prompter reading - "typewriter" eyes problem

[vonkuttenberg]

hello, i have shot videos using 15" notebook with prompting software and i am very unhappy with the output... the actor was very good, but even in scale of medium-long-shot up to medium-close-up is visible his eyes crowling on the lines of text from left to right. did somebody has this issue and solved it somehow? (the text was very precise technical, so it was not possible to learn)

second problem which i did not await from the shooting that actors look does not fit the look into the camera. i thought that if he will stand on left side of frame looking on notebook prompt just touching the camera lense from right, it will look naturaly because of cross rule.

anyway ... tricks how to fake it looking good? (i am just wondering about buying some halfway glass but it does not solve first issue)

 

[paulears]

Usually, it's just a case that the screen was too close, or you had too many words on a line - this forces the actor to 'read' it, when you make text bigger, and have a decent op to control the speed, it just flows better - but of course, reading autocue is a skill the actors have to learn, they can't just 'do it'.

 

[vonkuttenberg]

hmmm thanks for quick answer... so only issue of actor? i was told that he dont want bigger letters, to see the context of the sentences... he improvised the acting really well and shooting which i was used to shoot with actors without "reading system"about whole day we have done in 1/3 time.

could not be opticly somehow cheated? i was even thinking on location about splitting each word on next row to keep the eyes in same position but was against the "context of sentences argument" what about to get some extra bigger screen and having shorter rows will help?

i think that vertical eyes movement would not be so visible... anybody tried already?