As I understand, modern film and audio are synced using SMPTE timecode which is embedded in the metadata of the respective source files. Modern clappers also display the timecode, but they still have the clapper bar. Is it really necessary to actually clap the clapper anymore?
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1The clapper contain also some visible information like scene 10/take 5... So you can identify the take.– knutNov 9, 2015 at 7:59
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From observation, no it's not absolutely vital. The UK show Eastenders does not use clapperboards. 3 camera shoot, no announcement of take details at all. I've never seen what goes on in the Gallery, though - so they are probably doing some kind of tagging in there.– TetsujinNov 9, 2015 at 8:18
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That's nuts. Didn't realize there were productions not using them at all. I don't have any experience in film, but a little in audio. It's not necessary to slate the takes anymore, but engineers still do it for sheer convenience. Sounds very daunting to rely entirely on metadata. But then, they probably have some pretty fancy AV toys to play with.– user1103Nov 9, 2015 at 8:32
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1@user1103 - as a pure guess, they very likely have some poor, harassed intern typing details directly into the metadata in the gallery. All the cameras are wired directly back to the gallery, they're not 'self-contained+feed' as you'd expect on most productions these days. Bear in mind, they're making 4 hours of drama a week, 52 weeks a year - they really must have their working method down pat by now ;-)– TetsujinNov 9, 2015 at 8:45
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@Tetsujin I recall an EE writer talking about the ins and outs of the production some years ago in an article. They had a ton of rules like "there are X scenes" and "there are N locations, M of them are always in use, P are ones used last week from which you have to use half, and the other locations are new ones you can choose".– BCdotWEBNov 9, 2015 at 15:07
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2 Answers
If you can afford a timecode slate setup, no, it's not necessary, though the action of clapping the slate can serve a couple of purposes:
- It is a small signal to the editor (well... usually his intern, anyway) that there is audio to look for.
On MOS takes (takes without sound), the slate is not clapped (because there's no sound) there's also usually (but not always) a spot on the slate that says "MOS" that gets circled to show there's no matching audio file.
- It's a backup system. If, for some reason, the timecode encoding fails, having that slate clap can save you a lot of time.
That being said, the setup for a timecode slate can be expensive, particularly for small budget projects where a $300-2000 slate is half of... if not the entire... budget... and that doesn't include the cost of all of the timecode controllers/sync boxes that are needed to sync the audio and camera/s together. A full setup could easily cost $5000.
There are certainly cheaper options. In fact, there are a couple of relatively reputable iPad apps that are being used on set so, if you've already dished out $400+ for an iPad/iPhone, you may have this option, but you still need to be able to sync the iPad with the audio equipment. Regardless, if you think about it, you can't clap an iPad, so clearly, it's unnecessary... though, you can certainly buy a clapper case to go with it.
So, for the peons who can't afford (or don't want to waste money on) a timecode slate, you buy a $10-50 plain old whiteboard slate and clap it to your heart's content.
*I have never used any of the linked devices/apps and my inclusion of them should not be considered support of the product's quality
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The inflation of iPhone cost is... striking... My last one cost over $1200.– Catija ♦Mar 4, 2020 at 14:52
The answer is No, as is pointed out previously. With the advent of NLE (Non Linear Editing) software, matching takes is easy. I have edited dozens of films with no clapper, you merely load them all into software (I use Sony Vegas) and match them up by wave formations. Easy as pie. A clapper would serve as a high point in the wave formations, but there's enough points naturally to match them up quite easily. A white board might be necessary to ensure you're using the proper takes, but all the stuff I edit is live video and it's all one take.
answered Mar 4, 2020 at 13:54
