Clapperboard
A clapperboard — sometimes called a clapper, slate, sticks, time slate, marker or several other names — is an important part of the camera department's toolbox used during principal photography. It has several different functions. The information written on it helps to organize the use of the filmed material in post-production. It also synchronizes sound and picture recording by providing an absolute visual and auditory reference point.
Physical description
Typically small, hand-held devices, clappers have two pieces of wood or plastic hinged together so that they can be brought together to make a sharp "clap". This noise is used as an absolute auditory reference for the synchronization of the soundtrack of the scene. On most occasions during the filming of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who, the board has had the traditional colours of "absolute" white and black, arranged in diagonal slants across the clapping mechanism. These colours are used because they're visible in almost any lighting conditions. However, the production team occasionally use multi-colored clappers.
What's written on a clapper
Typically, clappers in the BBC Wales era have included the series number and the director and director of photography of a scene. Rarely, the producer's name has also been present. Perhaps more crucially, the clapper will contain:
- a letter designating the camera which produced the shot
- a slate number (that is, the number assigned to the particular shot)
- a take number or code
- the date of filming
- A number assigned to a roll of film
- The episode number (by believed broadcast order at the time of filming)
- The scene number
The clapboard also gives an indication of the basic lighting conditions the scene is supposed to have. The 2AC can choose between "interior" and "exterior", and "day" and "night". This is the only part of the clapboard which doesn't actually indicate the conditions as they are, but actually the conditions as they're supposed to be in the final product. Thus, a shot filmed on an exterior location at noon could be marked with "EXT/NIGHT", if the director of photography is shooting "day for night".
Who uses the information
Although clapper info is used by a variety of post production departments, it's most important to the three people whose job it is to maintain the information the clappers contain.
The numbering sistem
On Doctor Who the person in charge of maintaining and using the clappers is the assistant cameraman. If there are two assistants listed in the credits, the clapper loader — the person in charge of actually writing the information on the slate — will usually be the second one listed (that is, the 2AC). Typically unheralded, and never, as of 2010, included in an interview on Doctor Who Confidential, the 2AC's job is absolutely vital to almost every other department. He or she starts the flow of information to the post-production departments.
His or her counterpart in post is the assistant editor, whose job it is to organize all incoming foootage for the editor. For reasons of efficiency, however, almost all members of the post will organize their planning around the assistant editor's organizational scheme. and post-production team use at least part of the clapper information in some way to organize their output.
The known color values of the clapper are used to provide a colour baseline for the colourists and other members of the post-production team.
If the scene being shot is one shot by, or having later composition by, the visual effects department, the clapper will be given a code corresponding to a schedule worked out by the production supervisor or her staff. In this way, the visual effects department can better keep track of what special effect shot goes with which principal photography shot.
