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Sometimes a "tail slate" or end slate is filmed at the end of a take, during which the clapperboard is held upside-down. This is done when the slate was not captured at the start of the take due to the camera being set up for the shot in such a way that the board cannot be captured, for example when
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The shutting of the clapper sticks is easily identified on the visual track, and the sharp "clap" noise is easily identified on the separate audio track. The two tracks can later be precisely synchronized by matching the sound and movement. Since each take is expressly identified on both the visual
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to the next shot when an actor's lips stop moving will risk cutting off their last syllable, unless the soundtrack is copied and edited on a separate system, and actors must be directed to pause to allow for such cuts. Because of these technical limitations, the film industry has continued to use
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a specific focus or frame is set up and cannot be altered until the take is complete. Tail slates are also commonly used when the director makes the decision that clapping a slate at the beginning of the scene would be distracting to the actor, such as when filming a highly emotional performance.
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slate (the latter being easily legible via the light coming through it from the scene about to be shot). The clapper sticks traditionally have diagonally interleaved lines of black and white to ensure the camera can capture a clear visual image of the clap in most lighting conditions. In recent
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A verbal identification of the numbers, known either as "voice slate" or "announcement", occurs after sound has reached speed. At the same time or shortly thereafter, the camera will start running, and the clapperboard is then filmed briefly at the start of the take; its two sticks are snapped
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or acrylic board with a set of clapper sticks across the top; one stick is fixed to the upper edge of the slate, while the other is attached to it by a hinge at one end. The slate displays the name of the production, the scene and "take" about to be performed, and similar information; a camera
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with the internal clock of the camera, so that in theory it should be easy for the film editor to pull the timecode metadata from the video file and sound clip and synchronize them together. However, electronic timecodes can still drift during a long shooting day, so the clapper sticks on the
215:. However, single-system recording did not render clapperboards obsolete. First, single-system recording of sound-on-film is "decidedly inferior in audio quality" to traditional double-system recording. Second, footage from single-system recording is difficult to shoot and edit. Since the
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is responsible for determining which system will be used and what numbers a given take should have. While these are usually fairly obvious once a system has been agreed upon, the script supervisor is usually considered the final arbiter in the event of an unclear situation.
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sharply together as soon as the camera has reached sync speed. Specific procedures vary depending on the nature of the production (documentary, television, feature, commercial, etc.), and the dominant
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assistant holds the clapperboard so the slate is in view of the cameras with the clapper sticks already open, speaks out information for the benefit of the audio recording, then snaps the sticks shut.
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A traditional clapperboard (i.e., a dumb slate) consists of a wooden slate with a hinged clapper stick attached to its top. A modern clapperboard generally uses a pair of wooden sticks atop either a
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number to the scene number, camera angle and take number may be used if the scene number is not included on the slate. This is generally not as great a concern with short films, however.
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gate and must be placed after the gate, the soundtrack must be offset by several frames (usually 28, 26, or 18 ahead) to maintain sync with the frame in the gate. With such footage,
91:. Due to its ubiquity on film sets, the clapperboard is frequently featured in behind-the-scenes footage and films about filmmaking, and has become an enduring symbol of the
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takes, which have no sound. When a slate is used to mark an MOS take, the slate is held half open, with a hand blocking the sticks, or closed, with a hand over the sticks.
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clapperboard still need to be closed together in order to ensure there is a way of manually synchronizing the footage and audio if matching the digital timecode fails.
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from synchronizing the visual images on film footage with the accompanying audio recordings, as actually happened with the long-delayed film
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as they are filmed and audio-recorded. It is operated by the clapper loader. It is said to have been invented by
Australian filmmaker
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Methods were later developed to directly record sound to film as part of a single system integrated with the film camera (so-called
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A clapperboard is generally used to identify all takes on a production, even takes that do not require synchronization, such as
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364:(or 2nd AC) is generally responsible for the maintenance and operation of the clapperboard, while the
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182:). (For early sound films, playback of the audio track was synchronized during post-production with
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Finding a way to synchronize visual and audio tracks was essential to traditional filmmaking because
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reacts to light, not sound. During a film shoot, the audio track was always recorded by the
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and audio tracks, segments of film are easily matched with corresponding segments of audio.
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138:, Australia. The clapperboard with both the sticks and slate together was a refinement of
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This article is about the equipment used during filming. For the television program, see
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to assist in synchronizing of picture and sound, and to designate and mark the various
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the principal requirement of film stock identification during a day's shoot was the
660:"Inside the 46-Year Journey to Bring Aretha Franklin's 'Amazing Grace' Doc to Life"
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The Power
Filmmaking Kit: Make Your Professional Movie on a Next-to-Nothing Budget
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techniques; engineers later figured out how to directly add an audio track to a
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The slate typically includes the date, the production title, the name of the
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A digislate is a clapperboard with an inbuilt electronic box displaying
705:
Introduction to Media
Production: The Path to Digital Media Production
708:(3rd ed.). Burlington, Massachusetts: Focal Press. p. 180.
293:(DoP) and the scene information — which follows two popular systems:
596:"Why Do They Click That Board Thing Before Filming A Movie Scene?"
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number (with the letter of the camera shooting the slate if using
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years sticks with calibrated color stripes have become available.
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double-system recording for professional-quality film projects.
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Device used to aid in the syncing of audio with a moving image
462:– Peter Fitzpatrick — Monash University Publishing, 2012
264:. The timecode displayed on the clapperboard will have been
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techniques.) Failure to use clapperboards can prevent the
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The clapper as two sticks hinged together was invented by
498:. Biography. Monash University Publishing. p. 452.
211:), which was most commonly used with small formats like
630:. Burlington, Massachusetts: Focal Press. p. 298.
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with a separate system on separate media (so-called
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702:Musburger, Robert B.; Kindem, Gorham (2005).
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142:(1903–1998), a pioneer sound engineer.
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658:Browne, David (14 November 2018).
398:and colored stripes on the sticks.
390:A Denecke clapperboard containing
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594:Soniak, Matt (4 December 2012).
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532:. Nicolae Sfetcu. p. 853
150:The clapperboard combines a
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779:Television terminology
737:"Studio TV Production"
410:A clapperboard with a
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196:film editor
146:Description
61:movie slate
24:(TV series)
758:Categories
643:3 February
454:References
297:American:
266:jam synced
250:whiteboard
172:film stock
152:chalkboard
113:silent era
69:filmmaking
57:film slate
45:dumb slate
412:dry-erase
273:Operation
221:projector
136:Melbourne
49:clapboard
670:Archived
436:See also
356:Operator
324:); e.g.
301:number,
287:director
743:18 June
225:cutting
166:Purpose
111:In the
99:History
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81:scenes
676:2 May
448:2-pop
334:slate
299:scene
242:slate
190:with
155:slate
117:slate
85:takes
63:, or
745:2012
723:2022
710:ISBN
678:2019
645:2022
632:ISBN
604:2015
581:IMDb
563:2023
538:2023
513:2023
500:ISBN
479:IMDb
360:The
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