Sure, there is no need to buy one until you have the money. In the meantime, gather the parts to emulate a real one and construct it at home. You'll need two pieces of wood attached on one end with a hinge so they can "clap" together. The pro slates also have magnets embedded in the ends to help bring the pieces together and accentuate the noise. Painting the wood pieces aids in the visual moment so the Editor can more easily see the "mark."

For the slate part, in the old days, they used a "chalk board slate" and used chalk. The newer method is a piece of white plastic that you can use a Rite-On/Wipe-Off marker to write the necessary information with. This piece of plastic is embedded in the bottom piece of wood by making a narrow groove in the wood, then gently jamming the plastic inside the wood.

It's not terribly complicated. It just takes a little time once you've found the correct pieces.

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com

Do you record sound seperately, if you do then you need it as you line up the sound of the 'clap' with the image of it clapping. However if you record sound through the camera then I dont think it is an absolute. If you dont use it for lining up sound with visual then you will just be using it as a way of showing which shot is which, so you have to ask yourself how well do you 'file/sort' your shots on your computer at the moment. If you spend alot of time searching for clips then maybe you should have one.

Rob - UK

Definatly invest in one, I have just used one for the first time as a part of the college course I am enrolled on. So being able to label good and bad takes at the time that I am filming meant that I was able to go right in to the footage and pull it out when I was capturing it to my editing sustem, which saved me loads of time in the long run.

I wouldlike to know where to get one from myself to be honest.

Cleary.

www.myspace.com/b31_film_productions

As Rob said, when shooting with a camera that records both audio
and video you don't need the slate (clapper board) for sync. You
only need to do that when you have an audio recorder separate
from your camera.

I use one on every movie I make to identify the scene number and
take. I find this and the notes taken on set to save a lot of time in
editing.

However, if you are making movies without using one now and
don't really see a need for one, then safe the money. You don't
need one.

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

quote:

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Originally posted by Cleary

Definatly invest in one, I have just used one for the first time as a part of the college course I am enrolled on. So being able to label good and bad takes at the time that I am filming meant that I was able to go right in to the footage and pull it out when I was capturing it to my editing sustem, which saved me loads of time in the long run.

I wouldlike to know where to get one from myself to be honest.

Cleary.

www.myspace.com/b31_film_productions

---

The Second Camera Assistant (2nd AC) is the one who is charge of taking care of the "slate" as it is referred to by everyone on set.

The slate is usually a plastic board with different areas etched into it for different information, such as scene, take, and date. The plastic is connected to two hinged "sticks" that are "hit" together to create a visual and audio "mark" for the Editors when syncing the film and sound in post-production. The primary purpose of the "sticks" is to provide a visual and audio "mark" for the Editors to sync the picture and sound.

The information written on the plastic board provides: the Scene number (determined by the Script Supervisor), the Take number, the Roll number (starting at #1 at the start of a movie), the current date, the Director, the DP, the name of the Production (Title of the movie), and any special information, like a different frame rate (ie, not 24fps) or filter information that the lab or Editor should know.

A "SMART SLATE" is the one you see with red digital numbers. When the "sticks" (the black & white wood pieces on top) are opened, the digital numbers light up and the TIMECODE is visible. That TIMECODE is generated by the Sound Mixer's equipment. This TimeCode is in lieu of the "hitting of the sticks" as a visual cue for the Editor to use to sync the picture and sound. In music video, where PLAYBACK is used for lip-syncing, the TimeCode is the way to sync the master audio tracks with the film so that precise sync can be obtained.

The "randomness" of the digital slate isn't random at all. It is usually set to the actual time-of-day by the Sound Mixer. Any time could be set, so in that sense, it is random, but the real purpose is to provide that specific visual reference for the Editors.

Professional Camera Assistants buy their "Don Earl" slates from a variety of equipment vendors, such as Filmtools in Burbank.

See ?url? http://search.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/nsearch?query=slate&catalog=cinemasupplies&go.x=0&go.y=0?/url? for a variety of styles. This one http://www.filmtools.com/donclasensla.html is the most used aside from a Smart Slate seen here: ?url? http://www.filmtools.com/decodctssmti.html?/url?

Brian Dzyak
Cameraman/Author
IATSE Local 600, SOC
http://www.whatireallywanttodo.com

thanks alot guys, never sieze to surprise me with answers