- If you're not quite sure what B-roll is
or how to use it, in this video,
I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know.
And at the end, I'm gonna share with you my top five tips
to dramatically improve your YouTube videos
using B-roll footage.
So let's get started.
First things first. What is B-roll?
If you've clicked on this video,
then you've probably heard some YouTubers
or filmmakers talk about this term,
usually in relation to smooth, cinematic looking footage.
And to explain it properly, we need to wind back the clock.
Historically, the term B-roll comes
from classic film production.
Specifically, when most films were shot on 35 or 16mm film.
The A-roll was the principal role of film
that was used for the main narrative scenes
featuring the lead actors.
And the B-roll was an identical roll of film
that was used for cutaway shots and transitions.
These days, the meaning has slightly broadened,
but it still retains the same main features.
A-roll is the main subject of your video.
So this could be a shot of your lead actor in a short film.
It can be a talking head interview shot in a documentary,
or it could even be me talking to the camera right now.
And B-roll is the footage that ties it all together.
It's the secondary footage that's often used
for cutaways to add more context to a scene.
It can fill the gaps or help tell the story.
So let's take this all into a YouTube context.
On my own personal channel, I make travel vlogs.
So, when I'm filming myself talking to a camera
in a new location, that's my A-roll.
Then when I add some shots of the location itself
with a drone, with some wide shots or some closeups,
that's my B-roll.
So now that you know what B-roll is,
let's get into my top five tips for using B-roll
to take your YouTube videos to the next level.
Number one is that B-roll helps you show the story.
B-roll is a great storytelling device
that can greatly improve the value of your content.
In theory, you can shoot a whole video just using A-roll,
but as you'll see, you'll quickly run into some problems.
For example, I could have made this exact video
that you're watching, by purely using A-roll.
And that would be me sitting here talking to the camera
in this same camera shot.
But after a while, sitting here talking to a static camera
can get a bit boring.
But if I start overlaying some B-roll footage
over me talking, then it makes my video
much more visually interesting to watch,
and also helps provide context to the audience.
So, you can tell a story by purely using A-roll,
but B-roll helps you show the story.
And it's always important to remember that filmmaking
is a visual storytelling medium.
My second tip is that you can use B-roll footage
to help cover up your mistakes.
If you make a mistake when recording your own YouTube vlog,
or maybe your interview subject loses that train of thought,
you can use B-roll footage to cover this up in your edit.
For example, in this clip that I've recorded for my vlog,
I stumble over my words when I'm talking to the camera,
so I wanna cut that out during the editing process,
but once I've done that and got rid of my mistake,
I'm left with quite an awkward jump cut in the footage,
which doesn't look very professional.
So what I'm going to do is cover this up
with a relevant B-roll shot.
In this example, I'm gonna find a relevant shot
of my surroundings and just drop it over my cut, like so.
And now if I press play the audience won't even notice
the edit that I've made,
and it also helps to add some more context to my scene.
My next tip for shooting B-roll is to always think ahead.
When you're out shooting a video or a vlog,
it always helps to start thinking about what you need
for your edit ahead of time.
For example, when I'm arriving in a new location,
I first start thinking about
how I'm gonna introduce this to my audience,
or react to it by using some A-roll footage
by talking to the camera.
And once I've captured that it's time to start thinking
about B-roll and this footage should show the audience
exactly what you've been talking about in the A-roll.
And it can also focus in on some cool details
to help it feel like the audience
is discovering this place with you.
And if you can, just try and take your time with it,
make sure that you have both your A-roll and B-roll elements
before you move on to your next location.
And taking this structured approach
will really help you out when you start editing.
Next up is that you don't need anything fancy
to start filming B-roll.
Many creators will make you believe
that you need some sort of expensive drone or camera
with multiple lenses to start filming B-roll footage.
But while these things do help,
it's not absolutely necessary.
You can film some amazing B-roll shots
using a budget camera, too.
You can even use your smartphone.
There are loads of ways to optimize your phone settings
to get some amazing cinematic footage.
I recommend shooting at a higher frame rate
so you can slow down your footage later in post,
but failing that, you can also use B-roll footage
for your videos that you haven't even filmed yourself.
Maybe you filmed some A-roll of a location,
but you didn't have time to get some really good shots
of your surroundings.
Or maybe you filmed yourself talking at home
and you want to add some B-roll shots to help explain
what you're talking about.
If so, you could try downloading some stock footage
to help fill the gaps.
There are a lot of subscription services
that you can pay for,
but you can actually find some free stock footage
right here on YouTube.
All you need to do is type what you're looking for
into the YouTube search bar, and then in the filters,
search for creative commons footage.
And what this means is that you can download these clips
to use in your edits, and you're freely allowed
to re upload them to your own channel.
And finally, B-roll can be a great tool
to keep your audience engaged.
Creating a montage of B-roll
can not only add context to a video,
but it can help make it more visually interesting.
On a platform like YouTube, audience retention is one
of the most important things to help please the algorithm
and your videos are more likely to be recommended
by YouTube if they're watched for a longer amount of time
by your audience.
And whether you film your own B-roll footage
or source some online, you can make your video more fun
and dynamic to watch by adding relevant B-roll
into your edit.
So that is how to use B-roll for your YouTube videos
to take them to the next level.
If you found this video useful,
make sure you leave it a like, and subscribe to the channel.
And if you've got any B-roll questions,
leave them down in the comments below,
and I'll see you next time.