A Student's Perspective - NDIgnite Teleprompt

Author: Bendisz, Matt

ND Ignite

by Matt Bendisz


I was recently fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work behind the scenes at Notre Dame’s NDignite show. The broadcast is targeted toward middle and high school students to teach them about life at a university like Notre Dame, the college application process, and how to use their talents to the best of their ability. This 30-minute show runs on Sundays, and it is broadcast live, so being able to work behind the scenes definitely helped me get some sense of the fast-paced, high-energy environment that is live television. My job on this production was to man the teleprompter. I was in charge of scrolling through the teleprompter while the hosts read their scripts live on the air. I was told that this job of scrolling through the script is “like a dance” with the hosts, and I found this to be very true. At times, I had to work against the host’s natural tendency to speak fast, but I also had to ensure that the next words of the script were always available, so the scrolling always had to be just right. While this job may have been somewhat simplistic, I certainly learned a lot from the experience. Hearing the director call up camera cues, watching transitions be pulled up and played, and then seeing the final product really helped me see how live TV works at a small level. Additionally, being in the state-of-the-art Martin Media Center facility and working for Notre Dame Studios was extraordinarily valuable in learning about professional productions. Overall, I am very pleased with the experience and would recommend it to everyone else.