Waddya call this thing?

A friend gave my wife a souvenir from the set of a popular TV show (he’s a member of the crew).

It’s one of those boards with the clapper on top. The board has info about what’s being filmed – e.g. Scene 5, Take 2 – and they stick it in front of the camera before each take.

In the dark recesses of my memory I recall being told the purpose of the clapper portion was to allow the editor to synchronize the sound and image. I think I learned this from Uncle Cecil (and I’m sure he would not have omitted the name of the frickin’ thing!) but I can’t find it by searching.

So. Anyone who works in this field, or is a fan, or just knows a lot of useless things, could you help me out?

What is it called?


“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s the same thing,” he said.

A clapboard ?


You must unlearn what you have learned. – Yoda

Whaddya know? I was right!

See “Why do they clap the clapboard before filming a movie scene?


You must unlearn what you have learned. – Yoda

this link says

** whilst this one says

**

“Clapboard”, pronounced “clabberd”, is a kind of siding used on a house.

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen

I made the links shorter -manhattan

[Note: This message has been edited by manhattan]

I apologize for the long link messing up the word wrap.

My bad. :frowning:

“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen

It’s called a slate.