the clapboard is for syncing audio and video, if you're shooting digital and you have them both on the same tape, then you don't need it, otherwise it would be good, to make syncing easier later.

the clapboard helps enormously with syncing because you have an exact point where you can join them. For the video you find the exact point that it closes, and for the audio you listen for the 'clap'. And so that you know which bits of audio belong to the right video you write it on the clapboard and have someone say it at the beginning of every take.
you need scene, shot (different for every angle, closeups, etc.) and take.

The clapboard serves another function as well, it allows you to slate each shot to make editing easier. this can be done with a simple dry erase board though, or even hand signals as Robert Rodriguez showed while making El Mariachi.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

thanks alot, but now i have another question. I have never shot using sperate audio. What i was planning on doing for this was just plugging and external mic into my camera. So does shooting the two differntly (audio and visual) what is the best way to do this and what equip will i need? once again, thanks

"I believe the cinema is one of our principal forms of art. It is an incredibly powerful way to tell uplifitng stories that can move people to cry with joy and inspire them to reach for the stars."-Wes Craven

Do a search of this site. That question has been asked a couple of times already.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

alright i went to the FAQ section which helped some. unfortunatly i dont own a minidisk player, which seems to be the main was to record sound seperatly according to the FAQ, so i have to buy one. is this a good one? ?url? http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=MZRH910KIT&Dept=audio&CategoryName=pa_DigitalMusicPlayers_MiniDisc_HiMDWalkman?/url?

and if not what are some good ones? im just curious, is there another way to do it? finally, the FAQ said something about making sure the speed is teh same on the audio as it is on the video. Being a young filmmaker, im 19 which apparently isnt that young for a filmmaker anymore haha, i have only made my films on a sony handycam so i wasnt able to control the speed at which it was shot. but for my shorts i bought a panasonic DVX1000a so i think i can control the speed with it. so can you give me some instructions on how i can do this?

also, why not just plug the external mic into the camera??? seems like it would be the same sound but without the hassel of putting them in sync later

"I believe the cinema is one of our principal forms of art. It is an incredibly powerful way to tell uplifitng stories that can move people to cry with joy and inspire them to reach for the stars."-Wes Craven

Plugging the mic directly into the camera is a better option most of the time.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

You can also record sound directly to another digital device, such as a laptop, DAT, etc.

We've made several films where the sound has been recorded on a laptop (one with a decent sound card!). You need a clapper and have to spend time syncing the takes in post afterwards, but it offered great flexibility of not having to have the sound man connected to the camera. We also didn't have any problems losing sync half-way through a take, although I suspect this might become more of any issue with very long takes.

Ben C.

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