How to Slate a Movie
Almost anybody can make a movie at home. No, you can't have big name stars or stellar locations, but what you can have is your own creative voice heard when you get your film out to people. But first it's important to know the ins and outs of the movie-making process. Slating a movie is an essential part of filming each and every scene.
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Instructions
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1
Pick a clapboard for your film. The traditional way was through a slate composed of much the same material as chalk boards. Dry erase boards and electronic clapboards are now taking Hollywood by storm. You can choose which kind of slating you prefer.
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2
Write the name of your film on the clapboard at the top in the designated area. This is one part of the clapboard that will not change for the entire movie.
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3
Write the scene number. You will get this number from the screenplay itself. On a production script, each scene should be numbered in order to help the director and producer keep track of scenes.
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Write the take number on the next slot directly across from the scene number. This will change--obviously--with each and every take. Keep an eraser and marker (or chalk) on hand to quickly change it between every single take. This will help the editing process later on.
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Write the director's name on the following line. This should be the full name that the director goes by.
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Write the date beneath. It's proper to write the day out by spelling the month, writing the day of the month followed by a comma, and writing the year.
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Tips & Warnings
Pay attention. Someone slating a movie must watch every detail to make sure the take is correctly slated.
Don't ever clap down on your clapboard until you're sure both crew and cast are ready. Doing so at the wrong time could waste a lot of time and money...and stir up the ire of all on set.
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Comments
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jkeegan
May 31, 2010
This is missing one key element here that should be mentioned. STEP 3: Not only do you put the scene number, but you also have to signify the camera setup. So, for example, if you have two people talking in a scene you may have a wide shot, a medium shot, an over the shoulder to person A, and an over the shoulder to person B. Therefore you would have 4 distinct shot setups. You can signify this by hyphenating the scene number. Example: Scene 2-3, Take 4 would indicate this is the second scene in the script, it's shot setup 3 and this is your 4th take in that shot setup.
