Jeff Wexler Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 " somebody thinks it's just cool, " of course... but not me. " Says you... " yes, but others have said they agree... maybe I'm just an old Geezer I'm just playing... I agree completely and I'm even more critical of the editing "style" on so many TV shows --- always takes me out of the scene, calls attention to itself, and makes me feel that the director/editor/producer have very little confidence in the scene in the first place. What ever happened to a nice two shot with two people just talking to eachother? These are the sort of scenes where you just sit and listen, where you have faith in the words that are being spoken by characters who have some authenticity. Oh, well, Old Geezers Unite... now I will be quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 " What ever happened to a nice two shot with two people just talking to each other? " TCM aka Geezertopia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 that would be the interviewer, and those shots are still a decent way to cover edits.... My error -- you're 100% right. (Exhausted after a long day!) But I still chuckle when I see it. This was hokey even in the 1970s! I agree with Jeff: I'm more a fan of doco shoots where they just use 2 or 3 cameras and edit in an honest way, without fairly obvious phony pick-up shots. But I concede, there has to be a way of condensing a 2-hour interview down to 3 minutes, if it's part of a longer project where you have to get to the meat of the information quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RScottATL Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 A show I worked on did not want a slate in as the interviewee was discussing a battle with cancer and it was a very delicate interview. They were rolling the 5D with an audio feed patched into it. I offered to send a small burst of tone from my mixer at the head of each take. This worked out great for the producer because it gave a solid sync point on all of the audio tracks but was silent to everyone on set. Pluraleyes was going to be the preferred post method. I did not hear anything back from post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 Yes, my usual joke is, "I only understand tail slates if it involves infant babies, wild animals, or explosions." I might add "medical situations" to this, especially if it's a very sensitive interview with someone in ill health. Even then, a quick flash of TC numbers to the side (and no clap) shouldn't hurt anybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Reineke Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 I used to have a bloop slate with belt clip ( LED and tone osc) when we did docu's in 16mm. Sold it long ago, who would have known it would be useful again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 20, 2012 Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 Rick, don't forget the iPhone Bloopbox, which does pretty much everything the old bloop slates did in the 1970s and 1980s: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bloopbox/id563628337?mt=8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
commpost Posted October 20, 2012 Report Share Posted October 20, 2012 A classic slate reminds on-the-set visitors that we are making a movie and adds to the glamour of the profession. ;o) Just kidding. On the two-Red shoot I'm working now, first thing i do is sync the cameras to my 788t by jamming the lockboxes. I change their rechargeable NIMH batteries every morning. The crew also slates the shot with conventional clappers as a redundancy measure. Spending the money on a timecode slate would be silly, since the dailies always sync up. ~Commpost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProSound Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Spending the money on a timecode slate would be silly, since the dailies always sync up. ~Commpost Timecode slates are just another level of redundancy and I like to have as many ways as possible to sync things up for post. I won't call them silly if sync code slips on the camera the editor would appreciate timecode slates always Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stahr Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 I'd like to throw this out for the Editors and shooters: It has been mentioned that a brief 'Tone' be sent to the camera at the head of the scratch track, I like it a lot, but how about we take it to the next level: Send a brief 'tone' of Time Code. The 5D has no time code, but now it does. It's a little like the 'Chunk' of info at the head of a BWF file. How about it editors? Read it, match it and silent on the set. It could be done at head, tail or even at down times while nothing is being said while 'still rolling...". It might give Pluraleyes a poke in-the-eye, but wouldn't hurt any. How about it Mixer Manufacturers? Make the tone 1K, 600 or TC @ 0db - Brilliant. Michael Stahr Production Sound Mixer Tampa / Seattle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Timecode slates are just another level of redundancy and I like to have as many ways as possible to sync things up for post. I won't call them silly if sync code slips on the camera the editor would appreciate timecode slates always I agree 100% with Whitney. I have seen far too many Post Disasters where a timecode slate could have helped. If nothing else, the camera operator can check and say, "whoops! The camera is in hour 0, but the slate says Hour 15! Give us a moment!" Having said that: there are many, many major A-list films that still shoot with regular dumb slates. And also many that shoot with smart timecode slates. The trend for multicamera digital production (especially 3D and higher-frame rate shows) is to use timecode slates. The Cameron-Pace 3D company has a very interesting custom slate that provides lens data and other info for the shoot: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Davies Amps CAS Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 I bet that's expensive. Malcolm Davies. A.m.p.s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevegrider Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Here is another advantage to "old school" slating that some folks might find helpful: If the DP hits the REC button when the slate is full frame, that will be what the clip looks like in Final Cut. You can easily identify which clip is which without opening it up. This makes finding pick takes quick and easy. I know a couple of DPs who cut their own stuff that use this simple technique. Once you start doing it, you won't want to do it any other way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I bet that's expensive. Yes, very. I think it's only available as a package with the Cameron-Pace 3D set-up. The cool thing about it is, the system sends metadata simultaneously to the slate, the camera, the script supervisor, the mixer, and the video assist department, so (in theory) all files are named correctly, plus the slate displays information about F-stops, focal length, interocular distance, scene & take numbers, date, and so on. This is vital for the VFX crew working later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiomprd Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 C-P certainly took up a nice piece of the slate face... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeoh Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Just been using this slate on my last 3D shoot, certainly helped a lot. Amazing system and quite a lot to get your head around. Belt AND braces is the best way to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadoStefanov Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Rely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Wielage Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Belt AND braces is the best way to go! Word. I just got a call from an editor/friend of mine who thanked me profusely for providing accurate timecode slates on a DSLR shoot I did for a friend. He told me "without those, he'd still be syncing well into the weekend." I have been part of post projects where things went horribly wrong and we had bad picture timecode and bad slates. Doing everything completely by eye is hard and time-consuming, pretty much a brute-force operation. You get used to it, but it's definitely not as easy as when everything is done right the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendybones Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 I would always do a boomclap or handclap Forgive me - I've never heard the term 'boomclap' - are you talking about putting the boom in frame and tapping it with one hand? Too much faith in the Cult Of Pluraleyes these days... I was dubious of PluralEyes until I did a feature this year where the 1st AD was also the editor. At the head of each scene he called the scene and take number. All 3 DSLRs were rolling onboard mics. He was absolutely confident and had good reason, as he has done it this way many many times. I put a Betso timecode reader on the front of my rig. Smaller and lighter than a slate, all the shooter had to do was pan over to where I was standing and shoot for a second. A very elegant solution to those kind of shoots. With the inverted TC screen on the Nomad, it is possible to hold down the menu button to freeze frame the TC and create a simultaneous bloop of tone on the nomad's card tracks. So I don't need to bother with tone right? Does it make much difference to syncing to have the bloop (and the accompanying freeze-frame)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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