Just a few days ago, we ran up to Bella Romero school to do a quick b-roll shoot. So – you might be wondering – what is b-roll and why do we need it?

WHAT: B-roll footage is footage we shoot that supports the overarching story that we are telling for the current project. Each clip is usually only 20 seconds long and the audio is not important as only the video images will be used. B-roll normally includes various creative shooting techniques like: tight shots of hands, feet, or objects; wide shots of activity, shots of the outside of buildings and/or signage; rack focus shots (blurry to clear or clear to blurry- shifting focus); and varying perspective shots like birds-eye-view or worms-eye-view. Drone shots from the sky are another good example of b-roll.

The image you see above is an example of the start (or finish) of a rack focus b-roll shot. We start with the camera in focus and the background blurred out and slowly shift focus until the camera is blurred but the action behind it is in focus. This was a shot of our Bella Romero shoot for a project we are currently working on which is a promo video for a Weld County program called Thriving Weld.

WHY: This b-roll footage will be used to enhance a promo video (or other storytelling type video) where we will begin by seeing our interviewee as he/she talks about the subject matter (usually answering a question we’ve asked) and while he continues talking we will edit in some b-roll that pertains to what he/she is talking about so that we are still hearing the important message being spoken about, but we will be seeing some other interesting views to supplement the audio. This is a great way to hold the viewers’ attention as no one really wants to watch talking heads for more than a few seconds. In short – b-roll keeps things exciting and easy to view!

We are Colorado video professionals...we know how to get great b-roll! So – how can we use b-roll combined with your message to create a promo video or commercial spot for your Colorado business?