Good Reasons for Using a Slate

I’ve been making training videos for companies for over 25 years. I have my own method for making most training videos which includes structuring the script in a particular order so that the learner witnesses a process in a manner that makes sense to them, using graphics and animation to help show that which cannot be easily seen in the live shots and relying on a professional voice over to narrate all or most of the program.

I like to be organized, with a well developed script when shooting begins.

Unfortunately some of my clients are rather stubborn about being organized with the information they provide me for the script . . . and also agreeing to follow the script once shooting commences.

While everything gets shot, it can be confusing later if new information has been added during the shoot.

Once everything is “in the can” it goes to the edit suite where I log and capture the relevant footage. A good camera report, meticulously written by the production assistant during the shoot, is critical in helping to understand what’s been shot as we rarely make all the shots in script order and the log and capture session might happen days later.

Then, while screening, logging and capturing footage in the post production suite, I find it highly convenient to have a slate clearly visible at the beginning of each shot. This allows me to whip through the shots quickly and always know what I’m looking at.

A professional film slate is usually made of white plexiglass with the various information fields screen printed on to it. There will also be a clapper stick hinged to the top of the slate board. It will be painted black with white stripes (or is it white with black stripes?? . . . one of life’s great mysteries). This simple device could set you back $60 or more.

A film slate with the hinged clapper stick is used to help re-synchronize picture and sound in the edit suite. It comes from motion picture technology where the sound is recorded on a separate audio recorder and not on the camera’s audio track. True “film” cameras have no sound capabilities.

By marking the exact frame on the picture film where the clapper meets the slate board and also marking the exact frame where the sound can be heard on the sound media, the editor can interlock the picture and sound together in sync.

In video production, when we are recording sound directly to the videotape, hard drive or static memory device, a clapper is not necessary. Synchronization is automatic as it’s recorded with the picture.

While many people use a dry erase marker to fill in data for each shot on the plexiglass slate they eventually find that not all of the marks made with these pens will scrub off as the plastic breaks down and becomes somewhat porous after a while. That’s why professionals in the film business tend to use numbers written on small strips of white camera tape which they keep stuck on the back of the slate.

Here’s how you can make your own slate very inexpensively and not have to worry about the slate becoming permanently marked or having to use bits of tape:

1. Just use a piece of stiff card stock, a thin piece of plywood or whatever you think will make a good solid surface. Cut it to fit a standard piece of letter sized paper (8 1/2” x 11”).

2. In landscape mode set up a slate design in your favorite word processor or paste-up program and print it onto the paper.

3. Tape or paste the paper onto the slate board you’ve made.

4. Lay a sheet of clear plastic over the paper and tape it around the edges. I use overhead projector transparency film which is available at most stationary stores, but any 8 1/2” x 11” acetate plastic will do.

Now you can use a dry erase marker as much as you want because it’s easy to replace the acetate plastic when it wears out.

And, because we don’t have to worry about re-synchronization you won’t need a clapper stick. My slates are printed with an image of a closed clapper stick at the top, but it’s strictly for decoration.

If, however, you are going to shoot with two cameras you might want to build your slate out of plywood and incorporate a real clapper to help synchronize the soundtracks from both cameras in post production.

A couple of tips on usage:

1. Slate each take at the beginning of the shot.

2. Make sure that the slate is well lit, well focussed and fills the camera’s frame.

3. Run the camera for only about 5 seconds on the slate. You can always freeze frame later to read it. Also, you can stop the camera to re-frame and then take your shot as we needn’t worry about losing synch between the camera and the audio recorder as with film.

4. If you forget to slate - or have misinformation on the slate you can put a “tail slate” on the end of the shot which is differentiated from the head slate for the next shot by being held upside down (c’mon - you can read upside down!).

Getting used to using a slate for scripted productions will save you tons of time in the edit suite.

Check out my video production eBook at:
http://www.mikesdvp.com