Introduction

Clapperboards are used in all types of professional film and TV productions. This is because they have many different uses and significantly speed up the filming and post production process. Whilst on set, using clapperboards helps ensure that everyone is alert and on board during the shoot, and it gives actors a moment to get ready for their role. As well as this, it can be used to help the crew keep an idea of where they are in the shoot and how much is left. Most importantly it is used to help sync the sound and the footage together which is crucial to be able to edit the sequence. This is done by clapping the two separate parts of the board together to create a sound that would be picked up by the microphone and seen on the sequence timeline.

Slating Task

For this task we were asked to record some video and audio footage whilst using the clapperboard. This would help us get a better idea of what exactly was needed whilst using the clapperboard and how it would be used to our best advantage. We were specifically asked to record four different versions, the first would be the head slate. Then we needed to record with a different shot and scene, and then finally a tail slate, and a recording without sound.

When looking back at the footage, I became aware of several errors that we had made whilst shooting. For example I think the area we chose to record in was not a good choice. Although we didn’t have anyone directly walk through our shot, it was still badly lit and had an echo which effected the final quality of audio. I also think that there was a mistake on my part as I should have been much louder and closer to the camera as at times the information on the clapperboard was out of focus or simply not visible. Despite this I was still able to sync the audio and video footage together which was one of the main points of doing the task, though it would have been much better if we had made them few changes.

Lighting Task

Our second task consisted of using two different lights and a reflector in different positions to see which ones more most effective and how these techniques could be implemented into a real production scenario. In order to get the best quality of images we worked in groups of five so that each person would have a role and a responsibility. In each group there was a camera operator, an actor, a lighting operator, a director and someone to hold the reflector.

Overall I am fairly happy with what we finished with. We demonstrated clearly that we knew how the lighting techniques we used could be done to a high quality and used the reflectors suitably for what we were doing. Though if we had more time to work on the task I would have like to experimented with the different gel filters as I feel that this could be a great way to use light to convey different emotions within film and TV.