"We don't need to slate, it takes to long"

I got bitched out because I didn't use a slate during a 9-minute "reality show" promo someone wanted to produce as a show pitch.
 
Sad Max said:
Taken one step further, it means we don't want to bother with the effort *now*, so we'll just invest stupid-exponentially more effort untangling it, *later*.
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That's exactly what runs through my mind every time. lol


Single camera with sound rec in the cam, you can get away with it. But multi Occam/external sound etc.. You really need to slate.

Thank God someone developed "pluraleyes". If it works it may save the editor from an asylum. There are around 500+ clips between the 2 cameras.
 
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Story about slating for sound:
Last year I did a pretty big mastercard commercial (im a sound mixer)
huge crew, 2 film cameras.

This was outdoors following 4 guys documentary style. (our 3 person sound dept actually used a golf cart to follow the action)
The DP is a HUGE name in the industry. So not much I could say when he walked up to me and said "sorry guys, I dont want to slate anything today, I want to keep things moving".
I'm like..uhhhh ok?

They proceeded to shoot 2 film cameras like they were shooting video.
I felt bad for the 2 loaders.
Anyway, I think scripty was going to just break down in tears because she couldnt
even come close to doing her job.
I ended up turning in 7 tracks of sound.. I cant even remember, but I'd say I rolled
at least 5-6 hours of audio.

I cant even IMAGINE who had to go searching for a piece of audio though all of that..
AND obviously not even having reference audio on camera. So they literally would have had to read the LIPS of the 4 guys on camera..and search through 5-6 hours of audio.

Thats what happens when someone "visual" gets to call the shots like that.
Best part is in the end the commercial was ALL ABOUT THE SOUND. The visuals were very boring..but it was ALL about the conversation these 4 guys had, yet sound just had to "deal".

Anyway, thought i'd share.
 
Oh damn! Sad Max is a mod. Now I have to call him "sir". Congrats, bro! (I mean, Sir)

Slating is so important, even as a weaps guy, I throw mine into my box of goodies, and on set of a student film, if they weren't slating, I offer it and suggest how important it is.
 
Rippie said:
The DP is a HUGE name in the industry. So not much I could say when he walked up to me and said "sorry guys, I dont want to slate anything today, I want to keep things moving".
I'm like..uhhhh ok?
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I'm sure his paycheck cleared before they even got to post....:violent5:
 
I prefer to slate, but often don't because when you have three or less crew members, it's hard to find someone to slate. And I always edit my own stuff.

But I've never done something with separate audio and video systems, where slating is absolutely necessary.
 
Slating your footage is one of the fundamentals of filmmaking. While I have shot short personal projects with sloppy slating, I absolutely refuse to work on a long form project that does not include a proper slating discipline. I was hired to edit a low budget feature and in meetings with the producer and director I continually stressed the importances of slating each take, and in my deal memo, I outlined, in detail, the slating process that was necessary. When I got the footage, I loaded two rolls (of DV) and saw that nothing was properly slated. I stopped at that point, boxed up all the footage they had sent me, cut a check for what they had paid me, and sent it all back to the producer. This footage that they shot was single system sound, and these a**holes did not even have the good sense to give an audio scene number and take number at the head of each take, for which I would have bit my lip and continued with the project. Life is too short.

I admit, in the filmmaking game, I am a bottom feeder, but g*d damn it, I have been down here for a long time and have very little patience anymore for these "Filmmakers" with trust fund money, but absolutely no understanding of the very basics of filmmaking. While I understand there might be new technology that helps, nothing beats having the shot information visually available at the head, or tail, of every shot. If someone is shooting a long form fictional narrative and they do not slate their shots, they do not know what they are doing, and they are going to waste valuable time in post. Slate your shots.
 
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I was offered a feature shot on tape to edit a few years back and they had no slating for the entire shoot. I told the director to get back to me once he had detailed all the timecode with the scene/shot/take numbers. Never did hear back from them. lol

Come to mention it. I never did hear about any sort of film release either.
 
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I really dig the new workflow CS5 gave us, cause you only have to type things once - in your screenplay. Adobe Story handles the data to OnLocation, which gives you an automatic shot list. You flag the good scenes and export them to a Premiere timeline and there is your raw edit.

If you connect the mixer to the camera, there is no real reason for a slate anymore since the metadata handles everything much better.

Downside is, you always need a laptop on set and record on it via firewire.
I was fighting with Adobe while the whole Betatesting program to open up OL to third party cards that accept SDI, HDMI or components, cause not many pros that would benefit from the workflow, are shooting on DVCProHD via firewire. No luck thou, maybe in the next release.

But I think, as long as you not recording to a separate device, this is the future.

Frank
 
The cameras just need a very loud remotely activated beeper that you can put in the pocket of an actor.

- The director activates the beeper.
- The beeper is heard on the set (three beeps), and the slave cameras start rolling automatically.
- After 2 seconds the beeper is heard again (one beep) for providing dual system audio and multicamera sync.
- The director activates the beeper again to stop the take.
- The beeper is heard (single beep) to provide another sync reference point at the end of the take.
- The cameras stop after 2 seconds.
- The beeper beeps again (three beeps). Just because it sounds funny:)

Oh wait, timecode has been invented.
 
otis grapsas said:
the cameras just need a very loud remotely activated beeper that you can put in the pocket of an actor.

- the director activates the beeper.
- the beeper is heard on the set (three beeps), and the slave cameras start rolling automatically.
- after 2 seconds the beeper is heard again (one beep) for providing dual system audio and multicamera sync.
- the director activates the beeper again to stop the take.
- the beeper is heard (single beep) to provide another sync reference point at the end of the take.
- the cameras stop after 2 seconds.
- the beeper beeps again (three beeps). Just because it sounds funny:)

oh wait, timecode has been invented.
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rofl.
 
Postmaster said:
I really dig the new workflow CS5 gave us, cause you only have to type things once - in your screenplay. Adobe Story handles the data to OnLocation, which gives you an automatic shot list. You flag the good scenes and export them to a Premiere timeline and there is your raw edit.

If you connect the mixer to the camera, there is no real reason for a slate anymore since the metadata handles everything much better.

Downside is, you always need a laptop on set and record on it via firewire.
I was fighting with Adobe while the whole Betatesting program to open up OL to third party cards that accept SDI, HDMI or components, cause not many pros that would benefit from the workflow, are shooting on DVCProHD via firewire. No luck thou, maybe in the next release.

But I think, as long as you not recording to a separate device, this is the future.

Frank
Click to expand...


Yeah, ones and zeros have come a long way, but nothing beats being able to look at the scene # and take # at the head of each clip.
 
I don't know. Somehow despite the high-tech solutions the appeal of a couple pieces of wood and a hinge still has not faded, for me...
 
If I am shooting and editing a film with a script under 10 pages and 5 scenes, I won't usually slate. If I am not shooting the film, or the script and scenes are over that general amount, I will slate. It is invaluable in post.
 
We've got a forum full of moderators now. Seriously though, congrats, guys. And to be on topic, I shot my feature film without a slate, but I was the editor, and the sound was recorded by the camera (DVX100). I didn't find the lack of slating to be a hinderance in this case, but that's about the only case slating isn't essential. But I agree with Max about the appeal of a slate. It's necessary if you're shooting dual-system and/or sending the footage off to an editor, but it's also kinda cool, in a novel kind of way. It makes things feel more professional in a way. I don't know if that's the appeal he was thinking of, but that's what I think of when I actually do use a slate.
 
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