that we try recording without the autocue, but after I received the Prompt Service DVD I had a lot more confidence, as it pretty much ran through the whole scenario as it played out the next day, and gave me a few invaluable tips for making the most of the situation. With this confidence the whole experience went very smoothly, and with the words and phrases on screen being changed at the touch of a button if they didn’t sound right and the autocue following along at my own pace, I think the end result was much better than expected.”

John McGuinness, Communications Manager, Flight Centre

Thanks to both of these guys for allowing us to reprint their feedback.

On a roll

Steve — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:27:37 +0000

Prompt Service’s location prompter cart allows for even faster set-up and relocation time especially on outside locations.

All batteries, extension cables (video and power), and accessories are easily accessible and we no longer have to try and find a table or off-ground, flat surface to set up on. At 70cm wide the cart is designed to fit thru a standard size door and the large pneumatic tyres allow it to easily cover the roughest terrain- a grass and dirt slope on its first outing (and shown here on location with Front Of The Box Productions for “Putahi Taakaro”).

Combined with our 12″ LCD Hi-Brite on-camera hood unit we now have the ultimate location-ready prompter system. Forget making your presenters look good, we think we look pretty good too!