How to hide the prompter (and other devices) to preserve a beautiful stage.
I’m Lucía Arribas, founder of Solutions Prompteur. During a client speech, it’s a shame that all the effort put into creating a stage with a clean design is diluted by too many technological devices.
In addition to perfect technical execution, the speech at a high-level event must take maximum care of what it conveys. This includes its image.
It is in this type of detail that we see the care taken by the event management.
The level of events we attend with Solutions Prompteur almost ‘forces’ us to resolve the aesthetic aspect in a way that surprises our clients.
In this article, I’m going to share some strategies with you so that the teleprompter, instead of ruining a scene, is an invisible element or even part of the decoration.
Option 1: Hide the prompter in plain sight, as we did at Cannes 2024.
At the Cannes Film Festival, a client called us urgently. He was organising an awards ceremony and needed a teleprompter to fit his stage.
When we decided that the best solution was the Obama transparent system, he told me that only one person would be using the prompter. He wants to preserve the stage. He wants the prompter to disappear when no one is using it.
Our client wants us to be invisible.
The stage (see photo) was a small, square, red stage. As it was at sea level, the beach at Cannes could be seen in the background. Above, a beautiful white textile blanket hung like a protective cotton cloud.
– The prompts will be there.
– But from here, you can see the monitors…
– No, because I’ll supply you with the shrouds. When you install an Obama prompter, by default there are always black covers around it so that you can’t see the screens.
If the black of the shrouds doesn't suit your decor, we can make them in another colour or texture.
If nothing is specified, we will provide black shrouds around the device, but we can also provide white shrouds.
It is often the case at events that a decoration team is also present. In these cases, when a different type of shrouds is required, the design team can take care of the construction. We can give them the precise dimensions to build these covers to your taste.
In fact, that’s what we did to integrate the shrouds into the wooden structure of the lectern at this other presentation in Cannes:
Option 2: Can we simply be completely invisible on stage... without using shrouds or anything?
Of course we can.
There are 100% invisible shrouds. To preserve all the magic of a scene and obtain completely invisible shrouds, we need to place the monitors under the scene.
This is a very aesthetic option, as you can see from the photo.
In this case, all you can see are the rods and the glass. The covers are completely invisible because, in fact, there are none. There’s nothing to hide, because the monitors (as well as the wiring) are placed under the scene.
However, a stage with this level of care and beauty requires an installation that can’t be improvised and that has to be done when the scene is being built. It has to be anticipated.
So, what sort of information do you need to give us so that we can manage your request for VISIBLE or INVISIBLE shrouds?
As mentioned previously, if nothing is specified, with the Obama system we will provide – by default – black visible shrouds, as they are the most commonly used.
If you want them in a different colour or texture, please ask us and we will send you all the references so that you can have them built.
But if you’ve seen the totally invisible shrouds and fallen under their spell, we’ll need you to send us photos or plans of the stage/room during the pre-show discussions.
This will help us to take the necessary care to ensure that everything is as beautiful and invisible as possible.
If you have an emergency, you can contact me on +33 6 70 58 71 58 or send me an email at info@solutionsprompteur.com.
Lucía ARRIBAS
PS : I hope this publication has been useful to you. I only publish 25% of this information on the web. If you’re in the events business, I’m sharing privately the tips I’ve observed from the most sought-after production directors in France (and around the world) after working with many of them for over 20 years. This information is free of charge and will help you avoid many coordination errors during an event, thereby increasing our prestige.
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