How to Shoot B-Roll Footage That Actually Gets Used (2026)
The editor looked at my footage like I’d handed her something that might go off.
We were cutting Married & Isolated, and I had a ten-minute dialogue scene with zero cutaways. Two people talking, the same angle, nothing to cut to. No hands, no room, no reaction that wasn’t already on camera.
We reshot a full day just to get the B-roll I should have planned in the first place. It cost us money and time we didn’t have, and it burned a favor or two I’d rather have saved.
That is the real argument for B-roll. It isn’t decoration. It is the footage that lets the edit breathe, and this guide covers how to plan it, shoot it, and cut it so it earns its place on the timeline.
Disclosure: Some links in this post, including gear links to Amazon, B&H, and Adorama and links to Artgrid, are affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I’d use myself.
B-roll is secondary footage that supports your main shots by establishing place, covering edits, and controlling pacing. To shoot it well, build a shot list, cover every idea in wide, medium, and close, and hold each shot 10 to 15 seconds. Before each setup, ask what the clip proves. If you can’t answer in one sentence, skip it.
What Is B-Roll Footage, and Why Do Videos Die Without It?
B-roll is any supplemental footage cut against your primary footage (A-roll) to add context, cover problems, and show what the main shot can’t. Without it, even good A-roll turns into someone talking at a lens.
Most people treat B-roll as filler. It’s closer to a second language your video speaks while the first one is busy.
| Roll | What It Is | In a Cooking Video |
|---|---|---|
| A-roll | The primary footage: the interview, the main action, the backbone of the story | The chef explaining the recipe |
| B-roll | Supporting footage that illustrates and enriches the A-roll | Sizzling pan, knife on vegetables, steam rising |
| C-roll | Extra coverage and alternate angles, useful for longer cuts or bonus material | Spare kitchen angles, unused ingredient shots |
B-roll solves three problems that sink a video.
It hides your mistakes. On Noelle’s Package, an actor’s coat was buttoned in one shot and open in the next. One cutaway of her walking down the street, and nobody has ever mentioned it.
It controls pace and mood. Fast cuts of fidgeting hands or a ticking clock build tension. A slow shot of rain on a window lets the audience breathe.
It shows what words can’t. Watching Something Private leans on windows, reflections, and hands gripping armrests, because the dialogue in its key sequences is sparse. The pictures carry the arc.
What Audiences Actually Feel: Nobody finishes a video and says the B-roll was great. They say it dragged, or it didn’t. Three minutes of a person talking to a lens wears people out, and B-roll is how you give their eyes somewhere to go.
Why Does Most B-Roll End Up in the Trash?
Most B-roll fails because it was shot without a reason. Pretty footage with no job to do is still unusable, so every clip needs a one-sentence answer to “what does this prove?”
On Blood Buddies, I watched second unit shoot B-roll for an hour and come back with sixty minutes of footage. I could use about ninety seconds.
A sunset. Some trees. A close-up of a leaf. All of it technically lovely, and none of it connected to the story.
The fix is what I call the Proof Test. Before you roll, say what the shot proves: this character is alone, this kitchen is cramped, this city is asleep. If you can’t, don’t shoot it.
That also settles a question I get asked: aren’t atmospheric shots just pretty footage? Not when they have a job. Light through trees that shows a character’s mood passes the test. A random sunset doesn’t.
Common Beginner Mistake: Grabbing two-second clips because “it’s just B-roll.” You need 10 to 15 seconds of runway on every shot, even if you only use three. Clips you can’t hold are clips you can’t cut.
How Do You Plan a B-Roll Shot List?
Read the script or transcript, highlight every visual reference, group shots by location, estimate time per shot, and add a 30% buffer. Then shoot roughly four to six times your final runtime as a starting benchmark.
I used to think shot lists were for people with bigger budgets. I was wrong, and Closing Walls is the proof.
We had a location for four hours. I walked in without a list, told myself I’d capture the vibe, and spent ninety minutes doing exactly that. We left with nothing the edit could use. That one is on me.
My process now:
- Read through the script or interview transcript.
- Highlight every visual reference and cutaway opportunity.
- Group shots by location to cut down on setups.
- Estimate time per shot.
- Add a 30% buffer. You’ll need it.
My rule of thumb is to shoot four to six times the length of the final video. For a two-minute piece, that’s eight to twelve minutes of B-roll. It sounds excessive until you’re desperate in the edit.
If you want a head start, the “Story-First” B-Roll Shot List is my production template. It’s an editable Word doc, mobile-friendly, with a 24/60fps cheat sheet and a narrative checklist. The download button is at the bottom of this post.
If your B-roll happens on location rather than on a set, my guide to filming while hiking alone shows the same planning in the field, and travel B-roll that actually works covers the travel-specific version.
Production Reality: The buffer isn’t padding, it’s insurance. Light changes, people walk into frame, and the shot you planned for twenty minutes takes an hour. Schedule for the day you’ll actually have.
Want to Learn Something New?
Explore thousands of online classes with a MasterClass All-Access Pass — from filmmaking and photography to writing, cooking, business, and more.
Learn from the best in every field, including Martin Scorsese, Gordon Ramsay, Serena Williams, Neil Gaiman, and more.
How Do You Shoot B-Roll? Coverage, Frame Rates, and Composition
Shoot every idea in three sizes, hold each shot longer than feels necessary, and choose your frame rate and shutter speed on set. Compose with intent, and let any camera movement mean something.
Shoot Every Idea Three Ways
Cover each idea wide, medium, and close, so the edit has options.
On The Camping Discovery, I needed to show isolation:
- Wide: a vast landscape with a tiny figure, which sets scale and loneliness.
- Medium: the character walking alone through trees, which shows the journey.
- Close-up: boots crunching on pine needles, which makes it physical.
In the edit I could pick the emotional layer I wanted, or stack all three to build intensity. The same film also taught me the value of inserts. The cut felt flat until I added two close-ups: a torn map and her face realizing where she was.
Hold Your Shots
Count to ten in your head on every shot, stationary or moving. You need runway for transitions and pacing choices later.
My best proof is Edinburgh. I set up a locked-off wide on a stone wall, left it rolling, and walked to a café for coffee. Fog rolled in, a local walked past with two dogs in silhouette, and that became the hero opening shot of the piece. I also left two thousand dollars of gear on a wall with a line of sight from the café window. Copy the locked-off shot, not that part.
Choose Frame Rate and Shutter Speed Together
Frame rate decides how much slow motion you get. Shutter speed decides whether the motion looks right when you slow it down. Set both on set, not in post.
| Frame Rate | Plays Back At (24fps Timeline) | Shutter (180° Rule) | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24fps | 100% | 1/48 | Anything you won’t slow down |
| 30fps | 80% | 1/60 | Subtle float, great for drone passes |
| 60fps | 40% (2.5x slower) | 1/120 | Most walking and movement B-roll |
| 120fps | 20% (5x slower) | 1/240 | One or two dramatic moments, used sparingly |
The shutter rule is simple: shutter time is 1 divided by twice your frame rate. That keeps natural motion blur, and it’s why you’ll need ND filters outdoors to hold exposure at those speeds. Check your camera, too, because many cameras crop or drop resolution at the highest frame rates.
A typical workflow is to record interviews and dialogue at 24fps, then shoot B-roll at 60fps and conform it to a 24fps timeline.
One note on the “free stabilization” idea. Slowing footage down does make handheld shake look slower and less jarring, but it doesn’t make the shake smaller. Treat it as a helpful side effect, not a replacement for a gimbal or tripod.
Composition That Actually Matters
- Rule of thirds. Put your subject at the intersections of the grid for natural balance. Short-siding a subject (placing them on the side they’re facing) creates unease, which is useful for tense scenes.
- Leading lines. Fences, hallways, and shadows pull the eye to the subject. On Elsa, a fence line led straight to a single figure, and the composition told the story before she said a word.
- Framing within a frame. Shoot through doorways or between trees to add layers and a sense of watching.
- Negative fill. A black foam board on one side of your subject deepens shadows and adds mood for almost nothing.
- Shallow depth of field, carefully. F/1.8 to f/2.8 isolates a subject nicely, but wide open is unforgiving. On a recent short, I was shooting wide open at f/1.8 on a Blackmagic Pocket 6K and the monitor looked sharp while the focus sat on an eyebrow. Check focus on a bigger screen than the one on the camera.
Movement Must Mean Something
Random movement is worse than none. A slow pan across a room because it feels like cinema is decoration. A pan from an empty chair to a door, implying someone just left, is storytelling.
On In The End, a slow zoom-in on a photograph carried us from present day to flashback. The movement had a job.
How Do You Edit B-Roll Without Making It Obvious?
Cut to B-roll on an action or audio cue, use L-cuts and J-cuts to hide the seams, match your color grade across all footage, and let the speaker’s face carry any moment that matters.
Cut on Action or Sound
If someone says “we walked through the forest,” cut to the forest on the word “walked.” The movement or word motivates the cut so the B-roll feels earned instead of dropped in.
Use L-Cuts and J-Cuts
- L-cut: the picture cuts to B-roll while the speaker’s audio keeps playing. This is the standard way to cover an interview.
- J-cut: the next shot’s audio starts before its picture appears, so the audience hears the next scene before they see it.
Both stop B-roll from landing like a slideshow.
Build Tension With Rhythm
Quick cuts add energy and longer holds invite reflection. In the argument scene in In The End, we cut between rapid close-ups of hands gripping, eyes shifting, and feet tapping. It was uncomfortable, which was the point.
Match the Grade
Nothing says amateur like B-roll that doesn’t match the main footage. In DaVinci Resolve, I build a base look on the A-roll, save it as a LUT, and apply it across the project. Consistency is invisible. Inconsistency is the only thing people notice.
When Not to Use B-Roll
Sometimes the face is the shot. If an actor is landing a moment, cutting away protects the editor’s rhythm and costs the audience the moment.
What Audiences Actually Feel: At the Going Home screening, a quiet, patient reaction shot held the room better than any cutaway could have. People lean in when you stop distracting them.
Which B-Roll Types Actually Get Used?
Five types do most of the work: establishing shots, cutaways, detail shots, atmospheric shots, and candid moments. Each one solves a different editing problem.
Establishing Shots
Wide shots that place the viewer. The opening wide of the rural property in Chicken Surprise told you about isolation and self-sufficiency before anyone spoke.
Cutaways
Close shots that cover an edit and add clarity. The torn map and the realization on her face in The Camping Discovery are the model.
Detail Shots
Macro shots of hands, objects, and textures. They’re timeless and don’t create continuity problems.
On Maid, our set decoration team layered the kitchen to show the weight of poverty. The fridge door carried overdue bills held up by cheap magnets, the counter was crowded with generic-brand canned goods, and half-empty cleaning bottles sat under the sink. When the camera locked in for a tight insert on that counter, or the sparse inside of the fridge, the dressing said what the character’s day was like before a line of dialogue.
That’s the thing to remember about detail shots. Somebody has to build them. Plan the frame, not just the camera.
Atmospheric Shots
Rain on windows, light through trees, smoke. They don’t have to be literal, but under the Proof Test they do need to prove a mood.
Candid Shots
Unscripted moments and real laughter. They add authenticity that scripted footage can’t fake.
A Word on Drone Shots
On Blood Buddies, a drone overview of the school bus made the cut and set the scene. On Going Home, our drone attempts didn’t, between restricted airspace near Victoria International Airport and downtown foot traffic. Check airspace before you build a shot around a drone.
When Is B-Roll More Than Decoration?
When dialogue can’t carry the story, B-roll becomes the language. Films with deaf or hard-of-hearing characters, or any film that leans on visual storytelling, need B-roll designed as part of the story, not added afterward.
In Going Home, a short about two hard-of-hearing friends who bump into each other on a downtown street, every gesture carried the weight dialogue usually does. B-roll wasn’t optional. It was the film’s language.
I needed hands signing in golden-hour light, a close-up of a faded family photo, dust motes in living-room air, and a coffee cup left on the table with nobody there to drink it. My DP thought I was crazy. “We have the story,” he said, “and we’ve got the coverage.”
In the edit, those shots became the connective tissue. They filled the silence, showed what couldn’t be signed, and helped turn a chance encounter into a short that was selected for the 2024 Soho International Film Festival. You can read more about it in my Going Home experience.
If you’re designing for accessibility, the principles carry over:
- Choose visual clarity over decoration.
- Use composition and movement to deliver information dialogue would normally handle.
- Give faces and hands the close-ups, because they carry more when audio isn’t the primary channel.
- If captions will be burned into the picture, leave room for them in your frame.
This isn’t only about accessibility. When you design visually first, everyone benefits.
Stock Footage or Custom B-Roll: Which Should You Use?
Use stock for shots that are expensive or impossible, and shoot custom B-roll for anything specific to your story. Whichever you use, match the color grade.
Stock works when:
- You need an expensive shot, like an aerial or a rare location.
- You’re illustrating an abstract idea.
- You’re on a deadline with no shoot budget.
Stock fails when it doesn’t match your footage quality or grade, when everyone has seen the same clip, or when you need something specific to your story.
I use Artgrid for most stock needs because the clips look like they belong in a film. Pexels works for simpler needs. Mix them: stock for the impossible, custom for everything story-specific.
You’re not flying to Iceland for one aerial. I flew there for Elsa, and that was for a whole film.
What Are the Most Common B-Roll Mistakes?
The five that cost me the most are shooting B-roll as an afterthought, not shooting enough, forgetting sound, shooting at the wrong frame rate, and cutting to the music instead of the story.
1. Treating it as an afterthought. If you’re “grabbing some B-roll” after wrap, you’ve already lost. Plan it, schedule it, and treat it like it matters. My piece on avoidable filmmaking mistakes covers the wider pattern.
2. Not shooting enough. Aim for four to six times your runtime, and hold every shot.
3. Forgetting sound. Natural sound sells reality: footsteps, traffic, a cup on a table. On In The End, a line mic didn’t seat properly during production, and we ended up re-recording and ADR’ing virtually the entire dialogue track. On top of that, I never captured thirty seconds of clean room tone on location, which made blending those studio tracks into the scene miserable. Record room tone at every location, every time. My guide to capturing audio with a smartphone is a good place to start.
4. Shooting at the wrong frame rate. Decide on set whether a shot is real time or slow motion. Footage shot at the rate you plan to deliver usually looks better than footage converted later.
5. Cutting to the beat instead of the story. A music cue is not a reason to cut. If the B-roll changes because the drum hit and not because the story moved, the audience feels it.
What Gear Do You Actually Need for B-Roll?
Almost none. A modern phone, one stabilizer, one honest light source, and a good audio recorder will beat expensive gear in unplanned hands. Technique outweighs equipment.
Budget Reality: Noelle’s Package was shot on an iPhone 12 in a 48-hour competition, and it won the Audience Choice Award. Your camera is not the thing between you and good B-roll. Planning is.
Bare minimum:
- A decent camera (a modern smartphone works).
- One stabilizer, either a tripod or a gimbal.
- Light you control. Natural light is free, but it isn’t always enough. On Going Home, we shot B-roll in a Victoria café under harsh overhead fluorescents, and a small Zhiyun Fiveray M20C was what saved those shots and got them into the final cut.
- A good audio recorder, because sound matters.
I added the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 in mid-2025 for B-roll and travel work, and it has become my grab-and-go option. I wrote more about it in my guide to the best DJI products for filmmakers, and the smartphone and gimbal vlogging guide covers the phone-first version. If you’re just starting out, 8 low-budget filmmaking tips for beginners is where to begin.
You also don’t need expensive cine glass to get character. I paid about $150 for a vintage manual 50mm, and it adds flares and imperfections that clean modern lenses tend to smooth out.
| Tool | Best For | Honest Drawback | Who Should Skip It |
|---|---|---|---|
| DJI Osmo Pocket 4 | Grab-and-go gimbal B-roll, travel, run-and-gun | Small sensor, so low light is its weak spot | Anyone who needs interchangeable lenses |
| Zhiyun Fiveray M20C | Rescuing B-roll from bad practical lighting | A small panel won’t light a room | People lighting full interiors |
| DaVinci Resolve | Color grading and building a LUT across a project | Steep learning curve and heavy on hardware | Quick social edits on a phone |
| Artgrid | Stock that matches a film look | Subscription cost | Anyone with no stock needs; the free version of Resolve and Pexels cover simple jobs |
Free resource: Get the “Story-First” B-Roll Shot List & 2026 Production Template, an editable Word doc with a 24/60fps cheat sheet and a narrative checklist. [DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE]
Key Takeaways
- B-roll is the footage that hides mistakes, controls pace, and shows what dialogue can’t.
- Run the Proof Test before every setup: say in one sentence what the clip proves.
- Build a shot list, add a 30% buffer, and shoot roughly four to six times your final runtime.
- Cover every idea wide, medium, and close, and hold each shot 10 to 15 seconds.
- Set frame rate and shutter speed together on set, and record clean room tone at every location.
- Cut on action or audio cues, match your grade, and let a strong performance stay uncut.
FAQS
What are examples of B-roll footage?
B-roll includes establishing shots of locations, close-ups of hands or objects, cutaway shots during interviews, atmospheric shots like rain or sunsets, detail shots of textures or products, and any supplementary footage supporting your main story. In a cooking video: ingredients being prepped, pans sizzling, hands chopping vegetables, steam rising, finished dishes being plated—everything except the chef talking to camera.
What is B-roll footage used for?
B-roll covers jump cuts and editing mistakes, adds visual interest to static talking-head shots, provides context and location information, builds emotional atmosphere, controls pacing and rhythm, masks continuity errors, and gives editors flexibility in post-production. B-roll keeps viewers engaged by adding variety to visuals, prevents monotony, adds emotional depth through reaction shots and candid moments, clarifies key points visually, and improves overall production quality.
How to get good B-roll footage?
Plan shots before filming using a detailed shot list, shoot each concept from three angles (wide, medium, close-up), hold each shot for 10-15 seconds minimum, choose the right frame rate for your intended use (24fps for real-time, 60fps for slow-motion), ensure B-roll directly relates to your story, shoot 4-6 times more footage than your final runtime, pay attention to composition using rule of thirds and leading lines, match lighting and color to your A-roll, and capture high-quality audio with your B-roll. Scout locations to find visually interesting settings and details, use the right equipment including stable camera and appropriate lenses, and vary your shots to provide visual variety.
What's the difference between B-roll and stock footage?
B-roll is supplementary footage you shoot specifically for your project or with a second unit—it’s custom and unique to your story. Stock footage is pre-made, generic content you license from libraries like Shutterstock, Artgrid, or Pexels that anyone can use. B-roll offers originality and perfect story fit but requires time and resources to shoot. Stock footage saves production time and provides access to expensive shots (aerials, exotic locations) but may look generic or not match your specific narrative needs. Best practice: use stock for impossible-to-shoot footage, custom B-roll for story-specific shots, and blend both with careful color matching.
How much B-roll should I shoot?
Shoot roughly four to six times your final runtime as a starting benchmark, so eight to twelve minutes for a two-minute video. Hold each shot 10 to 15 seconds even if you’ll only use three.
Can I shoot B-roll on a smartphone?
Yes. A modern smartphone is enough for good B-roll if you plan your shots. Noelle’s Package was shot on an iPhone 12 and won an Audience Choice Award.
What frame rate is best for B-roll?
Use 24fps for anything you won’t slow down and 60fps for most slow-motion B-roll, which plays at 40% speed on a 24fps timeline. Save 120fps for one or two dramatic moments, and set your shutter to 1 divided by twice your frame rate.
Conclusion
If you take one thing from this guide on how to shoot B-roll footage, take the Proof Test. Know what each clip proves before you roll, build a shot list, cover every idea three ways, and hold your shots. Everything else is technique built on top of that.
I’ve paid for this lesson more than once: a reshoot day on Married & Isolated, ninety lost minutes on Closing Walls, and an ADR job on In The End that room tone would have made easier. None of those were gear problems. They were planning problems, and planning is free.
If you’re just starting, shoot one sequence this week with a shot list and see how much more you can use. If you’ve already lived through a reshoot day, put the Proof Test on a sticky note on your camera. B-roll was never the extra footage. It’s the part of the film that shows the audience what you meant.
📌 Affiliate Disclosure
PeekAtThis.com participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs, including B&H Photo, Adorama, CJ, and ClickBank. If you purchase through links on this site, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. These commissions help support the site and allow us to continue creating free content, reviews, and tutorials.
If this article helped you avoid an expensive mistake, discover a better piece of gear, or learn something new, consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from it too.
📌 Don’t forget to bookmark PeekAtThis.com and save any useful guides for future reference.
About the Author
Trent Peek is a filmmaker, writer, and producer based in Victoria, BC, and the founder of PeekAtThis.com. His production credits include set decoration on Netflix’s Maid, and writing/directing Going Home (2024 Soho International Film Festival) and Noelle’s Package (48-hour festival winner, shot on smartphone). He’s also a former President of Cinevic, Victoria’s Society of Independent Filmmakers, and works as a doorman at a four-star hotel — a job that’s taught him as much about reading people under pressure as any film set has.
When he’s not writing articles, testing gear, or working on film projects, Trent enjoys traveling, reading, exploring new technology, and developing future film ideas — many of which may never leave the notebook stage.
P.S. Writing in the third person still feels weird.
Trent recently appeared on the Pushin Podcast — listen to the full episode — where he discussed independent filmmaking, directing actors, production challenges, and lessons learned from working in film.
