Of Clapper Boards, Set Etiquette and Syncing Sound in Avid
As many of you might know, the medium of film originally started out as a silent one and only learned to talk about 40 years after its invention. This is due to the fact that the original film stock did not have means to record sound next to the image of film itself. And while, in many years of experimentation and technological advancement, sound strips were added onto the film stock as well, it ultimately proved to be a better solution to record film and sound separately.
This did not only happen due to the fact that you can thus fit larger frames with higher resolution onto film stock once you lose the sound strip, it also means that physically cutting the film does not equal cutting the sound. Which can often lead to problems, especially if you need the soundbit, but not the film going alongside it, as it is often the case with cut-ins or cut-aways. Recording separately gives you the benefit of changing and experimenting with image and sound without turning this into a hassle of mass proportion for the editor.
Regarding the upcoming work on our TV commercials in 16mm, it is thus imperative that we not only learn how to record both elements separately, but also how to sync them again later in the edit without producing any delays at all.
The Clapper Board
Thus, our tech session today introduced us to the traditional but nonetheless wonderful tool of clapper board (or ‘slate’ or ‘marker’, if you so prefer) and its proper use on a film set. A clapper board, as many of you may have seen as well, is either black (analogue version) or white (digital version) and contains sections for the following pieces of information: Number of film roll (or tape or card), number of scene and take, the project’s name, the director’s name, the responsible camera operator along with the ‘letter’ of the camera (A, B, C, etc.), the type of sound environment (Internal, External or MOS (without sound)), the light setting (Day, Night, Dawn) as well as additional notes for over/underexposure etc. On set, it will be the clapper loader’s responsibility to enter the relevant information (to ‘load’) on the slate and keep it updated throughout the entire production.
And this is where I need to introduce my curious readers into the strictly hierarchical world of set order, as there usually is a set procedure in place to ensure that a production runs smoothly, without misunderstandings or delays. And all that runs smoothly obviously also runs effectively, which is what you would want on any film set but especially on large ones. This command procedure usually runs as follows:
Director or 1st AD: ‘Quiet on Set.’
2nd AD (to crew): ‘Settle.’
Director or 1st AD: ‘Roll Sound.’
Sound op: ‘Sound Rolling.’/’Sound Speeding.’
Director or 1st AD: ‘Roll camera.’
Camera Op: ‘Camera rolling.’ / ‘Camera speeding.’/ ‘Camera at speed.’
Director or 1st AD: ‘Marker’
Clapper Loader: ‘Shot XXX, Take XXX.’
Director or 1st AD: ‘Action.’
Filming
Director: ‘Cut.’
While this chain of command is still used when shooting digital, when shooting with film it is necessary for the clapper loader to be ready and quick once he has been called, as any delay on his part will necessarily waste film stock: As soon as the marker has been called for, the clapper loader enters the frame, points the slate towards the camera and quotes the scene and take, before he claps the slate and pulls himself out of the frame again. This serves a twofold purpose: For the first, since he is the one to enter last before the actual take, his call of shot and take as well as the clap will be recorded both visually and audibly, which helps to sync up both elements later in post.
As the clapper board produces a singular, unusually loud noise, it will be easy to discern in an audio recording, both in digital as in analogue. Digitally, the clip will then show a spike in the waveforms that depict the audio levels. The same goes for the film itself, as the exact moment of the slate coming down can be singled out later down to the exact frame. If you then link the spike or clap in the audio to the first frame of the slate closing shut, you will have a perfectly synced up audio.
There are furthermore four variations of using a slate that come with their own symbolism: If you shoot without sound, you can either mark down the MOS section of the slate, or you can put two fingers between the top and bottom part of the slate, indicating that no sound has been recorded (and thus no audio sync is needed). If you turn the clapper board on its head but with the details still facing the camera, you indicate for the editor that you used an ‘end board’.
End boards occur at the end of the shot to help the editor match the visual and audio from the back instead of the front. This is primarily used in cases where an usual clapper board would scare or unsettle child or animal actors or when recorded life actions are happening too quickly, such as in documentaries and news.
The third variation is a combination of the two variations above: An upside-down slate with two fingers between the top and bottom of it. This, as you may infer, indicates an end board that has been recorded without sound.
Finally, the last variation of clapper board usage is using the clapper board twice with each take, both at the beginning and at the end. This is a useful measure for cameras that record without Crystal sync. Crystal sync is essentially an internal piece of software ensuring that the camera captures the footage at a steady frame rate. Cameras without that function tend to only roughly record around the frame rate that has been set, resulting in a mishmash of frame rates that, once synced with the audio, will often lead to audio delays. For these cameras, it is thus helpful to give editor two points of reference to help him sync up.
Syncing Sound in Avid Media Composer
Now in order to get used to the proper set hierarchy and command order, as well as getting used to using a clapper board and a light meter, we were sent out with the BlackMagic Mini Ursa Pro, a Zoom H6, a clapper board and a light meter to film five different clips that we would later have to sync up in Avid Media Composer.
After the collection of our rather random footage, we then set about to sync both the video and the audio clips using Autosync on Avid. Since the BlackMagic camera luckily records its video clips in the ProResHD codec that is – apart from its container – native to Avid, we did not have to transcode the video clips but could just consolidate them, which is a bit of a quicker procedure. After consolidation, our team picked a clip and searched for the first frame within it that shows the slate snapped shut. We marked this frame with an in-point in the source monitor and then proceeded onto the associated audio, opened it in the source monitor by double-clicking on it and set another in-point on the exact moment the clap can be heard.
After that, we highlighted both the audio and the video clip in the bin and followed the path Bin/Autosync. A pop-up menu then asks for the type of sync-selection we would like to perform and since we have hitherto marked the in-points, we naturally selected them. In the end, a new synced clip appeared in the bin that ended on the suffix ‘.sync’.
However, we made a couple of mistakes that kept us taking much more time than necessary to get into the workflow. One of it was the fact that some of us forgot to actually say the scene and take number on record, which rendered that recording unknown and meant that we had to listen through every recording to find the right one. Another was that all our camera operators (yes, me too) forgot to enter the metadata or activate the scratch track on the BlackMagic before filming, which would have simplified and hastened finding the right footage and the spike in the audio waveforms.
Another mistake again was the fact that we first saved the files onto the wrong drive (indicated by a missing green padlock at the bottom of the master bin) and then forgot separating the raw media from the linked media by putting them into two separate bins. To compensate for that mistake, we committed another by separating all linked video and audio clips, which meant that we had to put them back together in one bin to make Autosync work at all. Finally, the last mistake was the fact that we did not create a ‘syncing-up bin’, which meant that we had a fine but confusing collection of linked video files, linked audio files, and synced-up media. So much for our job as data wrangler.
14 Rules of Set Etiquette - A Personal Selection
We’ve learned a fair bit about set etiquette and clapper loading and I hope to deepen the knowledge by practice in the upcoming weeks. I decided to look deeper into matters and did a bit of research on set etiquette. Depending on who you ask, you will thus encounter roughly six to 14 different rules that repeatedly turn up on various filmmaking blogs and forums. And while I already had my fair share of experience on the film set of ‘Looted’, I just wanted to see whether I have still room for improvement left, especially considering the cultural differences.
1) While introducing yourself to the members of the crew should be a given (if they have the nerve to do so at that point) as well as being considerate of your manners (2)), it seems that many more people seem to struggle with not letting their private life affect their work on set (3)). However, in case of emergencies, it is naturally better to take sick leave than to let it affect your performance on set.
4) Do whatever you need to do to be prepared on set. Be it networking, getting to know where the equipment is to, naturally, being ten minutes early.
5) Another important aspect would be anger management. Since film production, by nature, is an extremely demanding and stressful job, sometimes with a lot of careers and budget on the line, it is considered bad taste to vent your anger, disappointment or crisis to your crew. Whatever holds the power of bringing the morale of the group down, keep it to yourself and don’t let it affect your work.
6) Being silent during a take, not disappearing suddenly (7)), as well as knowing your place in the set hierarchy (8)) is obviously vital to surviving on set. While the latter is often put at the backburner on student productions as everyone is still on the same level learning and acquiring knowledge, it would be fatal on a real world production where most crew members are definitely much more versed than you.
9) Paying attention, not disappearing (10)) and not moving anything on set that is not part of your responsibility (11)) are another aspects that are obviously worth highlighting. I committed a mistake regarding the latter when I worked on ‘Looted’ and wanted to get a lens kit out from behind a backing car. While nothing happened to the lens kit, or me, I was given both a stern lecture and a compliment for my fast thinking at the time.
Basically, you are not supposed to move equipment that is not part of the department or unit you are working for as this may not only add unnecessary confusion to the stress of film production, it may also entail insurance issues in case the equipment is being damaged while in your possession. However, I was being let off nicely and it has also been pointed out to me that it would not have been a problem at all if I were more experienced, since it was obviously an emergency situation.
Further set etiquette rules entail a good command of the film language (12)) and a keen sense for unspoken rules in film productions (13)). Another important rule that will be important for my job later is the fact that a camera operator does not say ‘Cut!’ anymore. While this is a remnant of old times in which the camera operator was the only one who saw how the image came together, it has been largely overcome today due to the technological advances. This is now the sole privilege of the director.
Finally, as Matt from Filmlifestyle.com points out, the most important rule is still to speak up and notify people if anything unsafe or endangering is likely about to happen (14)).
References:
Iggy (2018) HowToFilmSchool’s Guide to Film Set Etiquette [online] http://howtofilmschool.com/how-to-film-schools-guide-to-film-set-etiquette/ [Accessed on 11 October 2018]
Logan, Bruce (n.d.) Film Set Etiquette: 6 Rules for When to Speak and When to Shut Up [online] https://www.zacuto.com/film-set-etiquette [Accessed on 11 October 2018]
Matt (n.d.) The 15 Rules of Set Etiquette and What You Should Know About It [online] https://filmlifestyle.com/set-etiquette/ [Accessed on 11 October 2018]
Mrđen, Dušan (2018) The 6 Rules of Set Etiquette [online] https://www.raindance.org/6-rules-of-set-etiquette/ [Accessed on 11 October 2018]