Just before a film, or interview or whatever starts, there is a little machine called a “clapperboard” where someone says “3…2…1… action” and slams down the top 1/4 of the thing to the rest of it. What is it used for? It also has numbers on it and I guess indicates timing. What is the point of it?
In: Technology
Before the days of digital, it was used to signify the part of a film they were shooting that day. Films are not usually filmed start to finish like how we watch it, they’re filmed as the studio is available, sometimes an actors hair or beard change so they film longer hair/beard first…stuff like that. The numbers indicate where on the story board they are so the editors know where to insert that section into the finished product, and the sharp clap made by the board indicates where the audio should begin, as audio is generally always recording and you don’t need the background noise before the call to action, so you can clearly see on a VU meter where the clap is to align/sync the audio with the video. Much of that is easier nowadays being the digital age, but the story board part is still true. They film the movie scenes in any order, and the editors still need to put all the scenes into the final sequence.
It’s used by movie editors/producers to synchronize the audio and video. In the old days, it would have the scene/take numbers on it, too. You could synchronize your video to your audio by listening to and looking at the clap.
The clapper is used to synchronize the audio and the video in a movie. Editors can pinpoint the exact frame where the clapper snaps closed and match the audio to it.
So editors can sync the sound of the ‘clap’ with the visual of the board closing, so all the following sound is in sync.
It’s an easy way to synchronize sound and video when you’re editing the movie – and the writing on it usually lists the scene number and take numbers, so that people could easily say “Oh, scene 5 take 4 was great, we can throw out takes 1-3. Make sure to use take 4 in the final cut.”
The clapperboard is usually black and white striped because it makes it very easy to find the exact frame when the **clap** sound happens, because it would be the moment that all of the black and white angles lined up properly. You take the audio recording and synchronize it with the video starting at that moment, and you could be sure that all of the other dialogue and sound effects for the rest of the scene would match. Much easier than trying to read someone’s lips and match the sound that way, for example.
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