White Willow Plaza, Elffire City.
The night arrived, and with it, the visitors enjoyed the entertainment at the plaza.
But Arthur and the production crew were too busy with their to care for that.
"The lights are ready, Arthur." Bobby declared as he finished setting up the lighting.
"All the electrical functions are available, Arthur." Kaitlyn said as she plugged in the last piece of equipment.
"I'm ready to start filming!" Buddy exclaimed as he stood behind the camera.
"All the features and settings are configured as we planned." Nomura chimed in.
Arthur nodded satisfied as he saw that all pieces of equipment were in place.
They finally could start filming!
"Kanna! We will film some shots first of the tree and the plaza, after that we will film the flower stall!" Arthur said to his girlfriend who was still busy setting up the stall.
Niwa, as the art director, was too exigent as she wanted every visual aspect to be perfect.
Kanna, Niwa, and Arabella lifted their head from what they were doing when they heard Arthur's shout.
Kanna just nodded to express that she understood.
Arthur saw that they understood and motioned to stand behind the cameras.
"We will start by filming some shots of the willow tree." Arthur announced.
"Is everyone ready?" He asked as he looked at his crew.
"Ready!" Buddy replied excited as he took hold of the camera with his skillful hands.
"Ready!" Kaitlyn and Bobby replied at the same time as they inspected their work with attentive eyes.
"I'm ready." Nomura replied as he checked again the settings of the camera to see if it was the right one.
"Arabella! We need you!" Arthur called the girl.
The girl immediately stopped what she was doing, and went toward Arthur.
Arabella, as the associate producer or assistant producer, had the most eclectic job among all members of the crew.
Her main job was to help everyone with what they needed.
The Assistant to the Producer is an administrator who works closely with producers throughout the production process. They are involved from the pre-production stage through to post-production and marketing and distribution. They must be well organized, flexible, and have a good overview of the production process. The producer will determine their responsibilities throughout the production on a day-to-day basis. Their tasks may include writing coverage on scripts, drafting letters, making phone calls, running an office, interviewing personnel, coordinating the fundraising process, assisting with duties on and off set, liaising between the producer and the post-production team, and helping to prepare publicity materials. They may also be asked to help with copyright, arranging meetings and events, and managing money. They are sometimes asked to contribute to strategic thinking in relation to projects in development.
Although she would not do so many things in this production because Theo would not need her to do some of these things, Arabella was still essential to the crew.
Without her, it would take much more than 1 week to finish shooting all the scenes.
That's why she helped everyone as they prepared for this scene.
Sometimes she helped Niwa with the art concept and production of props, sometimes she helped Arthur, and sometimes she helped the technical crew.
"You called me, Arthur?" She asked as she arrived next to Arthur and rest.
"I need you to run the clapperboard for us." Arthur asked as handed her the clapperboard.
What is that?
A clapperboard (also known by various other names including dumb slate) is a device used in filmmaking and video production to assist in synchronizing pictures and sound and to designate and mark the various scenes and takes as they are filmed audio-recorded. It is operated by the clapper loader.
When sound and picture are out of synchronization, there is a lip flap occurring.
But this definition is too open-minded, as there are actually plenty of ways filmmakers could assist themselves in synchronizing picture and sound.
However, the literal clapperboard that we're used to seeing is a rectangular whiteboard with a hinged top piece that opens and closes. This "clapper" function is loud, sharp, and instantly recognizable at this point.
The basics to using a clapperboard are pretty, well, basic and straightforward. The person responsible for operating the clapperboard for any production is usually a "clapper loader" or a camera assistant like the 2nd AC.
But in the case of Arthur and his crew, they only had Buddy working as the camera operator.
And because they didn't have a camera assistant, Arabella had to be improvised on that position.
This clapper loader, working in conjunction with the script supervisor, will properly update the information presented between every shot and scene.
Ideally, at the beginning of every take the clapperboard will be presented, clearly in view and focus, for a second or two. Then when the clapper board operator gets clearance they will strike the sticks to create a sharp and recognizable sound.
As far as what information is included on a clapperboard, there is very little room for variations as the clapperboard has become very systematic over the years. For the sake of continuity from shot to shot and even production to production, clapperboards usually include the following in this order:
Date
Production title
Name of the director
Name of the director of photography (DP)
Information on the scene
Scene number
Camera angle
Take number
All this information is vital to Editor Team who will piece together the scenes.
How would he/she find the scene they were looking for without having to watch all the scenes?
By looking at the information on the clapperboard at the beginning of every scene.
Arabella took the clapperboard and together with Arthur she wrote all the information about the scene.
A while later, the clapperboard was filled with all the necessary information.
It was more or less like this.
['The Scientist' Music Video]
[Director: Arthur Lionheart]
[Director of Photography: Nomura Masami]
[Date: 29/11/2020]
[2nd Scene]
[Take 01]
[Tree Cut]
Arabella looked at the finished clapperboard and nodded in satisfaction.
"It's ready, Arthur." She said as she showed the clapperboard to him.
Arthur looked and nodded also satisfied.
"Now we can start filming." He declared as looked at his crew.
Everyone looked at him when he said that.
Even the ones who were not close to him.
Kanna and Niwa turned their heads from the flower shop.
Helena and Ishii turned their heads and stopped their rehearsal for a moment.
Kate stopped her work of maintaining Helena and Ishii's makeup.
Nomura, Obara, Bobby, Kaitlyn, and Arabella who were close to him also looked over.
The time has arrived!
All the preparations they could have done were already done.
They could not change anymore.
They had come all the way from Catadrid to Elffire City to realize their dreams.
And what they met was an opportunity that was rare to find and only lucky ones could get.
An opportunity where they all the budget necessary, high-tier equipment, support, and many other favorable conditions.
They knew that they had to grab this chance to shine and show the world that they were talented.
They wanted to show Moonlight that they were indeed the right choice for the production of his music video.
That's why everyone looked with shining eyes when they heard from Arthur that they could finally start the shootings.
Arthur looked at his crew with a proud heart.
They had come so far!
He was happy that he called them to come on this adventure.
After a while, the others resumed their work as Arthur and the crew motioned to start shooting.
They did not have much time to act emotionally, after all, they had tons of work to do before they could celebrate.
Buddy positioned himself at the mark that Nomura told him and waited for Arthur's call to start filming.
Arabella potioned herself in front of the camera with the clapperboard in front of it and waited for Arthur's signal to clack the clapperboard.
Arthur took a deep breath and looked with shining eyes as he shouted, "Lights, Camera, Action!"
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