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Ma1 t1_iu38xem wrote

Modern slates can also sync time code with the camera and audio mixer and display it digitally.

Edit: Since this comment has got some traction, I figure I’ll add some other fun anecdotes!

-ideally, the camera doesn’t roll until the slate is in frame. That way, the thumbnail on the file (or the first frame on the strip of film historically) contains all the key information the editor needs.

-when clapping near talent, the 2nd Assistant Camera, will announce “soft sticks” and clap the slate a bit quieter, so as not to hurt the ears of the performer.

-when rolling on a shot with no sound, referred to as MOS, the 2nd AC throws three fingers between the slate so the editor knows there is no sound file associated, and it is not clapped. This is typically used for slow/fast motion, but could be used for any number of other reasons. Cutaways or insert shots etc.

-sometimes, if a slate is missed at the top of the roll (maybe they started the take for any number of uncontrollable environmental reasons) the 2nd AC yells “tail slate” and they do the slate at the end of the shot. Typically this is done with the slate upside down. (Maybe this has something to do with the slate being at the end of the roll of film rather than the start? But I’m not sure of the origins of this practice)

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GoGaslightYerself t1_iu5mdbb wrote

When I worked on some TV commercial shoots back in the early '90s, the cameraman also said "Speed!" when (I guess) the camera was up to "running speed" or whatever...this I guess was the signal to the talent that it was time to start the take ... is this just "a thing" with video cameras, or also with film cameras too?

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sexytalk128 t1_iu5z0ob wrote

I think 'speed' means that the sound recording is in sync or at the same 'speed' as the camera recording. Here in the UK, the sound recordist tells the boom operator and they announce it, shortly after the 1st Assistant Director calls 'turn over' to get the camera to start recording.

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devotchko t1_iu6btuw wrote

Older equipment (especially 1/4" sound recorders) were not capable of running at crystal sync speed right away. For this reason, they actually had a tiny flag that would appear in a see through window a moment after the recorder was activated. The recordist would not yell "speed" until after the flag would be visible (since only after this moment the audio would be capable of being in perfect sync with a camera).

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Alias_The_Jester t1_iu6fabw wrote

Director here, they still yell speed. It’s to let everyone know the camera is going but has its roots in when old equipment needed to take time to get up to speed. Nowdays it’s a cue, for other cues to happen such as slating or if I want to cue background action to get moving or if I want the camera to move, that way you don’t get stilted action on screen.

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Beleynn t1_iu742yl wrote

> the thumbnail on the file contains all the key information the editor needs

Holy shit that's clever

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