Categories on a SLATE?
- Thread starter omar_
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cinemakinoeye
Well-known member
There are some articles on the Clapperboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clapboard_(film) and Slating Procedure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slating_procedure and Camera Angles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_angle in Wikipedia that should answer your questions about slates and slating procedure.
For this to be really useful the continuity supervisor is lining the script as it's getting shot making notes of the scene, setup, and take, and notes on each take. This allows the editor to see at a glance. by simply scanning the lined script, what parts of a scene are covered how they are covered and with which setups and scripts, since additional setups don't always cover the whole scene. Even if you're going to edit the piece yourself, having a continuity supervisor on the set while shooting will be a big help, there's so much to think about when you're shooting continuity cutting style, if that's what you're doing.
Of course, since Wikipedia can be edited by anyone... take anything you read there with a grain of salt (like anything you read, actually, but with Wikipedia, especially, not that it isn't the greatest resource of it's kind, but you have to be careful, that's all, sometimes people change things they should not change).
For this to be really useful the continuity supervisor is lining the script as it's getting shot making notes of the scene, setup, and take, and notes on each take. This allows the editor to see at a glance. by simply scanning the lined script, what parts of a scene are covered how they are covered and with which setups and scripts, since additional setups don't always cover the whole scene. Even if you're going to edit the piece yourself, having a continuity supervisor on the set while shooting will be a big help, there's so much to think about when you're shooting continuity cutting style, if that's what you're doing.
Of course, since Wikipedia can be edited by anyone... take anything you read there with a grain of salt (like anything you read, actually, but with Wikipedia, especially, not that it isn't the greatest resource of it's kind, but you have to be careful, that's all, sometimes people change things they should not change).
omar_
Well-known member
THose wikipedia links did not really clear it up for me :cheesy:
In one scene you will have a variety of setups and multiple takes for each setup...
I know you put the scene on the slate but what about takes? You might have 1 or 5 takes per setup and you might have 1 or 5 setups per scene?
So what goes on the slate? If you put:
Scene 1 Take 3. How do you know which setup that Take is for?
In one scene you will have a variety of setups and multiple takes for each setup...
I know you put the scene on the slate but what about takes? You might have 1 or 5 takes per setup and you might have 1 or 5 setups per scene?
So what goes on the slate? If you put:
Scene 1 Take 3. How do you know which setup that Take is for?
cinemakinoeye
Well-known member
You would write on the slate, for example, Scene 1, Setup B, Take 3 , telling you that it's scene 1, camera setup B, take 3. If you then moved on to the next setup in the same scene, the next slate would read, Scene 1, Setup C, Take 1, and so on...omar_ said:
Personally, I write it like this: 1B-3 (i.e. Scene 1, Setup B, Take 3). Slates usually have spaces for production name, director, cameraperson, film type, INT/EXT, DAY/NIGHT, MOS/SOUND, scene, take, roll nunber, and slate number (some systems include incrementing slate numbers from 1 to n where n is the total number of "takes" in the entire production). On some productions the sound roll number is included in the picture slate. There is no space for setup because the various setups of a scene are usually written as part of the scene number, e.g. 42, 42A, 42B, 42C, 42D, etc. The use of incremental slate numbers from 1 to n is handy as it allows your bins in your NLE to be sorted in shooting order if you want to see things that way.
You will see many slight variations in the systems based on the preferences of the continuity supervisor, editor, etc. Does that clear things up?
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cinemakinoeye
Well-known member
Wow, it's hard to imagine that a single scene would get covered with more than 26 camera angles, unless you're doing some terribly complicated action scene, but if that was, in fact, the case, then you'd go like this... 42Y, 42Z, 42AA, 42AB, etc. Typically you cover a scene with three to six setups (Master, a couple of over the shoulder shots, a few close-ups, etc). But it's all dependent on your shooting style and subject matter.omar_ said:
cinemakinoeye
Well-known member
If you're the editor, then you can use any numbering system you want... but if you're working with other people, and you're going to hand off stuff to an editor. for example, it's best to use one of the existing, established systems, just for the sake of smooth communicaton. The reason conventions were established in the industry is so the roles could be interchanged easily. There is no absolute reason you can't use your own number scheme, just be consistent and logical, especially when it comes to feature length projects.omar_ said:
cinemakinoeye
Well-known member
I usually go with the definition that a scene is a portion of a film in which the action takes place in a single location, at least as far as shooting goes. Each setup is a recording of all or a portion of the scene with one or more cameras. Each setup may overlap part or all of another setup. So, for example, let's say we're shooting a scene of a woman in a laundromat minding her own business and then some guy comes up to her and asks her for some change for the dryer and they have a conversation about the last movie they saw. You might cover this scene in these setups: 12. Master shot of the entire scene from beginning to end, 12A. Medium shot on the woman, 12B. Medium shot on the guy, 12C. Close up of the guy noticing the woman, 12D. Close up of the woman reacting to the guy walking up to her, 12E. Medium Shot of the woman over the man's shoulder 12F. Medium Shot of the guy over the womans's shoulder. Whatever, I can think of more creative ways yo cover the action, but it's just an example. That's seven angles on a single scene, seven setups. That's a reasonable amount of coverage. Usually not every setup runs the whole length of the scene, often you cover only those parts of the scene you know you need to edit the scene.omar_ said:
Some good books for futher study on this topic include: Script Supervising and Film Continuityby Pat Miller, Film Directing: Shot by Shot by Steven Katz, and Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics by Michael Rabiger.
imageonepictures
Well-known member
This is a really good thread.
Do you start is 1A or just 1? Like the Mastershot as the first number and each additional camera abgle as 1a, 1b, 1c and so on??
Do you start is 1A or just 1? Like the Mastershot as the first number and each additional camera abgle as 1a, 1b, 1c and so on??
cinemakinoeye
Well-known member
It depends, I prefer the 42A, 42B, 42C... scheme, some directors/editors I've worked with use the 42, 42A, 42B, 42C... scheme.imageonepictures said:
Keep in mind the "system" that Pat Miller describes in her book was developed for the "Hollywood Factory System" and like any industrial process, it's based on the concepts of interchangeability of personnel, efficiency of communcation through commonly understood conventions, and stadardized part-numbers. For your own, less industrialized shooting, you can use any system that makes sense to you, though, for a feature-length project, you'll find that the industry conventions work pretty well. I always defer to the person who will be using the system... the editor!
imageonepictures
Well-known member
Thanks. That really helps clear up the air since I am working on a feature myself.
Chris
Chris