Camera

Slate

Also called Clapperboard, Clapper

What is slate in film production?

A slate is the board filmed at the head of a take carrying the production, scene, take and roll numbers. Its hinged arm is clapped to produce a sharp sound and a matching visual frame, giving post a point at which picture and separately recorded sound can be aligned.

On productions recording sound in the camera the clap is redundant, but the identifying information is not — the slate is still what lets an assistant editor find one take among four thousand files. A tail slate, filmed upside down at the end of a take, is used when slating at the head would have disrupted the shot.

Reviewed 2026-08-27

Related terms

Take: A take is a single recorded attempt at a shot. Takes are numbered sequentially within a setup, logged with a circled marker when the director considers them usable, and identified by scene, slate and take number so the edit can find them.
Camera report: A camera report is the log kept by the camera department for each roll or card, recording every take with its scene and slate number, lens, filters, frame rate, and whether it was circled. It travels with the media to post.
Continuity: Continuity is the consistency of everything visible and audible across shots that will be cut together — wardrobe, props, hair, position, eyeline, screen direction and the state of the action. It is tracked on set by the script supervisor and matters because scenes are shot out of order.