Mark Lyon IMPOSTOR Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I'm directing a TV campaign in October which will feature frank interviews with real people, and I'd love to get the straight-into-the-lens candor that you see in Errol Morris documentaries. Does anyone know if his modified teleprompter "Interrotron" device is available for rent anywhere? We're most likely shooting Super16, with Aatons. Or do you have any thoughts about other ways to achieve what we're seeking? Thanks in advance for any help! Mark Lyon www.mightymaxfilms.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Gross Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I think this is completely a homebrew concept for Morris and not available to anyone else. But you could put a half-silvered "two way" eamsplitter in front of the camera as is used on a teleprompter and instead of text simply put a video feed of the interviewer. You could probably just modify a standard prompter rig to do this by changing the feed to the regular screen, although you'd have to see the quality of image you'd get and you may need to flip the image coming into the monitor. The Interrotron experiment is a fairly creepy looking rig, with a mannequin and a hollowed out head into which Morris has rigged a rear projection video feed of himself as the interviewer and then slips the camera lens in the middle. When I saw pictures of it it looked like you were being interviewed by something out of a zombie movie. Very odd and hard to believe it wouldn't be distracting for the subjects. One hopes he simplified it back to the teleprompter system I described above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nykvist_fan Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 If you call Errol Morris, he might help you out; he's a very nice guy. Here are his numbers: ph: (617) 225-0012 / fax: (617) 225-0016 Morris designed the thing and his wife named it. If you watch all of his films, the first film he used it on was Fast, Cheap and Out of Control, then Mr. Death, his Bravo series First Person and, IMHO, his best film since Gates of Heaven, The Fog of War. FYI: The numbers are also available on his site, so i'm not spreading around private information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Lyon IMPOSTOR Posted July 23, 2004 Author Share Posted July 23, 2004 Thanks for the help! As a newcomer to this forum, I have to say I'm quite impressed by the quality of the discussion here, and I hope to be able to give as much as I take. --Mark Lyon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Lamar King IMPOSTOR Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 There is the McWilliams Eyeliner which has been around for many years. It is a sillver mirror device which lets the questioner sit on the right side of the camera and his face is seen directly in front of the lens. DP Patrick Blackard rents one out of Fort Worth, Texas. See this link for an explanation and pictures; Eyeliner And the McWilliams Eyliner site, all one page of it; http://www.mceyeliner.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jovan Todorovic Posted December 25, 2004 Share Posted December 25, 2004 Regarding the interotron, i read all you guys said and followed the links. Rally interesting thing i was thinking of constructing for my filming purposes when i hear this guy already employed it. Anyway, in the end i really can't say where i can find this interotron for use. Someone left his phone number, but i don't find it at his current site, so i find it not polite to just call. Anyone have Errol's e-mail? Jovan Todorovic director/cinematographer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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