A slate is an identification board containing data pertinent to the production being filmed. There are two basic types of slates: (1) sync and (2) insert.
The top of a sync slate consists of two halves of white plexiglass, heavy wood, or some similar material, painted with diagonal black and white lines (see Fig. 4–1). The upper half (clapstick) is hinged at one end to the lower half (base), which is nailed to the data board (slate).
The data on the slate consists of (a) information and (b) identification.
NOTE: While the position of lines of information may vary from slate to slate, the basic data written on the board are as follows:
Scene Number. This corresponds to the scene number in the script ...