When starting a new video project, we throw around the term B-roll when discussing concepts with our clients. With new clients, I’m often asked, what the heck is B-roll?

B-roll is the secret sauce that make videos more engaging. It is secondary footage that helps tell your story and visualize concepts. Simply put, it makes your videos more interesting. Most video professionals believe (and rightly so) that videos with B-roll look better and increase the video’s production value. 

In our digital world, B-roll is an outdated term. Originally, it comes from old Hollywood when film was used. For many of today’s video production pros, the term B-roll refers to the linear video editing days. Back when editing was done between two separate videotape deck machines with A-roll and B-roll. 

The A-roll tape contained the interviews. The B-roll had the tapes with the other stuff such as establishing shots, cutaway shots, and other supporting footage. Where A-roll tells the story via interviews and voiceover, B-roll shows the story. 

Video editing software has replaced linear video editing, but the term B-roll stuck around.

Another way to look at it is that B-roll transforms a standard interview into something more than a talking head. We call a stand-alone interview, a talking head. Too many talking heads make a video boring and dull. B-roll to the rescue!

B-roll is powerful tool that allows us to show what someone is talking about during an interview. The audience can see it and not have to imagine what the speaker describing.

It also helps out in the edit. When editing, you often need to cut or paste two parts of an interview together. This is done to remove stumbles, coughs, background noise or other distractions. By covering these edits, B-roll is a post-production superstar.

What can be used as B-roll? The list is endless. Your product or services in action, interior and exterior locations, people doing things; anything. All of these are B-roll. You can also use archive photos and stock and images and footage. That’s perfectly acceptable.

B-roll makes your video more engaging, emotional, and memorable. It’s a big deal.

Stacy Lloyd has produced and written countless news stories, television programs and corporate, non-profit, and educational videos throughout her career and at Lloyd Media Group. Learn more about our video production services and how we can help.