Tail Slating

[Kenneth Lau]

Can anyone explain to me when and why will you do tail slating??

 

[Gabel]

Usually it would be in a situation where getting the clapper right is very cumbersome. Perhaps shooting with a very long lens in a narrow space where you couldn't fit it well at the start, then tail-slating is simpler.

 

[Kenneth Lau]

I see,

Thanks for the reply Gabel.

 

[RickyC]

Another one would be a crane shot starting up high, you'd tail slate it when it reaches its final bottom position. Its pretty rare, I've only seen it done a handful of times

 

[RyanT]

Usually it's when timing is very crucial and you don't have control over elements in your frame. I shot a film with a dog this past week and we would just start rolling at a certain point, waiting for the dog to do something, once we got it and we had the shot, we'd come in and tail slate.