B-roll Basics: How to Find Engaging Footage for Your Videos

Tina Wang

·June 14, 2024

·5 min read

b-rolls, content creator, video production, video library — Image Source: Clipchamp

In the video production industry, B-rolls are essential puzzle pieces that complete the whole video. B-roll footage supports the main footage by adding details, context, and visual interest. This supplementary footage enhances the texture and diversity of your video, elevating its storytelling power and captivating your audience.

You will have a comprehensive understanding of B-rolls after reading this article, then you will have a great leap in your video production journey.

What are A-rolls and B-rolls?

A-rolls and B-rolls are the main components of video production.

Documentaries, short reels, advertisement videos, interviews, TV programs...

All these video types need A-rolls and B-rolls.

A-rolls

A-rolls are the primary footage. For example, in an interview, the primary audio and recording of the conversation is viewed as an A-roll.

Only with A-rolls, the story might be well-explained, but your audience might lose their interest very fast because the visual elements are bland. To keep the audience engaged, it's essential to show the story, not just tell it, as that's what they expect when watching a video.

Another issue with relying solely on A-roll footage is that primary A-roll sources often feature people talking, including fumbled lines, coughs, sniffles, and stutters that need to be edited out. This is the reason B-Roll becomes invaluable.

B-rolls and Why so Important?

B-Roll is supplemental footage used to visually support the A-Rolls, effectively enhancing the storytelling power of the video.

For example, if the A-Roll narrative discusses residences, the B-Roll might show a house. B-Roll should complement and, confirm the story told by the A-Roll.

Another example is if A-Roll is news, we can capture B-Roll footage of people using their phones and tablets to access mobile websites, customer interactions, and business transactions.

These shots would help the anchor present the story in a more visually engaging way since these small actions are what the audience would do every single day.

B-roll footage includes a wide range of shots, often featuring:

Shots of locations
Close-ups of objects
Shots of people
Shots of actions
Shots of scenic views
Anything else that adds depth and visual appeal to the video

Using B-roll footage helps break up the monotony of typical A-roll shots, making the entire piece more engaging for the audience. Incorporating diverse and relevant visual elements keeps viewers interested and prevents them from closing the tab.

While the term "B-Roll" might suggest supplemental sources and supportive footage for A-rolls, they are not less important at all. B-roll footage plays a crucial role in enhancing the visual narrative, adding depth and context to the main footage.

Without the supporting footage, you are left with just a plain video source. B-Roll is the key that truly brings a story to life and engages with the audience by connecting the context in the video to the audience's life.

How to film B-roll Footage for your Video Creation?

More is Better

The easiest way to film B-roll footage is to continually shoot more video sources that are relevant to your A-roll topic. Even seemingly irrelevant footage can be valuable, as you might find these unexpected shots to be extremely helpful during the editing process.

Establishing Shots

These types of shots mostly convey broad information, including buildings, signs, people, or iconic landmarks. Filming establishing shots is very helpful when you need to convey background context to your audiences.

Natural Shots

These types of shots capture people and objects in their natural environment, performing natural movements to make the footage feel authentic.

How to find B-rolls Online?

Online Sources

During the editing stage, if you realize you don't have enough B-roll to complete your story, do x't panic. There are many online sources where you can download B-roll footage for private use.

While you are choosing footage online, you want to make sure:

The video style matches your project
The footage is high-quality
The video is royalty-free or you have a license to use it

Where? Boolvideo B-rolls Library

b-rolls, content creator, video production, video library，boolvideo

Boolvideo has a video clips library that has lots of B-rolls and video sources for content creators and e-commerce sellers.

There are various types of B-Roll clips, including architecture, interiors, textures, patterns, and nature...

Almost all the video clips in the Boolvideo library can be your B-rolls source, no matter who are the audience of your video, you will definitely find something helpful in this library.

You can use the feature "Start from Scratch" and the Video Editor tool on Boolvideo to edit your video sources, uploading your self-filmed clips to edit them with those from the library at the same time with high efficiency on Boolvideo Website.