B Roll – Everything You Need to Know 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.
Full Answer
What does B roll stand for?
Look up B roll in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 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. Films and videos may cut away from the main story to show related scenery or action.
What is B-roll and why do I need It?
B-roll is a handy tool for adding consistency and flow to a video. Sometimes an interviewee stumbles over their words or says "umm" a lot. When this happens, the editor can cut out the "umms" and join sentences together to give a nice sentence or two. However, if you don't have b-roll, these edits may create a jump cut.
What is the difference between a-roll and B-roll?
The difference between A-roll and B-roll A-roll is usually focused on the characters and the main plot. B-roll is the footage that will work as insert shots, cutaways, and coverage among other things.
What does “B-roll” mean?
The term B-roll refers to accompanying footage intercut with a main shot in an interview or documentary. So, for example, your interview subject talking to camera may be your A-roll. Any alternative footage, such as cutaways to surroundings or significant places, will be your B-roll.
B-roll Definition
B-roll footage, Broll or B roll is any supplemental video that considered to be secondary to your primary footage. B-roll can be gathered with a separate unit, acquired from stock footage, or obtained from any source other than your principal photography.
What is B-roll footage?
When creating a shot list, make sure to include both time and plans for shooting B-roll video. When filmmakers don’t consider A-roll vs B-roll during pre-production they’re often left with gaps in their edit.
Up Next
Now you understand the B-roll definition, and the differences between A-roll vs B-roll, but you won’t understand the true value and meaning of B-roll until you use it in one of your projects. Our next post gives you a list of the best places to find FREE and Affordable B-roll footage online.
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What is B-roll?
The term B-roll originates from the early days of film, when editors inserted supplemental footage, or B-roll, into the main footage, or A-roll, to hide visible lines where two pieces of film were joined. In modern film and video production, B-roll describes all of the footage in that isn’t the main action.
B-roll in scripted video
B-roll is essential in narrative features to create a sense of time and place and add layers of meaning to the story. Establishing shots at the beginning of scenes that show city streets or the exteriors of buildings are usually B-roll, along with other shots that cut away from the main action.
B-roll in documentary video
B-roll is crucial for news stories and documentary films. Any format that contains a lot of interview footage can benefit from relevant and visually interesting alternative footage. “An interview with a person just stationary and just talking into camera can get pretty boring,” Hara says. “B-roll can enhance that storytelling experience.
How to shoot B-roll
While you’re still in pre-production, keep these tips in mind to capture as much useful extra footage as you can. You’ll thank yourself in post-production.
Make the most of your footage
Once you’ve got all the raw material you need, practice cutting it into your main story. The editing tools in Adobe Premiere Rush make it easy to merge your A-roll and B-roll into one seamless story. Once you’ve got an edit you like, try color grading your footage to get the right tones.
Plan of Action
1. What is a B roll? 2. B roll examples 3. How to shoot B roll? 4. How to edit B roll? 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 Footage?
If the subheading didn’t give it away, my guess is you might be asking “What is b roll?”
Ways To Use B-Roll
Technically speaking, b roll is most often used for establishing shots. It’s very common in film and television, but you’ll also see it in a lot of YouTube content these days. (Think about montages in travel vlogs, where those brief shots tell a story even without narration.)
Tips For Shooting B-Roll
Now that you understand what b roll is and how to use it, the last step is to make it a habit. Once you start shooting it regularly, you’ll be in a position to make it another great tool in your Batman-like utility belt.
Stepping Up Your Filmmaking
B roll can become a personal library of unused footage, something you can pull from or fall back on. It might supplement a future project, or help inspire a new film. But the only way to use it is if you have it.
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.
B-roll
What is B-roll? B roll footage, Broll or B roll is any supplementary video that is considered secondary to your primary footage. It can be collected in a separate unit, obtained from the library or any source other than the main photographic work.
A-roll VS B-roll
Now, let’s turn to the A-roll VS B-roll part. A-roll is the main shot you want to focus on. A-roll shows the scene’s main theme, while B-roll shots are supplementary shots, showing everything else. A story with just an A-roll footage may make you feel unbalanced. That's also why it's important to take a B-roll.
What Can B-roll Be Used to?
What can B-roll be used to or what can you do with B-roll? The details are as follows:
How to Shot B-roll?
It's important to take the time to capture enough B-roll when planning your film and making a pre-production schedule. The last thing you want to do is go into the editing and post-production process.
The End
It’s time to make a conclusion. From this post, you can know what B-roll is and what the difference between it and A-roll is. Besides, you can learn what you can do with it and get the methods to shot it. I believe that this post is helpful to you.