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how to shoot b roll

by Ms. Anna Bode MD Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago

Tips for Shooting B-Roll:
  1. Variety is key. ...
  2. Move around! ...
  3. Capture the details. ...
  4. If you're shooting an interview, be sure to shoot b-roll of the person you are interviewing. ...
  5. Shoot entrances and exits of the location you're shooting. ...
  6. Get b-roll on location AFTER an interview too. ...
  7. More is always better.

What is the difference between a-roll and B-roll?

Tips for Shooting B Roll Plan ahead: Think about your main footage and build around it. For instance, if you’re interviewing a subject in a home,... Scout locations: You may only have a few minutes to shoot good B Roll footage, so it’s a good idea …

What is B-roll and why do I need It?

Mar 30, 2022 · A pop-up will ask you if you want to replace the previous footage with the current one or add it as a layer. Click on ‘Add as layer’, trim the B roll and add it to the timeline. Step 6: Edit your B roll . You can click on the added B roll footage and edit it using the right-hand side toolbar.

What is B roll footage?

Aug 07, 2019 ·

What is B roll photography?

What is B-roll techniques?

B roll provides imagery and cutaway shots to help set the scene or segway between two different shot locations. That is, these are shots that "cut away" from the main action to another shot that adds visual information, and then returns to the original shot with added meaning.

How do you shoot a B-roll of yourself?

0:5723:29The SECRET To SHOOTING GOOD B ROLL OF YOURSELF - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipYou can use any tripod you want or if you have one of those guerrilla pod like style things they'llMoreYou can use any tripod you want or if you have one of those guerrilla pod like style things they'll also work very well you can put them on trees.

When should B-roll be shot?

B-roll hides cuts and edits Often there will be times in the edit where you need to cut two parts of the interview together. This could be to remove mistakes, coughs, background noise, or any number of distractions. In these instances, B-roll footage is used to seamlessly hide the cut between the two takes of A-roll.

How do you tell a story with B-roll?

0:557:38How to Make B ROLL Tell a STORY - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipTo tell a story with any kind of video you need to have something at the root of that story whichMoreTo tell a story with any kind of video you need to have something at the root of that story which can be an emotion. Or information there needs to be something that the story draws.

What is a-roll vs B-roll?

In video production, A-roll is the primary footage of a project's main subject, while B-roll shots are supplemental footage. B-roll provides filmmakers with flexibility in the editing process and is often spliced together with A-roll footage to bolster the story, create dramatic tension, or further illustrate a point.

What is B-roll and why is it important?

B Roll (sometimes written as B-Roll or Broll) refers to secondary footage that visually supports the primary footage in a film or video project. It's usually interwoven with the main footage for a variety of purposes, including enhancing the story, adding dramatic tension, and elaborating a point.

What does the B in B-roll stand for?

In film and television production, B-roll, B roll, B-reel or B reel is supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot. The term A-roll, referring to main footage, has fallen out of use.

Why is B-roll important?

B-roll footage is important to any video production. It adds necessary dimension and depth to your storytelling, helps cover potential errors, illustrates and demonstrates action that's otherwise unexplained, and will keep your audience actively engaged throughout a viewing.

How to Shoot B-roll Video

You already know you need a plan, but how do B-roll shots fit into your already crowded shooting schedule?

Shooting Good B-Roll

Use cinematic techniques like shallow depth of field, slow motion, and gimbals to maximize your B-roll. These techniques not only give you cinematic looking footage, but make better use of your time.

UP NEXT

We've covered some pro-tips on how to shoot B-roll but sometimes that's not enough. When you pinched for time, money or resources, finding stock B-roll footage is the way to go. Don't waste your time scouring the internet for B-roll websites, we've done the research for you. Here are the best websites for free and/or cheap stock footage.

Showcase your vision with elegant shot lists and storyboards

Create robust and customizable shot lists. Upload images to make storyboards and slideshows.

What is B roll?

The terms A-roll and B-roll were dubbed back in the early days of Hollywood films.

Why does B roll matter?

When putting together any video, it’s just as essential to have B roll to complement your footage. Think of your B roll as an archive of back-up footage—this footage can be used for filler and transitional cuts.

What are the benefits of shooting B roll?

For businesses, B roll can help tell your story, and make your videos more cinematic! Whether you’re a vlogger or a business with a solid video strategy (which should be every business!), with just a few extra video transitions, you can level up the quality of your video editing.

Is B roll like an intro video?

Well, yes, in fact B roll can be your intro video. Because B roll can be a great way to help set a scene, it can be used for a cinematic intro to your video. But it’s also so much more, here’s some perfect B roll examples:

How to plan B roll

It’s fascinating to learn that our favorite films and TV shows aren’t shot in a linear fashion… it all comes down to delicate pre production planning and post production editing.

How to shoot B roll

You can shoot B roll footage on anything from a handy smartphone to a professional digital movie camera to drones, gimbals and GoPros!

Tips to edit B roll well

B roll is like a bandaid in your editing process. We mentioned earlier how it’s great for cutaways and to help hide errors in the A roll… it’s also handy to correct the pace of your video.

What You Can Do With B Roll

You can implement B Roll footage in many different ways to make your film or video more appealing and compelling, such as:

How to Use A Roll and B Roll

To gain a better understanding of A Roll and B Roll, learn how film and video professionals use them in different types of projects. The following are a few examples.

Tips for Shooting B Roll

When you’re thinking of what you want to shoot and putting together your pre-production schedule, it’s essential to set aside time for creating ample B Roll footage. This will ensure you’ll have appropriate footage to visually relate the people, places, or objects that build the world of your story.

Experimenting With Camera Angles

As mentioned earlier, you need to shoot a subject or scene from different angles to create good B Roll footage. Below are a few angles you can play around with.

Examples of B Roll Footage

Anytime the footage from the video below is not from an interview or if it is in the past, that would be B Roll video.

Plan of Action

1. What is a B roll?#N#2. B roll examples#N#3. How to shoot B roll?#N#4. How to edit B roll?#N#5. Bonus- How to create B rolls without shooting footage?

1. What is B Roll?

There are two types of footage you need to tell a visually compelling story. In the earlier days, when editors would have to manually cut and paste rolls of film together, videos were shot on two identical rolls – an A roll film and a B roll film. This technique helped filmmakers create smooth transitions from one scene to the next.

2. B-Roll Examples

Different video types use B rolls differently and we’ll be looking at the top 5 ways you can use B rolls in your videos.

3. How to shoot B Roll?

Now that you know the kind of shots you want to take, let’s look at some shot types for your B rolls.

4. How to Edit B Roll?

Once you have all of your footage ready, it’s time to get it on the edit table. We’re going to show you how you can seamlessly edit your videos using InVideo in 7 easy steps. Let’s start.

5. Bonus- How to Create B Rolls Without Shooting Footage?

Many times video creators find themselves in a fix because they either don’t have the time to shoot B rolls or they’re on a strict budget. In the current situation, it’s even more difficult to plan an entire production and shoot every scene.

Summing it up-

We hope this article helps you make your videos more cinematic. Not only do you know how to shoot and edit your videos using B rolls but you also have a super effective hack to create stunning videos using stock footage.

What is B-roll?

B-roll is essentially alternative footage to your main footage. We refer to your main footage as A-roll, making the cutaway footage B-roll. For example, if you’re shooting an interview with a welder, your A-roll will be the footage of the welder talking. The B-footage would be the cut away shots showing the welder at work.

Type of video dictates type of B-roll

There are many uses for B-roll and all of them are dependent on the type of video you are producing.

Camera movement

Now that we know what B-roll is used for let’s discuss the best way to shoot it. First and foremost, if you shoot your interview on a tripod use a tripod or other support for your B-roll shots, listen up. Nothing is more distracting than seeing rock-solid interview footage cut against “shaky-cam” handheld footage.

Coverage, coverage, coverage

Nothing is worse than sitting in front of your editing system with your video almost finished and realizing that you are three shots short of covering up the last three edits in your interview — it’s due tomorrow.

Know What Kind of B-Roll You Need

Back in college, b-roll was rarely talked about on set. Understandable—we were all baby filmmakers who didn't know anything, but even when a director did have the mind to ask for b-roll, there was little if any thought put into what kind of b-roll I should shoot.

Get a Second Shooter If You Can

Shooting principal photography and b-roll is a humongous job that takes a lot of time and money. So, if you have the money and available equipment, you might want to think about hiring someone to shoot supplemental footage for you.

Give Yourself Some Flexibility in Post

Being able to inform and stylize your principal photography is one reason why b-roll is so important, but another reason is that it gives you something to work with when it comes time to edit.

What Is B-Roll?

First off, let’s quickly review what B-Roll is and why it is an important concept for video projects.

Method One - Shoot It Later

The easiest way to gather B-Roll is to simply shoot your B-Roll right after you film your primary footage.

Method Two - Shooting B-Roll At the Same Time

Well, how are you going to do this with one camera? You won’t, this method requires a second camera. However, you don’t have to have a movie studio budget to shoot with two or more cameras. Many photographers already have multiple cameras, but we tend to gravitate toward using our newest or best camera for shooting video.

Simple B-Roll Video Gear

As an example of what gear you need to start shooting B-Roll with GoPro style cameras, check out this idea of a simple rig you may already own.

B-Roll is How We Roll

Gathering B-Roll is one of the biggest things you can do as a videographer to improve your finished video productions. Of course, you also want to learn about lighting techniques, camera supports, editing programs, and advanced camera operations.

What Is B-Roll?

In video production, B-roll footage is the secondary video footage shot outside of the primary (or A-roll) footage. It is often spliced together with the main footage to bolster the story, create dramatic tension, or further illustrate a point.

What Is the Difference Between A-Roll and B-Roll Footage?

A-roll footage is the main shot you want to focus on. A-roll shows the main subject of the scene while B-roll shots are supplemental footage that shows everything else. A story with simply A-roll footage might feel off-balance; this is why shooting B-roll is important.

4 Ways to Shoot B-Roll

When you’re planning out what you want to film and creating your pre-production schedule, it’s important to make time to capture ample B-roll. The last thing you want is to get into the editing and post-production process and realize your interview subject or talking head is describing something that should have been shown visually on screen.

4 Different Camera Angles To Experiment With

Make sure you play around with a few different angles to give yourself enough of a variety when it comes to B-roll footage.

What Is B-Roll?

  • The term B-Roll originated in film days as "B-Reel," a designation for secondary, supplemental footage to A-Roll, or primary footage. In the digital age, the term "A-Roll" has fallen out of use, but B-Roll, (also B roll/Broll), is still a widely used term in filmmaking and videography. Generally, B-
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Why Do You Need B-Roll?

  • B-Roll footage is crucial to support the principal photography. Without it, your story or film will be incomplete. A-Roll focuses on characters and the primary plot, while B-Roll provides vital cutaways and transitions to fill gaps in your timeline. It's even used to cover mistakes (but don't tell anyone!). Here you have A-Roll from the Artlist documentary 'Behind the Process'...
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B-Roll For Every Type of Production

  • The type of B-Roll you need depends on your production. Whether it's a documentary, narrative, commercial or travel film will determine how and what kind of B-Roll you shoot. In documentary films, B-Roll is used to layer over interviews. You'll want coverage about five times as long as the final interview to cut away to and support what your subject is saying. This kind of B-Roll makes …
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Stock Footage

  • Need inspiration or can’t afford to hire a 2nd unit to shoot B-Roll? Or perhaps your B-Roll is not long enough, or you need expensive shots like aerials or the moon landing. Maybe you just want to incorporate abstract shots to add atmosphere or edginess to your video. Stock footage can help you make your B-roll whole. Artgrid, for example, has thousands of high-quality clips, organized …
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Final Thoughts

  • Killer visuals are accompanied by killer sound. Though B-Roll footage is not usually recorded with sound, you'll want to add foley, SFX and music to it, so consider that in your editing process. Here are some essential tips for designing a dynamic soundtrack. Hope
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