If you are new to video, you might wonder what the difference between A-roll and B-roll footage is. In this video, you will see an in-depth explanation of the terms with three tips for achieving better results during shooting.
Without a doubt, the most important part of a video project is the planning. This means before you start shooting, you need to specify each frame based on the content you’ll be creating. Especially when shooting an interview or a commercial video, you will need different plans for different parts of the video. That's where A-roll and B-roll comes into play. Briefly, the A-roll footage contains the main subject of the video, while the B-roll footage covers all the essential details that might be useful to complement the overall subject during editing.
In this eight-minute video, content creator Jeven Dovey explains the differences between the A-roll and B-roll footage and how he shoots both parts. He also shares his tips for shooting cinematic-looking footage when shooting B-roll footage. For these tips, you might require special gear, such as a gimbal and a high fps video camera for smoother footage. Dovey uses a Zhiyun-Tech Crane 3 Lab gimbal, as it supports heavy camera systems. At the end of the video, Dovey also shares how he diversifies his source of incomes and how he utilizes his B-roll footage for extra revenue.
Useful, thanks.
The next tip is that when you're doing a piece to camera, pause occasionally to take a breath. I nearly keeled over watching that, it was exhausting.
B-roll
Write a shot list for each scene
Shoot Wide, Medium, and Tight shots for everything on your list so you have a shot that is complimentary to your A roll.
Get lots of close ups. If your video is boring, it's to far away.
Get unusual angles and unique perspectives.
Shoot at least 4 times as much b roll as you think you'll need.
Thanks for the tips!