Clapperboards

Clapperboards

The clapperboard or clapboard slate is the combination of the chalkboard slate that held information identifying the next scene and the clapstick which was used to align sound and picture. In the early days of film, one person would hold a slate for the camera with the scene information, while another clapped two hinged sticks together in front of the camera.

Traditional clapperboards used to consist of a wooden slate and a hinged clapstick attached to the top of the slate. However, modern clapperboards now generally use a pair of wooden sticks atop whiteboard or translucent acrylic glass slates which do not require additional lighting from the camera side to be legible. The clapsticks traditionally have diagonally interleaved lines of black and white in order to ensure a clear visual of the clap in almost any lighting conditions, but in recent years sticks with calibrated color stripes have also become available.