b roll assignment

B-ROLL 101: The Complete Guide for Beginners (With Examples)

Want to level up your videos? Adding B rolls to your videos can single-handedly take your videos from looking basic and choppy to seamlessly incredible.

That’s why we have put together this super tactical guide that will tell you everything you need to know about shooting and editing B rolls.

Not just that, but at the end of the article, we’re also giving you a super useful B roll hack that’ll help you create cinematic videos using an intuitive online video editor and without having to shoot every bit of it.

Plan of Action

1. What is a B roll? 2. B roll examples 3. How to shoot B roll? 4. How to edit B roll? 5. Bonus- How to create B rolls without shooting footage?

1. What is B Roll?

There are two types of footage you need to tell a visually compelling story. In the earlier days, when editors would have to manually cut and paste rolls of film together, videos were shot on two identical rolls – an A roll film and a B roll film. This technique helped filmmakers create smooth transitions from one scene to the next. Today, while you don’t need to shoot on two different rolls, filmmakers still use these terms to distinguish between their footage.

A roll vs B roll  

Think of the A roll as the part of the video where the actual storytelling is happening – like an interview in a documentary film or news show, or dialogues in a scripted sketch. It makes up the primary video and audio on your edit table and everything has to be worked around it.

For example, in the video below, whenever you see the speaker directly addressing the camera or interviewer, that’s the A roll footage. It is the primary footage that has recorded the main story of the video.

So, what is B Roll Footage?

B roll footage is supplemental and adds visual definition to the A roll footage. It is what shows the story. For example, in the above video, the shots of the speaker driving his car and skateboarding on the beach are B roll footage.

The B roll footage is used as cutaway shots to break the monotony and give the audience more to absorb from the story. The editor often uses the A roll for the audio and pastes B rolls on it to draw the viewer’s attention to more visual details that amplify what the speaker is saying. This is especially useful when the speaker stutters, coughs, or takes a long pause between words while finishing a sentence. Adding B rolls over the A roll audio smoothens the video out.

For example, in this interview of President Obama by Vice , the cutaway shots are the different camera frames that keep switching between the interviewer and the interviewee, even when only one of them is speaking. This not only smoothens the audio by cutting out unnecessary pauses but also makes the video less monotonous.

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Let’s look at some examples to understand how B rolls can change the face of your video and make it look cinematic.

2. B-Roll Examples

Different video types use B rolls differently and we’ll be looking at the top 5 ways you can use B rolls in your videos.

1. Atmospheric B rolls

When you want to establish where your video is being shot or you have transitioned from one space to another and you want to make your audience aware of it, atmospheric B roll is the answer. You have seen this kind of B roll footage in movies and TV shows where the plane takes off and lands in another city, followed by shots of the city, of places it is known for, names of famous streets, etc. These shots help the audience place where the character currently is. Check out this compilation of establishing shots used in the television show Friends .

2. Undirected B Roll Footage

As the name suggests, this type of B roll footage is shot without directing your character. For example, for an interview video, these can simply be close-up shots of your character’s hands and expressions. Whereas in a documentary shoot, this can be everyday activities that you film your character doing. This National Geographic short film on the ice men of Mumbai is a perfect example of undirected b roll shooting.

3. Archival B Roll Footage

When you’re telling a story that has been covered in the past or has historical significance, adding archival footage to your video lets your audience experience it as it happened. Check out this example of Netflix ’s Diana: In Her Own Words   which is created using archival b roll footage from that time, helping the audience engage with the story.

4. Visual detail B Roll Footage

Many video creators love taking cinematic shots that give you a closer look at the details of what's happening. The camera is focused on taking in sharp details and movements, making every moment cinematically stunning. One of the reasons video creators love this kind of b roll is because it brings the audience’s attention to little details that they might otherwise miss. Here’s a great example of visual detail b rolls by Philipp Dubbert .

5. Storytelling B Roll Footage

B roll footage can be used to tell a story that supports the narrative of your video. For example, in this video interview of RJ Mitte , the speaker talks about living with cerebral palsy. The B rolls show him driving around in his car, skateboarding on the beach, and having a good laugh. These add to the story the video creator wants to tell about not seeing people with a disability differently. 

3. How to shoot B Roll?

Now that you know the kind of shots you want to take, let’s look at some shot types for your B rolls.

5 B-roll shot types you can use:

A. wide-angle.

A wide-angle shot is used mainly for establishing where you are or what is going on. Your audience can take in everything that is going on in the frame and allows them to understand what setting the video is being taken in. This shot type is great for shooting atmospheric and establishing B rolls that show the neighbourhood, the town, the house, the street, etc. For example, a simple shot like this establishes that the story is being told in San Francisco.

A medium shot allows you to move closer to your subject and show what they’re doing. It answers questions like where the person is, what he is like, and what he is doing. For example, here’s a medium frame of a man reading the newspaper by the window in his home.

C. Close-ups

A close-up shot lets your audience see a more intimate profile of a person or his surroundings. They take you closer to the details that matter in the story. If you’re shooting a person’s close-up, you can see the details of their features and their expressions.

If you’re shooting inanimate objects, like books or a tabletop, you want to focus on the details you want to show your audience – like this shot of the stacked up CDs tells us the person in the video is a music aficionado, and the close-up shot of this title lets us know what kind of music the person listened to.  

D. Over the shoulder

An over-the-shoulder shot is a classic way to get your audience to see what your character is seeing – almost like they’re standing behind them. In the example below, you get a different perspective of the mother and child as compared to a simple medium shot from the front.  

E. Tracking/following

The tracking shot allows you to follow the movement of your character when they’re walking or moving around. It almost looks like they’re leading the audience towards what they want them to see. For example, here’s an example of a tracking shot where the camera is following the person from the back, allowing the character to direct the audience’s attention to the visuals.

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Checklist for shooting b rolls:, a. plan your b rolls.

Many documentary and interview videographers make notes while shooting the A roll so they can find and shoot relevant B roll footage to tell the story. Planning your B rolls can help you make the most of your shoot days and ensure that you get every shot you need to make your video visually stunning.

B. Experiment with angles

One of the ways you can make your visuals more creative is by experimenting with different shot angles . Shooting from different perspectives will add more dimension to your story.  

C. Shoot more than you need

Always shoot more than what you need. You don’t want to be left with limited choices for B rolls when you’re editing. You can always make a bank of the extra B rolls and use it for other video projects.

4. How to edit B Roll?

Once you have all of your footage ready, it’s time to get it on the edit table. We’re going to show you how you can seamlessly edit your videos using InVideo   in 7 easy steps. Let’s start.

Step 1: Sign up for free on InVideo  

Log on to invideo.io and sign up using your email ID. It is free and you don’t need to put in your credit card information.

Step 2: Upload your footage to InVideo

After you log in to InVideo , select a blank canvas in the preferred dimensions. Make sure you upload all of your files to InVideo using the ‘Upload’ button on the left-hand side toolbar.

Step 3: Add your A roll to the timeline

The A roll footage is the base of your video. So select the A roll files and add them to your timeline in a sequence. You can either trim the video when it pops up before getting added to the timeline or you can also make cuts once all the videos are placed together on the timeline.

Step 4: Make cuts to your A roll

Once you have your A roll on the timeline, it is time to further trim the video wherever needed and identify spots to add the B roll footage. You can simply toggle the length of the video to trim it as well as position it. Don’t forget to cut out long breaks between words, stutters, and noisy footage wherever possible. These will make for the best spots to add your B rolls so that the video flows smoothly.

Step 5: Select your B roll

It’s now time to add B roll footage to the timeline. Just like the A roll footage, you will have to drag and drop the video at the spot you want it added. A pop-up will ask you if you want to replace the previous footage with the current one or add it as a layer. Click on ‘Add as layer’, trim the B roll and add it to the timeline.

Step 6: Edit your B roll

You can click on the added B roll footage and edit it using the right-hand side toolbar. You can change the playback speed, add animation to the video, trim it further and choose to keep the sound.

Step 7: Preview your A & B roll together

After you have added your B roll footages to your timeline, you can preview the transitions and fine-tune the cuts to perfect them. When you’re happy with the video, click on the export button in the top right corner.  

Wasn’t that simple? Well, we’re going to make it even easier for you to create cinematic videos without having to shoot B roll footage.

5. Bonus- How to create B Rolls without shooting footage?

Many times video creators find themselves in a fix because they either don’t have the time to shoot B rolls or they’re on a strict budget. In the current situation, it’s even more difficult to plan an entire production and shoot every scene.

It is no wonder that video creators prefer using stock footage for B rolls to make their videos a visual treat. With InVideo , you can easily use high-quality stock footage to do the same. We have an in-built media library of 8 million free B roll footage and images for you to use. This will allow you to build videos from scratch using stock footage without having to shoot it yourself.

You can follow the same steps to create your video but instead of uploading your files, you can simply click on the media library and search for free B roll videos based on the topic. For example, if you’re looking for B rolls of a veterinarian treating a kitten, simply type the keywords in the search box – like “kitten at the vet”, or “kitten vet visit”, and you’ll get top results that match it.

Let’s take another example, if you’re conducting an interview about work-life during the pandemic and you want to add B rolls of people working from home – you can simply type “work from home”, “video meetings”, or “home office” and our in-built library will present you with options to choose from.

You can even find extremely specific stock footage for B rolls by just typing in the right keywords in the search bar. Here’s an example for “working from home with kids”.

You can access all images and stock videos from our media library with the standard plan which is completely free. However, with a paid plan, you can get access to premium stock footage and images from sources like iStock and Storyblocks. Our premium plans start as low as $15 per month and are a great investment for anyone looking to create scroll-stopping videos.

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Summing it up-

We hope this article helps you make your videos more cinematic. Not only do you know how to shoot and edit your videos using B rolls but you also have a super effective hack to create stunning videos using stock footage .

If you’ve found value here, you would definitely want to check out this article   where we show you the exact steps for scripting your videos , and in case you’re looking for a complete guide on how to make videos, you can check this article .

Want to be a part of a community of creators, just like yourself, and discuss video guides, strategies, and of course, inspire each other? Join the InVideo community   – a place for you to connect and learn from 25,000+ other video creators like yourself.

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The B-Roll Ultimate Guide – What it is and How to Use it

Last updated on 28th November 2023

Transport yourself back to a time before selfies.

Before the internet. 

Before VHS tapes! 

Yeah, way back. 

Once upon a time, film was shot on big, bulky cameras. When it came to creating TV news stories, this 16mm film was edited and projected onto a screen – using a film projector – then another camera would shoot that and broadcast the story to the world.

Are you following so far?

The problem with this method was that it made it difficult to cut back and forth between shots that had different audio, because audio was recorded on a thin strip of magnetic tape that was glued to the film stock – making it almost impossible to remove. 

To solve this problem, studios began using a second projector. The first projector would show the main content, the A-roll. And the second projector would show interesting cutaways – and thus, B-roll was born. 

Of course, things have changed even more since then, but B-roll is still prevalent and useful in a wide variety of media. 

That’s why we’ve put together an ultimate guide to B-roll, including everything you need to know – from what it is to how to use it.

What is B-roll?

A basic, high-level definition of B-roll would be “supplementary footage”. 

B-roll is secondary footage shot to complement your primary footage (your A-roll). B-roll is usually spliced together with A-roll to add more depth and impact to the story. 

Here are 3 of the most common examples of B-roll footage:

1. Undirected footage

This is footage you shoot yourself on-site and use to complement the main footage you’ve shot. 

For example, if you’re filming a video in Liverpool City Centre then your A-roll might revolve around the main subject or person in your video. And your B-roll could be undirected footage or commuters travelling through the city.

Here’s an example: 

This video begins with B-roll to establish the place and time, before moving onto the main subject of the interview. 

2. Stock footage

There are lots of stock footage sites online that should make it easy to find the B-roll you’re looking for. All you need to do is search for a key term to find footage that relates to the video you want to make.

More often than not you’ll have to pay a fee to use this footage in your projects, but occasionally you can find stock footage that’s completely free. 

Here’s an example of stock footage in action:

Stock footage and imagery is used in this video to hammer home each point made by the voiceover. 

3. Establishing shots

Establishing shots do exactly what they say on the tin. They’re there to establish your video in a date, time, and place. 

Think of the shots of Hogwarts Castle in Harry Potter: 

Capturing establishing shots like this is a great way to build atmosphere and transport your viewers to the world that your story takes place in.

A-roll vs. B-roll

We’ve already established that the basic difference between A-roll and B-roll is that one is primary footage and the other is supplementary. 

A-roll isn’t really a term that’s even used in the film industry anymore, but B-roll is still a common term.

The biggest difference between A-roll and B-roll when it comes to shooting is that A-roll needs to be perfect . This is going to make up the main bulk of your video, so the lighting, sound, and everything inside the frame needs to be spot on. 

With B-roll, you can be a little bit more free with what you capture. B-roll may not even require audio at all and – seeing as it’s just a supplement to the main footage and you’re probably not going to use it all – it doesn’t matter so much if your subject matter isn’t framed perfectly. You can easily tweak the footage in post-production.

You may be thinking, why even use B-roll at all? Why not just create a video that is 100% perfect A-roll? 

Well, believe it or not, a video that’s entirely A-roll will probably feel strange to viewers. B-roll is important for establishing tone and altering the pacing of scenes. It can also be used to build authority (to back up what you’re saying in the A-roll) and increase levels of emotion.

Here’s a testimonial video from one of our customers, Configit . Notice the B-roll at the 15 second mark: 

The B-roll in this video establishes setting and also complements what the interviewee is saying. 

On a secondary level, the B-roll makes the video more engaging to watch because simply showing unedited footage from the interview (all A-roll) could make for quite a monotonous and uninteresting video. 

B-roll gives filmmakers flexibility in the filming and editing process. What’s more, you can also use B-roll to mask any continuity errors that would otherwise mean you need to reshoot – pretty great, right?! 

How to shoot B-roll

1. work it into your plan.

Just like you plan everything else in your video beforehand, you also need to plan your B-roll. 

Take a look at your script or shot list, and make a note of what scenes would benefit from B-roll. For example, if you’re shooting a testimonial in an office building then perhaps you’d like some B-roll shots of the exterior or the break room. 

You should also scout the locations beforehand to make sure that you can quickly and easily shoot B-roll on the day. For example, if a room is dark then you’ll know to take extra lighting. 

2. Use different angles

When shooting your B-roll, be sure to take a look at everything from a variety of different angles – high angles, low angles, bird’s eye, tilt, and so on.

Over-the-shoulder

The more angles you get, the more shots you have to choose from when it comes to knitting your B-roll together with your A-roll. 

3. Shoot more than you need

If you have the time, leave your camera rolling. You may catch something more interesting than you originally planned, or it might be a great idea to include a timelapse shot in your video.

If you shoot more than you need then you’ll always have more to work with and this will really help you out when it comes to editing your video . 

Best use cases for B-roll

1. testimonials .

According to our 2020 testimonials survey , 2 out of 3 people say they’d be more likely to make a purchase after watching a testimonial video .

By showcasing your happiest customers, testimonial videos can boost your credibility and make it easier for new customers to make purchasing decisions. 

Here’s an example of a Wyzowl testimonial video from Oxford University Press: 

This video includes a lot of B-roll that not only establishes setting and increases authority, but also shows the value that the product has created for the customer. 

This is particularly important when you consider that 39% of people say testimonial videos are effective because they help illustrate the impact a product or service can have on their life.

2. Ads 

Yep, ads use B-roll too! Ads need to capture the attention of viewers from the start – and hold it until the end (where they can present their call-to-action). 

Splicing B-roll together with A-roll is a great way to keep the story fresh and interesting. 

Here’s an example from Doritos :

This ad uses lots of B-roll to complement the main story – most of it only staying on screen for a second or so. This keeps the pace up, and the viewer engaged. 

3. Documentaries 

It’s important for documentaries to set the scene of the story they are presenting to viewers, and also to ensure they tell that story with a level of authority. 

B-roll can help to achieve both of these goals.

Here’s an example from the Netflix documentary, Our Planet: 

B-roll is used to showcase the planet’s natural beauty, and also to highlight the impact of climate change. 

4. News reports

News reports are where B-roll began. And news videos still feature B-roll to this day. B-roll is great for reporting because it breaks up the monotony of viewing a reporter reading from an autocue, and also helps to add authority to the story. 

Here’s an example from Food Insider :

B-roll is so integrated into our news reports, that we almost expect to see it. This video uses mostly B-roll and does so in a really engaging way, with some shots even appearing to move in time with the upbeat soundtrack.

5. Movies/TV 

Lastly, B-roll is also widely used in film and television. This can be to establish tone. For example, if it’s a character’s first day of school and they’re nervous then B-roll scenes of the corridors and classrooms could be used to emphasise this feeling.

B-roll is also used to fix continuity errors. For example, if an A-roll shot you were planning on using has a crew member in it, you can switch it out for a B-roll shot. 

Another use of B-roll in film and TV is to establish the setting. Think of the regular cutaways of New York City in F.R.I.E.N.D.S:

Final thoughts

B-roll is one of those subjects that seems uninteresting on the surface, but once you dive in it can be quite fascinating! 

The next time you’re watching something, see if you can spot how many times B-roll is used – probably more than you’d think! 

One of the most common, everyday use cases for B-roll is testimonial videos. Every business needs at least one great testimonial video to help win trust, boost credibility, and – most importantly – convert customers. 

Check out our video testimonial service page to find out more.

Written by Samantha Ferguson

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Using B-roll footage: A beginner’s guide for success

What type of content do you primarily create?

Do you need B-roll? Depends on the content. If you’re filming a chat show that you’ll upload to YouTube, then probably not. If you’re doing a storytime on TikTok, also no. But if you’re trying to explain a concept, idea, or history, something with a bit more complexity, then B-roll can help. Even if you have a simple vlog, cutting to a few shots of B-roll can elevate your production value exponentially and break up the same old footage with exciting visuals.

B-roll footage is the unsung hero of filmmaking — adding depth and richness to any visual story. The secret lies in painting a picture that complements and elevates the main narrative. 

Let's face it: a lengthy video with one point of view can get boring. B-roll allows creators to enrich their stories with supplementary footage that moves away from a monotonous viewing experience, all without adding too much extra work to the production process. 

This guide shares how each type of B-roll footage has its unique place in storytelling, best practices, and what you need to know to use B-roll like a pro filmmaker. 

What is B-roll?

B-roll, also known as a B-reel, describes footage that isn't the main action in modern film and video production . This supplemental footage is intercut with the main shots in a video or film, and doesn’t include the main subject.

The type of B-roll used often depends on the subject and intended mood of the piece. Each type can add a unique layer to the storytelling.

Think about a few B-roll examples, including: 

• Scenic shots: Landscapes, cityscapes, and nature footage at different camera angles that capture the broader setting.
• Atmospheric or ambiance shots: Scenes of crowds, traffic, or weather events that help convey mood or environment.
• Cutaway shots: Objects or actions indirectly related to the main scene, offering thematic connections.
• Inserts: Close-up views of specific details within scenes, such as a hand grabbing a mug.
• Reaction shots: Shows people’s responses to main events, capturing emotions like surprise or joy.
• Time-lapses: Events that unfold over a longer duration shown in speedy sequences, like flowers blooming.
• Slow motion : Footage slowed down to emphasize and highlight specific actions or moments.
• Texture shots: Close-ups showcasing intricate textures or patterns, adding an extra layer of visual appeal.
• Establishing shots: Broad views that set the scene, like the exterior of a location before an indoor event.
• Drone footage: Captivating aerial shots providing expansive and often breathtaking perspectives.

The rise of B-roll

Before the pandemic, a 30-minute-long talking head video was generally considered a complete and engaging video on YouTube. Simple, straightforward edits were common. 

If there were any B-roll, it'd be something like the creator telling the camera, "And then we went to the store," followed by secondary footage. 

But since the pandemic, creators on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are skipping the interview layer, or “A-roll,” in favor of captions and voiceovers . It’s common for the interview subject to even be green-screened on top of the B-roll itself.

Today, a talking-head interview might take up a small portion of the video. This TikTok video from Nas Daily , for example, shows the creator talking about climate change at the start of the video. B-roll footage of melting ice caps and behind-the-scenes footage:

What’s the difference between A-roll and B-roll?

In filmmaking, understanding the distinction between A-roll and B-roll is crucial. 

A-roll is the primary footage. It contains the main narrative or the backbone of your story. Think of interviews, main dialogue scenes , and key moments that drive the narrative forward. A-roll would be the main chapters if your video were a book.

Unlike primary footage or A-roll—which usually contains the main narrative, interviews, or key scenes—B-roll adds depth and context, and prevents monotony. It enriches the story and provides a visual break from the main video content. 

The term B-roll can include everything from scenic shots setting a location's ambiance to close-up inserts emphasizing details. While A-roll tells the primary story, B-roll enriches it, making the piece more engaging and visually compelling.

How to shoot B-roll footage

Creating captivating B-roll footage is a big part of the video content creation process. Proper pre-production, including storyboarding , can help transform a simple video into a masterpiece of visual storytelling.

Here's how you can master the art of capturing B-roll footage:

• Plan and prepare
• Find compelling shots
• Maintain technical quality
• Capture ample footage and coverage 

1. Plan and prepare

Video pre-production is more than just pricing and logistics. Before hitting the record button, dive deep into planning. Understand the narrative you want to convey through visual storytelling.

For instance, if your feature film revolves around a bakery, storyboard sequences capturing the main ingredients, followed by freshly baked bread, its shimmering golden crust, or even the steam rising from a freshly baked loaf.

With tools like Descript , you can edit your planned shots like a Word document. Here’s a quick rundown of how easy it can be to organize your B-roll shots: 

Edit videos like a document | Uncover the hidden features of script editing

2. Find compelling shots

The essence of B-roll lies in securing captivating visuals. Consider capturing different shots that visually tell the core of your narrative or context.

For example, in a documentary about a bustling city, A-roll might focus on interviews. The B-roll video can pan through the rush of morning traffic, the tranquility of a park, or the city's vibrant nightlife—each giving added context and visual interest. 

3. Maintain technical quality

While B-roll introduces flavor to your video content, it should still be high-quality. Achieve stable shots, sharp focus, and proper exposure. The production process, enhanced with tools like tripods or gimbals, can significantly elevate your footage quality.

Say you’re filming a mountain scene. A shaky hand-held capture would be off-putting. Panning the scene with a tripod offers stability, allowing the audience to fully appreciate the landscape without distractions. 

4. Capture ample footage and coverage

When shooting B-roll footage, more is often better. Collecting alternative footage from different angles and distances provides editing flexibility . 

The broader your shot list range , the more choices you'll have during post-production. For example, in a coffee shop setting, aim for close-ups of dripping coffee, wide shots showcasing the ambiance, and medium shots of baristas in action. This ensures you have a list of varied shots to work with during video editing. 

Remember: B-roll should complement and elevate your primary A-roll. With your audience's viewpoint at the forefront, your goal should be to craft visuals that add life and context to your narrative. 

Vlogger Steven Bartlett takes this approach when talking about a recent event in his YouTube series Behind the Diary :

Uses of B-roll footage

B-roll footage plays a critical role in video production . It adds depth, style, and context to your main footage. Let’s explore the most common uses of B-roll.

Context and setting

B-roll helps set the stage by giving viewers a sense of place or time. It offers background details that help frame the primary story. In a documentary about a historic site, while the main footage might focus on an expert discussing its significance, B-roll can show different angles, panoramic views of the site, or close-ups of relics.

Visual interest and engagement

Watching talking heads for too long gets boring fast. B-roll breaks up potentially boring footage by keeping viewers engaged with extra visuals that contribute to the narrative. 

In a biographical piece about an artist, while they talk about their passion for painting, use B-roll footage that shows their hands mixing paint, the intense focus in their eyes, or their brush strokes coming to life on canvas.

On the Love and London YouTube channel, for example, video editors merge interview-style video content with B-roll footage of London’s Chinatown:

Seamless transitions 

B-roll is an excellent tool for bridging gaps between scenes or segments, which improves the flow of your video. These smooth transitions connect disparate parts of a video and guide the viewer from one point to the next.

While talking about travel, the B-roll of a train journey or a plane in the sky can serve as a visual metaphor for movement and change.

Covering voiceovers or interviews

There are often segments in a video where the audio carries the narrative—be it voiceovers or off-camera interviews. B-roll provides relevant visuals that support and illustrate what's being said, making the story more comprehensive. 

To illustrate, as a farmer speaks off-camera about the benefits of organic practices, B-roll can show lush fields, healthy animals, and close-ups of fresh produce, visually reinforcing the farmer's words.

Finessing B-roll

B-roll is more than just "extra footage." It's a powerful tool that contributes to better storytelling , making your videos more immersive and engaging.

Alison Grasso , a freelance documentary and commercial editor, says that B-roll is where an editor’s artistry can really shine: “You could just put a bunch of shots together and it might work, but if you really want to hone your craft, that’s where I get obsessed—how is the shot ending? How is the next shot beginning?”

“If someone were to ask “why did you make this cut?” or “why did you pick this shot?” you should have an answer.” —Alison Grasso, freelance video editor

Rather than just slapping a bunch of shots together, really think about your B-roll as its own story, just like the interview that might be lying beneath it. If your subject is talking about trees, you could start with a wide, establishing shot of trees, then go to macro shots of the detail of a tree while we get more information. 

As your story transitions away from trees, a drone or motion shot moving away from trees could be a big help. You can treat the B-roll like its own sequence, all while supporting the interview or voiceover below it.

Tiff Bauer,a former Descript video producer, used to work on many documentary-style corporate videos . B-roll was something she relied on to help elevate them. “I remember the feeling of the first time I cohesively put together a well-shot interview with some really nice B-roll and music and I finally felt like editing was clicking in my brain,” she says. “I watched it back and didn't feel like I was watching my work. It was kind of surreal how it all just fell into place.”

One of the best ways to learn a craft is to seek out the people who do it well. Here are four creators who produced incredible videos with B-roll footage:

• Daniel Schiffer : “He’s the YouTube king of product videos and product B-roll,” Tiff says. “It’s mostly food focused, but it’s a really great source of inspiration if you want to shoot some super interesting B-roll.”
• Bryce McNabb : “This video gives a great breakdown on how to shoot ‘scenes’ of B-roll, the six types of B-roll shots needed,” Tiff says. “You could probably use this ideology when picking stock footage that you use as B-roll too!” 
• That Camera Girl : “This goes over a bunch of good places to find stock B-roll for people who don’t want to shoot or don’t have the capabilities of shooting their own B-roll!” Tiff says.
• Joey Helms : This short film was shot entirely on an iPhone. “This is awesome because it shows that it’s not necessarily about using the most expensive gear to get great looking b-roll, just be creative!”

Produce better B-roll with Descript 

The tools you choose to create B-roll can make all the difference. Enter Descript, a video editor tailored to meet your editing needs without friction. 

Intuitive and user-friendly, Descript’s all-in-one video editor makes it easy to create stunning videos. Upload a video file, and Descript will transcribe the spoken content. You can then edit the multimedia file by editing the transcript text.

B-roll FAQs

What is an example of b-roll.

Say you’re watching a documentary about a famous author. While the primary footage (A-roll) might consist of her interview, the shots of her typing away on her typewriter, close-ups of her handwritten notes, or visuals of the friends she mentions in her stories would be the B-roll. These shots provide context, set the mood, and make the documentary visually richer.

How does B-roll work?

B-roll works with the main footage to enhance the storytelling process. Videographers can provide varied visuals to break up potentially boring footage, add depth, and offer viewers a more comprehensive understanding of the topic.

What are B-roll and C-roll?

B-roll is the supplementary footage, while C-roll refers to additional footage that might not be as essential. C-roll can be used for extended coverage, bonus material, or outtakes.

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B-Roll: The Secret Sauce of Any Great Video

Marketing Content Strategist

Table of contents

What is b-roll, the different kinds of b-roll footage, what is b-roll used for, why is b-roll so important, tips to make a great b-roll, making b-rolls, the faqs, subscribe to techsmith’s newsletter.

If you’ve ever been drawn into a film, captivated by a documentary, or compelled to watch an advert until the very end, you’ve likely been influenced by the artful use of B-roll. Yet, despite its power to engage and enthrall, B-roll remains one of the least understood aspects of video production, especially for those who are new to the field.

But, what is B-roll? Why is it so important, and how can it make a difference in your videos? 

As its name might suggest, B-roll may play a ‘supporting role’ to the main footage (known as A-roll), but it’s a game-changer in terms of impact and storytelling. B-roll is the secret weapon that can add context, enhance the narrative, create interest, and hold your audience’s attention.

Whether you’re a marketing professional looking to make a demo video or a YouTuber looking to make an instructional video , understanding the power of B-roll and how to use it effectively can seriously enhance the quality of your work.

Simply the best way to create videos

Create dozens of engaging, trending and impactful b-roll clips from your long videos with Camtasia.

Imagine you’re watching your favorite documentary, and as the narrator speaks, you’re captivated not only by their words but also by the seamless flow of images and video clips complementing the story. These compelling visual elements that enhance the narrative, providing context and depth without breaking the stride, make up what we call “B-roll”. 

At its most basic, B-roll is the footage intercut with the main shots in a video production. If the main shots, or the “A-roll” (the central interviews, narrative, message, etc.) is the burger and bun to your Big Mac, then the B-roll is the secret sauce that brings it all together.

So, while the A-roll focuses on delivering the main narrative through principal footage and dialogue, the B-roll adds flavor and texture, enhancing the visual experience for your audience. It helps paint a richer, fuller picture of the narrative by supplementing what’s being said with complementary visuals.

B-roll is a broad term that encompasses several types of supplemental footage, each serving a unique purpose for storytelling. And what’s more is, it’s everywhere! 

Whether it’s a shot of a bustling city street while a news reporter narrates or a close-up of a chef’s hands prepping a dish in a cooking show, B-roll is used all the time across virtually every type of video. From YouTube videos to Hollywood blockbusters, B-roll footage is an integral part of video production. 

So, to give you context here are some more B-roll examples:

• Cutaway Shots : These shots usually deviate from the central action to capture something at a medium or far distance. They’re often used to subtly reveal details to the audience that the characters don’t notice, which may set up anticipation, divert attention, or even deliver a visual punchline in a comedy production.
• Establishing Shots : These are often panoramic shots of the location that will set the stage for the narrative. Remember all the times you’ve seen the outside of a New York apartment block in Friends? That’s an establishing shot.
• Atmospheric Shots : These shots are carefully composed captures of locations, objects, or people that evoke a specific mood or atmosphere. They are, in a way, similar to cutaway and establishing shots in the sense that they work to immerse the audience in the narrative.
• Candid Shots : Unlike scripted scenes, these shots are typically spontaneous, capturing subjects in their natural state or behind the scenes. Most of the time, they’re found in documentaries and non-fiction productions.
• Dramatic Reenactments : These are dramatized portrayals used to bring narrations and interviews to life. With or without dialogue, these enacted sequences can make the content more engaging, as the narration continues as a voiceover.
• Stock Footage : This refers to pre-recorded footage, which could either be royalty-free or licensed. These supplemental clips serve to illustrate concepts, demonstrate machinery, insert animations, or even add humor to lighten the mood.
• Archival Footage : This includes historical images, recordings, and footage from archives and/or libraries that may be licensed or in the public domain. More often than not, archive footage depicts significant events, locations, subjects, and individuals.
• Repurposed Primary Footage : Sometimes, even A-roll can be used as B-roll. For example, a discarded take (or part of it) could be used in the editing process to enhance the narrative.

While you might not think much about the B-roll when you’re watching a film or TV show, these clips play a pivotal role in shaping narratives and adding dimension and depth to a story. 

It’s also an editor’s best friend as it gives them plenty of ways to enhance a scene, break up a monologue, or distribute information more fluidly. In fact, if there’s a small glitch or error in a scene you love, B-roll provides an opportunity to work around it, ensuring the final cut is nothing short of perfect. 

With all that in mind, let’s take a closer look at how B-roll is used:

• Setting the Tone : B-roll can create ambiance, subtly guiding the audience’s emotions and perceptions.
• Providing Editors with Choices : B-roll offers a range of alternative footage, which can be used to help enhance the narrative.
• Offering Exposition : B-roll can communicate crucial background details or context, providing depth to the story.
• Emphasizing Key Details : A well-placed B-roll shot can highlight important details that might go unnoticed.
• Introducing Characters : B-roll can be used to give viewers a glimpse of a character’s personality or background.
• Concealing Errors : If the primary footage has an error, B-roll can be used to cover it up! 

While B-roll footage might appear secondary to the main action (and technically, it kind of is) it’s no less important than A-roll — in fact, it’s often the difference between a good video and a great one.

In the following sections, we will explore how B-roll adds interest, allows for seamless edits, and maximizes the value you derive from your shoots.

B-roll makes your videos more interesting

If you want to make your video more exciting, B-roll can do exactly that! Imagine that you’re interviewing a woman about sports cars and, during the course of this hypothetical interview, she explains the differences between regular tires and rimmed tires…

When you watch the footage back, you might think “Wow, this is so dull”. 

Or, you might think: “This is a perfect time to insert some B-roll!”

By overlaying footage of tires while she’s talking, you’ll create a much more engaging interview, as opposed to just having her talk on screen the entire time.

Here’s a tip: If someone says it, show it. 

For example, if you say the word “pizza” in your screencast, consider showing a pizza. If you’re creating a training video about “interoffice communication,” think about adding some stock footage of office workers talking, or taking a quick video of your coworkers with your phone. 

If you’re using TechSmith’s Camtasia to edit your video (and we strongly recommend you do) then you can easily add B-roll to your video timeline by placing it above your interview footage.

B-roll is a great way to cover up mistakes and tighten the overall edit

As we’ve already touched on, B-roll is a great device for covering up mistakes and cutting unwanted footage.

Let’s say you shot a great interview with your CEO but it went on a little too long and you’re worried your audience will become disinterested. There are hundreds of reasons an interview might overrun, such as:

• They go off topic
• Their explanations go into too much detail
• They cough or sneeze on camera
• They keep glancing at their watch
• They think about their answers for too long
• They just love to talk! 

Now, for the sake of this example, let’s imagine you’ve got this overly-long interview with your CEO, and you need to trim it down. Anyone who’s ever been in a similar scenario will understand the anxiety that comes with such a high-stakes edit! 

For one thing, you can’t chop it all up in the edit, making it look like you manipulated the answers. However, you don’t want to leave things that could make them look bad on camera. 

So how can you trim an interview while ensuring your CEO still looks great? That’s right: By using B-roll! With a little bit of B-roll thrown in throughout the interview, you’ll be able to effectively hide your edits. Here’s how:

• First, edit out all the bad parts of the interview and anything that’s not relevant.
• Then, insert your B-roll on top of the edits.

Voila! 

Now you have a condensed interview that doesn’t look like you manipulated or overly edited the footage, and we’re willing to be that your CEO will be glad you only kept the best parts. However, most people are so used to seeing B-roll during interviews, they probably won’t even notice! 

However, now that you know the trick to the trade, you’ll start seeing it everywhere. Local newscasts and documentaries on Netflix use B-roll all the time to cover up edits — especially those made during interviews.

B-roll maximizes the value you get from shoots

The value of B-roll becomes increasingly clear when you consider the efficiency it can bring to a shoot. By capturing B-roll, you are essentially investing in a stockpile of additional footage that can be used in any number of ways throughout your project. In other words, by filming B-roll, you’re making the most out of every minute you spend on set.

This means that when it comes to editing, you’ll have plenty of footage at your disposal, all of which can be used to expand your narrative, fill gaps, and add visual variety without needing to spend more time shooting. This can be particularly useful on projects with tight deadlines or smaller budgets. 

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Now that you know the full power of B-roll and what it can bring to your videos, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to create B-roll footage of your own. 

1- Plan ahead 

The key to shooting great B-roll starts with understanding your story and identifying the key themes or ideas you’d like to reinforce through your footage. Having a clear vision of what you want to communicate will guide you in deciding what kind of B-roll shots you need.

Before you start shooting, it’s worth making a list of potential shots that complement your primary footage. Consider the locations, actions, or objects that could add value to your narrative. Remember, B-roll should serve a purpose, not just fill space. 

If possible, create a shot list or storyboard (and write a script if you haven’t already). This helps in visualizing your ideas and makes the shooting process more organized and efficient. You could also label your shot list with ‘must-haves’ and ‘nice-to-haves’ to ensure you don’t miss any crucial footage during the shoot. 

The more you plan ahead, the more time you’ll save on set, and the better your B-roll will be.

2- Find a great location

The environment you choose for your shoot should align with the theme of your story and add a layer of depth and intrigue. When scouting for locations, think about how they can serve your narrative, contribute to the mood, and enhance the visual appeal of your footage.

Consider the variety of shots you could capture in each location. Spaces with interesting architecture, dynamic lighting, or unique features can provide a wide range of opportunities for capturing captivating B-roll. 

As well as the aesthetic of a location, you should also think about how practical it will be. Is the location easily accessible? Will there be uncontrollable noise? Do you need a permit to shoot there? Are you going to need any special equipment? Answering these questions ahead of time will save potential headaches during the shoot.

3- Try several angles

Shooting B-roll is your chance to get creative and push beyond your comfort zone. The more angles you try, the more material you have to work with in the editing room, and the more visually compelling your final product will be.

A varied collection of shots from different perspectives can add depth, interest, and dynamism to your video and work to keep your audience engaged. With this in mind, it’s well worth experimenting with different camera angles, as this is a great way to tap into the versatility that B-roll footage can offer. 

For example, rather than limit yourself to eye-level shots, try shooting from a low angle to make a subject look larger and commanding. Or, from up high to make them appear small and vulnerable. Each angle tells a different story and evokes a different emotion. 

Even the simplest scene can be transformed through the lens of a new perspective. 

4- Get more footage than necessary

While it’s important to value quality over quantity in the editing suite, it’s usually better to take on a ‘more is better’ approach when shooting your B-roll. It can be all too easy to stick to a specific shot list but having a bank of extra footage can provide both a safety net and a broader canvas to paint your narrative.

By ‘overshooting’, you’re giving your future self a wider variety of shots to work with, which can be invaluable. This allows for greater flexibility during the post-production process. Take it from us, there’s nothing worse than wishing you had ‘just one more shot’ when you’re editing. 

It is, however, still important to stay focused. While you should definitely capture lots of B-roll, you should still make sure that all of it has the potential to add value to your video. Ultimately strive to shoot more, but don’t lose sight of what you’re shooting.

A-Roll refers to the primary footage, typically featuring the main subject or speaker and carrying the central narrative. B-Roll, on the other hand, is the secondary footage that complements and adds depth to the A-Roll, often used to provide context, create visual interest, and enhance storytelling.

B-roll clips should ideally be held for at least 10-15 seconds for short videos, and up to a minute for slow-paced or feature-length videos. The amount of B-roll you need to shoot depends on the project, but a good guideline is to capture four to six times the length of the video. This will ensure you have plenty to work with while editing.

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What is B roll? How to Shoot and Edit Amazing B roll Videos – Ultimate Guide

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What is B roll? 

Why does b roll matter , what are the benefits of shooting b roll, is b roll like an intro video, how to plan b roll, how to shoot b roll, how to organise b roll , how long should b roll clips be , tips to edit b roll well , how to choose the right music for b roll .

What’s the secret sauce to good video? B-ROLL, baby! All those dreamy sunrises and sunsets, and pivotal close-ups… B roll. When creating a video, it’s all about the ‘show don’t tell’—seeing the same shot without variation is boring—B roll brings your video editing to life! 

In this ultimate guide to B roll, we’ll cover the ins and outs of B roll, answer all those burning B roll questions and share tips on how various B roll can help turn business video ideas from snoozetown to cinematic masterpiece! 

Why does B roll matter?

Tips to edit B roll well

The terms A-roll and B-roll were dubbed back in the early days of Hollywood films. 

B roll, B-roll, B-reel or Broll footage is essentially any video footage in addition to primary footage (also known as your A-roll), which usually features the subject. Anytime you’re watching a film, documentary or even a video ad—the footage that isn’t a ‘talking head’—that’s B roll. For example, a flashback to the past or a cut to a mouthwatering cheesy slice of pie in a pizza ad. Don’t forget the news—it heavily utilizes B roll to help give context to what’s being reported on.

When putting together any video, it’s just as essential to have B roll to complement your footage. Think of your B roll as an archive of back-up footage—this footage can be used for filler and transitional cuts. Capturing B roll is often done on a separate camera during the filming process, but it can also easily be sourced through stock footage libraries too. 

For businesses, B roll can help tell your story, and make your videos more cinematic! Whether you’re a vlogger or a business with a solid video strategy (which should be every business!), with just a few extra video transitions , you can level up the quality of your video editing. 

B roll provides imagery and cutaway shots to help set the scene or segway between two different shot locations. That is, these are shots that "cut away" from the main action to another shot that adds visual information, and then returns to the original shot with added meaning. Example of cutaway shots that might use B roll:

B roll helps adding a mood to a location —like showing rainy weather can imply a gloomy or sad day. 

B roll helps cover any gaps or errors in your A roll. It can help gloss over gaps or errors in your A roll—for example, during an interview, the subject fumbles over a few words—you could cut the mistake out and cover it with B roll.

Well, yes, in fact B roll can be your intro video . Because B roll can be a great way to help set a scene, it can be used for a cinematic intro to your video. But it’s also so much more, here’s some perfect B roll examples: 

You get the picture now, right?

It’s fascinating to learn that our favorite films and TV shows aren’t shot in a linear fashion… it all comes down to delicate pre production planning and post production editing. 

The same goes for B roll. 

Just like any script or storyboard you’d create for your video, consider how and when you’re shooting the B roll while also shooting your main content. 

While you want your B roll to be like a second lens to what’s going on in the scene, don’t go too crazy shooting just any and everything. It’s better to have more B roll than less, but you don’t want to end up wasting time and money on footage that’s not part of the narrative. So, plan well and shoot as much as you can keeping in mind you’ll need to organise your B roll afterwards! 

Think about the location—what are all the scenes you need to shoot while you’re there? You’ll need establishing shots to help set the scene, and a number of candid shots for good measure. For example, a pan across the beach as well as close ups of the waves crashing onto the shore and a shot of that lighthouse in the distance.

If you have actors, plan out all the scenes you’ll need them to appear and arrange all the necessary wardrobes and props and take all the footage on one day rather than over the course of several short shoots.

What props or items are necessary to capture to tie your story together? For example, do you need a close up of a street sign or a text message appearing on a cell phone?

Tip : Shoot more than you need, but make sure there’s variety, consistency and focus! 

Variety - get as many perspectives of a location as you can—take a range of tight and wide-angle shots.

Consistency - if you’re shooting a person walking down the street, make sure they’re walking in the same direction, keeping either left or right. Same goes to weather, if you’re shooting a scene outdoors you’ll need to consider the natural lighting for consecutive scenes. 

Focus - Keep your eye on the prize. While your B roll is often what’s going on in the background or in the tandem with the main story, it still needs to tie together so don’t let your B roll get lost in the crowd. For example, if the main character is walking down the street, you want to capture the scene while focusing on your subject to help the viewers follow along.

You can shoot B roll footage on anything from a handy smartphone to a professional digital movie camera to drones, gimbals and GoPros! 

What can help you get unique angles and add cinematic value to your video is to have fun with shooting B roll by using tricks and tools of the trade to help you capture quality, smooth movement and a variety of perspectives. 

Wide-angle shots establish a setting and help place the viewer firmly in the scene

Medium shots show a portrait of the subject from a medium or ‘waist high’ distance 

Close-up shots show details and can help point out something key to the viewer

Shoot a range of frames per second - 120 frames a second will allow you to play around with slow motion effects in post production 

Tip: if you’re shooting a close-up of an important document or old photograph, try the ‘Ken Burns Effect’ of shooting close-ups, pans, and tilts to add movement to still imagery.

“It’s here somewhere” is not what you want to be saying while scrubbing through or playing hours of B roll footage. Do the work now and Future You will thank you. Here are some tips for your post production process: 

Label your files by shot type, such as wide or close up;

Sort by types of video environment - outdoors footage can be categorized by ‘beach’, ‘mountain’, ‘city’; 

Categorizing by weather and seasons can be handy too, such as rainy, sunny, autumn.

This requires a two-pronged response. 

Firstly, one of the biggest mistakes you can make when shooting B roll is not holding a shot long enough, a good B roll shot should be a minimum of 10-15 seconds long for short videos, around a minute for slower-paced or feature film-like videos. 

How much B roll should you shoot? That depends on the length and detail of the video you’re making. 

A good rule of thumb: shoot enough B-roll to cover four to six times the final video length. For example, if your finished interview is one minute then you should shoot 4-6 minutes of B roll to complement that interview. It won’t all be used, but it’s all about having options!

B roll is like a bandaid in your editing process. We mentioned earlier how it’s great for cutaways and to help hide errors in the A roll… it’s also handy to correct the pace of your video.  

Use B roll footage to help transition in and out of the primary footage, making those scene transitions more engaging and slowing down (or speeding up) the pacing of your video.

Use B roll footage as an overlay to not just tell, but show a story.

Who doesn’t love a montage or a video slideshow? Use your B roll to create visuals that help tell your story and establish the tone.

There’s more video editing lingo and how to create video transition effects for YouTube and Facebook on our blog.

Because B roll might not have sound, you can choose to overlay the music you want to achieve the feeling you’re after! High energy car chase scene? Something upbeat to intensify the adrenaline. Relaxing bubble bath? Pick something ambient. Check out our guide on the Best Background Music for Videos !

So now you know how the secret sauce is made, make your quest for ultimate B roll even easier with a helping hand from Clipchamp. Maybe you’ve got a customer testimonial video, or some great video ideas up your sleeve? Our stock footage library can give your video transitions the vibe you’re looking for, or help create a range of emotive montages. Sign up today and start building up your B roll!

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B-Roll Guide: Definition & How to Use it for Video Content

Table of contents:

What Is B-roll?

Why use b-roll, when to use b-roll.

Different Types of B-roll

How To Shoot B-roll?

How to edit b-roll.

B-roll FAQs

B-roll transforms standard footage into a compelling story.

Whether you’re a YouTuber, filmmaker, video creator, or director, B-roll should be a familiar term. When effectively used, b-roll footage is key to producing professional films that draw the audience in and keep them engaged. 

The best thing about it? Introducing B-roll into your video creation process is super easy, and you’ll start seeing the benefits immediately. 

This article will give you a comprehensive overview of what is b-roll and how you can use it to improve your video content.

B-roll Definition

The term b-roll refers to footage interspersed within the main narrative shots to reinforce, complement, supplement, or contextualize it. 

You’ll also see B-roll referred to as B-Roll and B Reel. 

A-roll vs. B-roll

A-roll is the main primary footage that portrays the overarching narrative of the film or video. B-roll, therefore, is the secondary footage that supplements the A-roll. 

Although the terms A-roll and B-roll imply a hierarchy of importance, this isn’t the case. Let’s clarify: B-roll footage is just as important as A-roll footage.

Why is it called B-roll?

The origins of the term B-roll lie in analog film. Specifically, the narrow film stock used in 16 mm film suffered from visible splices. To remedy this, the shots were spliced to opaque black leader, which would hide the splice. Two shots were assembled, with the odd-numbered shots on the A-roll and the even on the B-roll. 

As we mentioned above, it’s easy to underestimate the importance of b-roll and dedicate all your attention to your A-roll footage. In reality, B-roll can bring many benefits to your film that you might not expect:

B-roll elevates the production value of your video 

Punctuating your A-roll footage well with B-roll shots will instantly make your film look more professional. Here’s why: 

B-roll hides cuts and edits

B-roll is an effective way to camouflage points in your A-roll footage that have awkward jumps or transitions. This will probably arise because you’ve had to edit out a mistake background noise or simply because you want to cut away from that section. Either way, B-roll helps you do this seamlessly. 

B-roll makes your video more engaging 

B-roll adds visual interest.

B-roll shots help you create a dynamic video that is visually interesting and engaging. The way you intersperse your B-roll footage is also a way to get creative and add your personal touch to your film. 

B-roll provides context

Beyond the aesthetic value that B-roll footage brings, it also supports your video’s narrative and story. B-roll cutaway shots should reinforce your overarching theme, message, or story. Overall, it should make your video easier to follow and engage with and help your audience connect with your film.  

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words - and this is precisely what B-roll does. Rather than explicitly explaining something, such as the location of your film, to your viewer, you can convey the message through the use of B-roll shots. Think about a YouTube vlog; for example, a simple b-roll montage at the beginning will set the scene quickly and effectively. 

B-roll gives you added flexibility 

From a video creators’ perspective, B-roll can be a lifesaver in post-production editing. As long as you capture enough footage, you’ll have the freedom to play around with how you edit your A-roll and B-roll together. Plus, as we said earlier, if you find an unexpected awkward transition, B-roll can help patch things up while still looking professional. 

Video making is a creative endeavor which means it’s pretty much up to you when and how you use B-roll. However, although it sounds like industry jargon, B-roll is not just reserved for professional filmmakers. YouTubers and other video creators can use B-roll to harness all the benefits outlined above. 

When Not To Use B-roll?

As we said, there’s no formula for how and when to use B-roll, and it’ll come down to your creative eye. That said, don’t try to use B-roll just for the sake of it. Ensure that it adds actual value to your video. 

Different Types of B-roll 

Although B-roll refers to a type of footage that has a specific role, there are different kinds of shots that you can use. The most appropriate type of b-roll will depend on the nature of your film. Here are a few examples: 

Archival Footage 

Archival footage will be particularly appropriate if you’re producing a film with some sort of historical context. You can bring the story to life using archival footage and evidence of your historical points with real-life shots. 

See how Vox used archival footage in their video ‘A Brief History of America and Cuba ’ at 1:28.

Dramatic re-enactments 

Dramatic re-enactments help the viewer visualize a series of events without actual footage. 

See this documentary about Magellan’s crossing for a great example. 

Stock Footage 

If you’re short on time or simply don’t have the resources to shoot the necessary b-roll, using stock footage can be a great hack that gives the same effect. Stock footage libraries boast wide ranges of ready-to-use shots that cater to all kinds of films. 

This New York Times Video ‘How China is Changing Your Internet’ uses a lot of stock footage B-Roll. 

Visual detail / Close-ups 

Visual detail B-roll shots are close-ups that capture finer details that may otherwise have been overlooked. Think of a nature documentary, for example. You might see a distance shot of an animal and then be drawn closer to take a more detailed look, all while hearing more about the creature from the narrator. 

Watch this clip from one of David Attenborough’s greatest moments for an example of how close-ups can be used (5:03 - 8:45). 

Storytelling 

Storytelling B-roll usually relates directly to speech or dialogue, helping the viewer connect with what the speaker is saying. 

Watch how Vox intersperses clips of Bill Gates speaking with other shots to contextualize what he’s talking about in his interview about what he hopes we learn from coronavirus . 

Atmospheric Establishing Shots

This kind of B-roll helps set the mood or introduce a scene or location transition. A good example might be a montage of a city or place. They don’t necessarily have to correlate directly to the A-roll footage preceding or following but act as a bridge or linking segment. 

This video reel shows all of the TV show Seinfeld’s transitions and establishing shots. 

Best Practices For Getting Your Own B-roll

Shoot more than you think you need .

Shooting b-roll may feel like a chore or additional effort, but you’ll thank yourself later for all that extra footage. Always take the time to capture that extra shot or film the small moment or detail - you never know what you might end up using. 

Plan Ahead (if you can) 

If you’re able to, planning for the shots you need will make your life a whole lot easier. Including your b-roll shots in your shot list will help to integrate B-roll into your overall work and production flow, allowing you to get the shots you need in the time you have. 

Another consideration is that you’ll only be able to shoot some type of B-roll after you’ve wrapped your A-roll. For example, if you want footage that reinforces dialogue in an interview, you’ll need to see what was said before determining the kinds of clips you’ll need.  

In addition, as we see below, keep in mind that accidental or serendipitously captured b-roll footage can be just as valuable. 

Counterbalance the shots you’ve already got 

The whole point of B-roll is to supplement and complement your A-roll footage. For this reason, try and counterbalance the shots you’ve already got rather than capturing more of the same. This will make for a more exciting and dynamic final product. 

Capture a variety of angles and shots 

Ensure to shoot a variety of shots. The whole point of B-roll is to give you an entire bank of alternative footage. You want a mix of camera angles, wide-angle shots, close-ups, frame rates, slow motion, drone shots, and more.

Did you know you can turn your phone into a secondary camera with Riverside? Learn more or start recording high-quality video on Riverside!

Embrace unplanned and accidental b-roll 

Last but not least, don’t underestimate the value of unplanned or unscripted b-roll. This is especially the case in situations with people interacting and speaking. You may just find that you get the perfect b-roll shot if you keep the camera rolling. 

Again, there’s no single way to edit B-roll, but there are some best practices and tips that you can stick to. 

Use B-roll for seamless transitions

Easy but highly effective use of B-roll creates smooth transitions between shots. 

Use B-roll to pace your video 

B-roll can be an effective way of balancing the tempo of your video. You can either use b-roll to build momentum or tension or give your audience some breathing room to reflect. 

Get creative 

Ample b-roll footage will give you the creative freedom to experiment with your video and add some serious production value to it. Plus, they’re a great way of adding your creative signature to your work. 

B-roll FAQs 

How to find the right b-roll for your video.

As we’ve seen, the right B-roll for your video will depend on what kind of story you’re trying to tell. Get creative and experiment. 

How do you tell a story with B-roll?

B-roll is only part of telling a story. The most compelling storytelling comes from the interplay between your A-roll and B-roll footage. 

How To Make B-roll Work For You

What you do with B-roll is up to you. You’ll reap the most benefits if you think about how B-roll will compliment your film and benefit the overall narrative. 

What is B-roll in an interview?

B-roll is essential for making your interview more dynamic and engaging. By nature, interviews are relatively static formats. For this reason, B-roll is critical for lending some movement and dynamism to an otherwise fairly standard and unengaging setup. B-roll also helps to contextualize and reinforce what the interviewee is saying. 

How does B-roll help when editing?

As we saw earlier, B-roll gives you a way to conceal awkward transitions and cuts. It also equips you with the valuable creative freedom to elevate your film and strengthen your storytelling.

Kendall Breitman

leads Riverside's community. She has over ten years of experience in television and video production for places like NBC and Bloomberg News. You’ll find Kendall on our webinar, where she shares her expert insights on content production, branding, and more.

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What is B-Roll: The Difference Between A-Roll vs B-Roll Footage

B-roll basics, best b-roll websites, how to shoot b-roll.

W hat is B-roll footage in Film and TV? Furthermore, what is A-roll vs B-roll ? Filmmakers of all types, whether they make documentaries, wedding videos, music videos, movies, or television NEED to have a keen understanding of both A-roll and B-roll footage. 

So, what does B-roll mean and why is it such a valuable resource for filmmakers? Let’s get into it.

Watch: How to Shoot B-Roll

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B-roll Definition

What is b-roll footage.

B-roll footage, Broll or B roll   is any supplemental video that considered to be secondary to your primary footage. B-roll can be gathered with a separate unit, acquired from stock footage, or obtained from any source other than your principal photography. 

The term for A-roll vs B-roll originated in the earliest days of Hollywood moviemaking, when principal footage was termed A-roll. An identical roll of film, the B-roll, or B-reel, was used for filler and transitional cuts.

May be shot by second unit crews.

May be pulled from stock footage libraries.

May not require sound.

Provides supporting imagery and cutaway shots.

Can also be used for establishing shots.

In the digital age of filmmaking, the term A-roll has fallen out of practical use, but the meaning of B-roll remains a term filmmakers should know. 

Any question about the meaning of b-roll? This video clears it up:

CREAM defines B-roll  •  We’ve got that B-roll!

When creating a shot list , make sure to include both time and plans for shooting B-roll video. When filmmakers don’t consider A-roll vs B-roll during pre-production they’re often left with gaps in their edit.

B-roll Shot List Example  •  Shot List Made in StudioBinder

Truly great filmmakers find a way to combine A-roll and B-roll with careful planning of their shots. They eliminate the need for B-roll video, but that doesn’t mean their team doesn’t still get some extra footage.  

Let’s quickly look at examples of B-roll footage in each video category.

B-roll Example Shots

Various uses of b-roll video.

B-roll footage is used in a wide variety of video content:

Documentary B-roll Example Footage

Documentary B-roll example

Anytime you see footage from the past, or footage that isn’t a talking head interview, you may safely call that B-roll video. 

News Package B-roll Example Footage

B-roll footage for a news package on coffee from CNN:

Pour yourself a piping hot cup o' B-roll

You’ve watched the news, so you know about half of what you see will be B-roll shots that give you context for the particular topic being covered. 

Feature Film B-roll Example Footage

This B-roll example helped to win best picture 

This scene features Russell Crowe’s stunt double. It’s some of the most iconic footage in modern film, and a great example of feature film B-roll.

Television B-roll Example Footage

This is one funky B-roll example

Many sitcoms rely on B-roll footage for transitions and establishing shots because so much is recorded on a soundstage. Filmmakers can capture exterior footage and then use it to signal the scene location. 

Reality B-roll Example Footage

Reality shows were raised on B-roll

Any footage that isn’t part of the actual date and conversation with the participants, you are watching B-roll video. Reality TV relies on B-roll footage for transitions, establishing shots, and covering gaps int he edit. 

Wedding Video B-roll Example Footage

Here’s a good example of B-roll in a wedding video:

Will you, B-roll, make me the happiest edit ever? 

The majority of this video is B-roll footage, and it’s a good example of how pleasant footage paired with music can convey tone without a huge amount of substance or a particularly profound narrative.

Affordable or FREE B-roll footage 

Now you understand the B-roll definition, and the differences between A-roll vs B-roll, but you won’t understand the true value and meaning of B-roll until you use it in one of your projects. Our next post gives you a list of the best places to find FREE and Affordable B-roll footage online .

So if you’re under a time crunch, or don’t want to spend thousands of dollars to fly to Norway to get a shot of an icy Fjord, check out our post.

Up Next: Free B-roll Online Websites →

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B Roll – Everything You Need to Know

B Roll (sometimes written as B-Roll or Broll) refers to secondary footage that visually supports the primary footage in a film or video project. It’s usually interwoven with the main footage for a variety of purposes, including enhancing the story, adding dramatic tension, and elaborating a point.

What Is the Difference Between A Roll and B Roll?

Basically, A Roll is the primary footage you shoot in any film or video project. In a situation where you have a multi-camera setup, you’ll use the A Camera to shoot A Roll footage. A Roll is also often meant to designate the most important footage and the best shot produced in a project. B Roll, on the other hand, denotes any footage you shoot with the B Camera. It’s generally regarded as supplemental footage to the A Roll produced with the A Camera. You can shoot B Roll at the same time as A Roll to get a different angle or additional coverage or separately at a different time and location. B Roll is often considered footage of lesser importance, but this isn’t always the case. A story with only A roll footage may seem dull or off-balance, which is why it’s important to shoot B Roll . B Roll footage can come in many different forms, including:

• Undirected footage of the subject or other people
• Atmospheric shots of the location or inanimate objects
• Establishing shots, which showcase the location of a scene or story
• Pick-up shots, which are brief segments of video used to supplement content
• Dramatic reenactments
• Stock footage, which is general video content used to supplement content or as establishing or atmospheric shots
• Archival imagery, which is video or photograph content pulled from a library on a certain topic, subject, or location

What You Can Do With B Roll

You can implement B Roll footage in many different ways to make your film or video more appealing and compelling, such as:

• Setting the tone for your film or video
• Breaking up monotony
• Establishing characters or scenes
• Providing flexibility during the editing process
• Masking gaps and errors

How to Use A Roll and B Roll

To gain a better understanding of A Roll and B Roll, learn how film and video professionals use them in different types of projects. The following are a few examples.

Interview Shoots

A Roll and B Roll can be easily distinguished in an interview-style shoot . Classic news reporting comes to mind when you see the interview subject talking about an issue, which is A Roll footage. At certain points during the shoot, you’ll see a cut and then additional footage that corresponds with the same audio. This is the B Roll footage. B Roll can also be applied to an interview shoot that uses a multi-camera setup. In this situation, the A Camera is directed at the interview subject, so it’ll record the A Roll. The B Camera may be set in a fixed position to get a different angle or moved around for a variety of angles. If a third camera is in use, it may be referred to as the C Camera.

Narrative Shoots

In a narrative production, A Roll usually comprises one or more people providing a narrative or discussing a topic. In a voice-over narrative, the A Camera usually follows the subject or subjects being discussed. While it can clearly communicate the story from start to finish, A Roll by itself may not be sufficient to keep the audience engaged. The purpose of B Roll in a narrative production is to build a world around the A Roll, making the story more interesting. For instance, if the A Roll shoots characters who are meant to be in a specific city, the B Roll may show specific buildings, nearby amenities, or the natural surroundings. In a documentary, B Roll footage can be a mix of scene-setting and narration, one or more subjects in action , or thematic close-ups of people, objects, or places.

Live Shoots

In a regional stage production or live studio television show, the A Camera is often set up to capture the widest shot possible, which ensures maximum coverage. The B Camera, on the other hand, can be used to take close-up shots.

Tips for Shooting B Roll

When you’re thinking of what you want to shoot and putting together your pre-production schedule, it’s essential to set aside time for creating ample B Roll footage. This will ensure you’ll have appropriate footage to visually relate the people, places, or objects that build the world of your story. Below are a number of helpful tips for creating great B Roll footage.

• Plan ahead: Think about your main footage and build around it. For instance, if you’re interviewing a subject in a home, you should consider shooting entrance and exit footage, ambient footage, and footage of the space where the interview takes place. For creative stories, make a list of must-have and nice-to-have B Roll shots for each scene or elements like credit scenes or establishing transition shots.
• Scout locations: You may only have a few minutes to shoot good B Roll footage, so it’s a good idea to scout the location ahead of time. By doing so, you can take your time to plan how you’ll capture the B Roll you want. Additionally, you’ll have a better idea of what equipment you need. This is especially important if you’re filming in a dark or tight place.
• Get a variety of angles: Whether you’re shooting your subject or something else, you should try to get a variety of shots from different angles. The extra shots will come in handy when you need cutaways.
• Shoot more than enough: When you’re shooting your film or video, make a point to create a collection of images that may not necessarily fit into your scheduled shot list. Every video or film needs breathing room, so it’s important to have some extra shots at your disposal when you need to evoke a space, transition between locations, or show the passage of time in the story.

Experimenting With Camera Angles

As mentioned earlier, you need to shoot a subject or scene from different angles to create good B Roll footage. Below are a few angles you can play around with.

• Wide-angle: Usually an establishing or environmental shot, a wide-angle shot will show your subject and the surrounding environment. It helps put the viewer firmly in a scene.
• Medium: This type of shot shows a portrait of your subject from the waist up. It’s a great option when your subject is in action or speaking because it allows the viewer to see other elements in the scene without losing focus on the subject.
• C lose-up: The close-up is a shot taken at close range to show the subject in greater detail. It reveals character by offering intimacy and highlighting nuances that the viewer may miss. Such a shot is usually used to capture the face of a subject.
• Ken Burns Effect: Invented by renowned documentarian Ken Burns, the Ken Burns Effect brings a still image to life by zooming, panning, and tilting the camera. You can use this technique to add a dramatic effect to B Roll footage of otherwise dull-looking archival material such as photographs and documents.

Examples of B Roll Footage

Documentaries: Anytime the footage from the video below is not from an interview or if it is in the past, that would be B Roll video.

News Footage:

Opening scene of Field of Dreams:

Behind the Scenes of Mad Max: Fury Road:

Television:

Reality TV:

Wedding Videos:

Knowing how to properly shoot and use B Roll footage can take your films or videos to a whole new level. However, implementing B Roll is only one of the many skill sets you need to become a great filmmaker or video creator. If you want to undergo comprehensive filmmaking training, consider enrolling in Nashville Film Institute . Contact us today to find out more about our Cinema Production Program .

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B Roll – Everything You Need to Know

B Roll (sometimes written as B-Roll or Broll) refers to secondary footage that visually supports the primary footage in a film or video project. It’s usually interwoven with the main footage for a variety of purposes, including enhancing the story, adding dramatic tension, and elaborating a point.

What Is the Difference Between A Roll and B Roll?

Basically, A Roll is the primary footage you shoot in any film or video project. In a situation where you have a multi-camera setup, you’ll use the A Camera to shoot A Roll footage. A Roll is also often meant to designate the most important footage and the best shot produced in a project. B Roll, on the other hand, denotes any footage you shoot with the B Camera. It’s generally regarded as supplemental footage to the A Roll produced with the A Camera. You can shoot B Roll at the same time as A Roll to get a different angle or additional coverage or separately at a different time and location. B Roll is often considered footage of lesser importance, but this isn’t always the case. A story with only A roll footage may seem dull or off-balance, which is why it’s important to shoot B Roll . B Roll footage can come in many different forms, including:

• Undirected footage of the subject or other people
• Atmospheric shots of the location or inanimate objects
• Establishing shots, which showcase the location of a scene or story
• Pick-up shots, which are brief segments of video used to supplement content
• Dramatic reenactments
• Stock footage, which is general video content used to supplement content or as establishing or atmospheric shots
• Archival imagery, which is video or photograph content pulled from a library on a certain topic, subject, or location

What You Can Do With B Roll

You can implement B Roll footage in many different ways to make your film or video more appealing and compelling, such as:

• Setting the tone for your film or video
• Breaking up monotony
• Establishing characters or scenes
• Providing flexibility during the editing process
• Masking gaps and errors

How to Use A Roll and B Roll

To gain a better understanding of A Roll and B Roll, learn how film and video professionals use them in different types of projects. The following are a few examples.

Interview Shoots

A Roll and B Roll can be easily distinguished in an interview-style shoot . Classic news reporting comes to mind when you see the interview subject talking about an issue, which is A Roll footage. At certain points during the shoot, you’ll see a cut and then additional footage that corresponds with the same audio. This is the B Roll footage. B Roll can also be applied to an interview shoot that uses a multi-camera setup. In this situation, the A Camera is directed at the interview subject, so it’ll record the A Roll. The B Camera may be set in a fixed position to get a different angle or moved around for a variety of angles. If a third camera is in use, it may be referred to as the C Camera.

Narrative Shoots

In a narrative production, A Roll usually comprises one or more people providing a narrative or discussing a topic. In a voice-over narrative, the A Camera usually follows the subject or subjects being discussed. While it can clearly communicate the story from start to finish, A Roll by itself may not be sufficient to keep the audience engaged. The purpose of B Roll in a narrative production is to build a world around the A Roll, making the story more interesting. For instance, if the A Roll shoots characters who are meant to be in a specific city, the B Roll may show specific buildings, nearby amenities, or the natural surroundings. In a documentary, B Roll footage can be a mix of scene-setting and narration, one or more subjects in action , or thematic close-ups of people, objects, or places.

Live Shoots

In a regional stage production or live studio television show, the A Camera is often set up to capture the widest shot possible, which ensures maximum coverage. The B Camera, on the other hand, can be used to take close-up shots.

Tips for Shooting B Roll

When you’re thinking of what you want to shoot and putting together your pre-production schedule, it’s essential to set aside time for creating ample B Roll footage. This will ensure you’ll have appropriate footage to visually relate the people, places, or objects that build the world of your story. Below are a number of helpful tips for creating great B Roll footage.

• Plan ahead: Think about your main footage and build around it. For instance, if you’re interviewing a subject in a home, you should consider shooting entrance and exit footage, ambient footage, and footage of the space where the interview takes place. For creative stories, make a list of must-have and nice-to-have B Roll shots for each scene or elements like credit scenes or establishing transition shots.
• Scout locations: You may only have a few minutes to shoot good B Roll footage, so it’s a good idea to scout the location ahead of time. By doing so, you can take your time to plan how you’ll capture the B Roll you want. Additionally, you’ll have a better idea of what equipment you need. This is especially important if you’re filming in a dark or tight place.
• Get a variety of angles: Whether you’re shooting your subject or something else, you should try to get a variety of shots from different angles. The extra shots will come in handy when you need cutaways.
• Shoot more than enough: When you’re shooting your film or video, make a point to create a collection of images that may not necessarily fit into your scheduled shot list. Every video or film needs breathing room, so it’s important to have some extra shots at your disposal when you need to evoke a space, transition between locations, or show the passage of time in the story.

Experimenting With Camera Angles

As mentioned earlier, you need to shoot a subject or scene from different angles to create good B Roll footage. Below are a few angles you can play around with.

• Wide-angle: Usually an establishing or environmental shot, a wide-angle shot will show your subject and the surrounding environment. It helps put the viewer firmly in a scene.
• Medium: This type of shot shows a portrait of your subject from the waist up. It’s a great option when your subject is in action or speaking because it allows the viewer to see other elements in the scene without losing focus on the subject.
• C lose-up: The close-up is a shot taken at close range to show the subject in greater detail. It reveals character by offering intimacy and highlighting nuances that the viewer may miss. Such a shot is usually used to capture the face of a subject.
• Ken Burns Effect: Invented by renowned documentarian Ken Burns, the Ken Burns Effect brings a still image to life by zooming, panning, and tilting the camera. You can use this technique to add a dramatic effect to B Roll footage of otherwise dull-looking archival material such as photographs and documents.

Examples of B Roll Footage

Documentaries: Anytime the footage from the video below is not from an interview or if it is in the past, that would be B Roll video.

News Footage:

Opening scene of Field of Dreams:

Behind the Scenes of Mad Max: Fury Road:

Television:

Reality TV:

Wedding Videos:

Knowing how to properly shoot and use B Roll footage can take your films or videos to a whole new level. However, implementing B Roll is only one of the many skill sets you need to become a great filmmaker or video creator. If you want to undergo comprehensive filmmaking training, consider enrolling in Nashville Film Institute . Contact us today to find out more about our Cinema Production Program .

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Visual Rhetoric

Using “b-roll” footage; citations.

I wanted to follow up on Alfredo’s and Cuillen’s questions from class today in more depth, especially since both questions help expand our digital literacy .

Alfredo asked if Fair Use covered footage from a film used as a transition.  We know from our Fair Use discussion today that an image that is central to analysis is most firmly protected by the “purpose of the use” pillar of Fair Use.  But I think our discussion did not explain how what I call “b-roll” footage  is central to analysis .  The explanation of why is an important exploration in composition and digital rhetoric, so I want to thank Alfredo for introducing this nuance as a problem for our class project.

“B-roll” is a term from documentary film-making.  Anthony Artis explains in more detail below, in this snippet of “ Your B-roll is your A-roll “:

“The term ‘B-roll’ comes from the world of film where editors used to use an “A” and a “B” roll of identical footage, before the digital age changed everything. B-roll shots are similar to cutaways in that they help break up the static interview shots, but B-roll plays a more major role in telling a visual documentary story. A long-time documentary filmmaker I know actually refuses to use the term B-roll, because she feels it diminishes the importance of these visuals—and she’s right. B-roll should not be a secondary or low priority. It really should be thought of as “A-roll,” because it is the action of your story, which serves to reveal character. Without it, you’ve just got a bunch of talking heads… booor-ing. Even with an engaging storyteller speaking, the audience still needs to see visuals of the scene, settings, characters, and action of the story. An interview or voice-over itself is the narration or literal telling of the story. The B-roll is the showing of the story. Together they can complement each other by painting a more complete picture. That amazing guitarist could tell us what it was like to play Woodstock (the real one), but we’ve only got half the story until we cut in the B-roll shots that show the multitudes of free-spirited, mud-covered hippies swirling to the music as far as the camera lens can see. A soldier could tell us what it’s like to be in combat, but when we cut in a shot of explosions and a chaotic firefight, his story takes on real human meaning. Now we’ve got a much stronger sense of story than either an interview or B-roll footage alone could have given us.”

Think about how your B-roll is functioning in a video essay.  Like Alfredo says (and I think he’s absolutely right which is why I bothered to go and watch a couple video essays with his question in mind at 9:45 on a Tuesday night),  tons of video essays use film clips and secondary sources as transitional material.   It works  like  the illustrative material that Artis is calling “B-roll”.  Here’s the big exception to how you’re using your B-roll and how a documentary film maker uses their B-roll (i.e. why the documentary filmmaker can’t claim Fair Use).  You’re flipping to B-roll when you want to show a bunch of examples of what you’re talking about at once (sort of like a mini-supercut) or when you’re showing a secondary source.  Then you’re cutting back to the big scene you’re analyzing for your “A-roll”.  Both A and B are functioning together to “paint a more complete [analytical] picture”.  By this construction, you’re pairing an analytical claim (“Film does this…”) with visual examples.  Then you’re using a single sustained example to make a more localized claim.  Your video essay, if it imitates what we’ve watched, does some version of this swap several times–between A-roll and B-roll.

If your B-roll is neither

a) evidence for your claim nor

b) a secondary source you are bringing into your conversation

then it is likely not covered under Fair Use.  Source material you use for this purpose from databases of material with the appropriate Creative Commons license for your use.  

The video essays that have survived copyright strikes do so because they understand this distinction.  We will talk about this in class more on Thursday.  If you’re looking for transitional footage that is not covered under Fair Use, here is a great resource guide for how to find it.  The video below explains Creative Commons in 3 minutes! Check it out.

Watch how Lewis Bond uses A-roll, B-roll, and transitional material (gathered from Creative Commons) when he discusses film composition–or choose your own favorite video essayist and do this same analysis for the first 5 minutes of the author’s argument.  We’ll dissect this example in class on Thursday. ( P.S. Turn on the CC and you’ll see how Lewis Bond gives credit for his primary sources.)

Cuillen asked how to cite sources in the video essay itself.  Here’s some screenshots that show different strategies.

Image Source: Nerdwriter

Giving your film “credits” (Kevin B. Lee, Tony Zhou)

Image Source: Fandor

Image source: Every Frame a Painting

I’ve also seen people put citations in as annotations, but I like that less because most people turn annotations off.  (It’s also a pain to do.)

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Understand Azure role assignments

• 3 contributors

Role assignments enable you to grant a principal (such as a user, a group, a managed identity, or a service principal) access to a specific Azure resource. This article describes the details of role assignments.

Role assignment

Access to Azure resources is granted by creating a role assignment, and access is revoked by removing a role assignment.

A role assignment has several components, including:

• The principal , or who is assigned the role.
• The role that they're assigned.
• The scope at which the role is assigned.
• The name of the role assignment, and a description that helps you to explain why the role has been assigned.

For example, you can use Azure RBAC to assign roles like:

• User Sally has owner access to the storage account contoso123 in the resource group ContosoStorage .
• Everybody in the Cloud Administrators group in Microsoft Entra ID has reader access to all resources in the resource group ContosoStorage .
• The managed identity associated with an application is allowed to restart virtual machines within Contoso's subscription.

The following shows an example of the properties in a role assignment when displayed using Azure PowerShell :

The following shows an example of the properties in a role assignment when displayed using the Azure CLI , or the REST API :

The following table describes what the role assignment properties mean.

When you create a role assignment, you need to specify the scope at which it's applied. The scope represents the resource, or set of resources, that the principal is allowed to access. You can scope a role assignment to a single resource, a resource group, a subscription, or a management group.

Use the smallest scope that you need to meet your requirements.

For example, if you need to grant a managed identity access to a single storage account, it's good security practice to create the role assignment at the scope of the storage account, not at the resource group or subscription scope.

For more information about scope, see Understand scope .

Role to assign

A role assignment is associated with a role definition. The role definition specifies the permissions that the principal should have within the role assignment's scope.

You can assign a built-in role definition or a custom role definition. When you create a role assignment, some tooling requires that you use the role definition ID while other tooling allows you to provide the name of the role.

For more information about role definitions, see Understand role definitions .

Principals include users, security groups, managed identities, workload identities, and service principals. Principals are created and managed in your Microsoft Entra tenant. You can assign a role to any principal. Use the Microsoft Entra ID object ID to identify the principal that you want to assign the role to.

When you create a role assignment by using Azure PowerShell, the Azure CLI, Bicep, or another infrastructure as code (IaC) technology, you specify the principal type . Principal types include User , Group , and ServicePrincipal . It's important to specify the correct principal type. Otherwise, you might get intermittent deployment errors, especially when you work with service principals and managed identities.

A role assignment's resource name must be a globally unique identifier (GUID).

Role assignment resource names must be unique within the Microsoft Entra tenant, even if the scope of the role assignment is narrower.

When you create a role assignment by using the Azure portal, Azure PowerShell, or the Azure CLI, the creation process gives the role assignment a unique name for you automatically.

If you create a role assignment by using Bicep or another infrastructure as code (IaC) technology, you need to carefully plan how you name your role assignments. For more information, see Create Azure RBAC resources by using Bicep .

Resource deletion behavior

When you delete a user, group, service principal, or managed identity from Microsoft Entra ID, it's a good practice to delete any role assignments. They aren't deleted automatically. Any role assignments that refer to a deleted principal ID become invalid.

If you try to reuse a role assignment's name for another role assignment, the deployment will fail. This issue is more likely to occur when you use Bicep or an Azure Resource Manager template (ARM template) to deploy your role assignments, because you have to explicitly set the role assignment name when you use these tools. To work around this behavior, you should either remove the old role assignment before you recreate it, or ensure that you use a unique name when you deploy a new role assignment.

Description

You can add a text description to a role assignment. While descriptions are optional, it's a good practice to add them to your role assignments. Provide a short justification for why the principal needs the assigned role. When somebody audits the role assignments, descriptions can help to understand why they've been created and whether they're still applicable.

Some roles support role assignment conditions based on attributes in the context of specific actions. A role assignment condition is an additional check that you can optionally add to your role assignment to provide more fine-grained access control.

For example, you can add a condition that requires an object to have a specific tag for the user to read the object.

You typically build conditions using a visual condition editor, but here's what an example condition looks like in code:

The preceding condition allows users to read blobs with a blob index tag key of Project and a value of Cascade .

For more information about conditions, see What is Azure attribute-based access control (Azure ABAC)?

Integration with Privileged Identity Management (Preview)

Azure role assignment integration with Privileged Identity Management is currently in PREVIEW. See the Supplemental Terms of Use for Microsoft Azure Previews for legal terms that apply to Azure features that are in beta, preview, or otherwise not yet released into general availability.

If you have a Microsoft Entra ID P2 or Microsoft Entra ID Governance license, Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM) is integrated into role assignment steps. For example, you can assign roles to users for a limited period of time. You can also make users eligible for role assignments so that they must activate to use the role, such as request approval. Eligible role assignments provide just-in-time access to a role for a limited period of time. You can't create eligible role assignments for applications, service principals, or managed identities because they can't perform the activation steps. You can create eligible role assignments at management group, subscription, and resource group scope, but not at resource scope. This capability is being deployed in stages, so it might not be available yet in your tenant or your interface might look different.

The assignment type options available to you might vary depending or your PIM policy. For example, PIM policy defines whether permanent assignments can be created, maximum duration for time-bound assignments, roles activations requirements (approval, multifactor authentication, or Conditional Access authentication context), and other settings. For more information, see Configure Azure resource role settings in Privileged Identity Management .

If you don't want to use the PIM functionality, select the Active assignment type and Permanent assignment duration options. These settings create a role assignment where the principal always has permissions in the role.

To better understand PIM, you should review the following terms.

For more information, see What is Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management? .

• Delegate Azure access management to others
• Steps to assign an Azure role

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• General Discussion

The new terrible: Texting assignments, no followup.

• Thread starter Thread starter AlexLucas
• Start date Start date Oct 28, 2010

• Oct 28, 2010

Yesterday, I was texted during a funeral. Pick up an extra story. No address, no other information but, 'We need this, it's in the city on the way home.' No follow up call. One message. One vibration. I was deep in a funeral. They knew I was in a funeral. I missed it. We were behind as it was, three counties away, and they fired one text to change our whole night. My reporter and I are in the proverbial tunnel, flying down the highway, he's logging in camera, we're talking about the story. I get the call when I get into the parking lot at eight. Is anyone out there finding that the younger generation on the assignment desk expects you to be texting like a fifteen year old girl? It's getting incredulous. I've had assignments in the past 'top walled' to facebook before my shift. Facebook? Is that the new defacto business conversation device? What if I didn't check freaking facebook in the last hour? Do I need a twitter account now just to find out where my desk is sending me? I have three twentysomethings on the desk that never call, they fire a text, and that's it. I can be in spot news, standing next to a fire truck, or hustling cops, and I get one text. Better not miss it! Sometimes I get all of the way back to the station and say, "How did it go?" "How did what go? Oh, the concert was interesting." "No. The fire on Cass Ave." "Jesus! There was a fire on Cass Ave?" " I texted you! I texted you there was a fire on Cass Ave!" "I was at Brooks and Dunn, shooting their final concert! You knew that. I can't hear!" "(Walled up body language) Well, I expect you to go to assignments." "What kind of answer is that?!? So, you think I'm refusing assignments, or ignoring them? Do you check your phone every three minutes? Do you?" Actually, I found out, yes they freakin' do. They do it so much it gets in the way of their jobs. "Texting is NOT going away, ALEX," scolded my producer (to me like a child, I might add) when I said this is a ridiculous trend to send assignments without any information in an indirect fashion, in a funeral. I've been banging my head against a wall, because the younger generation doesn't call you, give you any information (text is too short for info), and can often text you just once an hour before your shift about something that starts at the literal top of your shift when you're in the shower, is forty five minutes away from the station (meaning you have to leave NOW) and then complain that you missed it. This whole 'shower text' trick has bit me at least ten times in the last two years. Who the hell texts an emergency change of plans before their shift? I can be mowing the lawn. I can be doing a million other things than waiting by the phone to listen for one single chime. All I get back is static. "I don't have to call you all the time. I sent you a message. You need to check your messages." Too me, this smells like a terminal case of lazy/stupid. Not only are most freaking texts useless, they say, in their nature, "This is casual conversation. I don't necessarily expect you to get back to me on this." Is anyone else out there suffering like I am? Does every other assignment desk do this nowadays? I've seen this blossom up from nowhere. In short, does anybody actually get DIRECT CONTACT with a field crew before they change their entire night anymore? All I ask these days is a few things... think about safety by letting me know if the spot news I'm heading to is dangerous, let me know before a funeral so I can dress appropriately, and direct contact when you've got something that is due today. It's making the top of my list... f%&$ing call me. That's all I ask any more. (LoL: This is officially the beginning of my 'OLD MAN' phase of life now, I have kids, I'm busy... I can tell this is happening. Some tech has showed up, and I'm refusing to adopt it into my life. The other day I told someone that I didn't need a Blu-Ray player, either, even if it did play Netflix. This is bad news, people. NOW GET OFFA MY LAWN, YOU KIDS!)  

Well-known member

I have a couple of clients that use text a lot. I prefer e-mail me. I've told them that if they don't receive a response from me then they I didn't get it. I always respond with an OK to let them know I got it. Sounds like you need to do the came thing. Us old fogies just don't seem to be inclined to leashed to our cells like the younger generation...  

Honestly? I've always preferred a text assignment to a phone call, as long as it's specifically written. I find it easier than having to find a pen to write down what the producer is saying. It's more unobtrusive as well. If I'm in an interview, or, as in your example a funeral, I really don't want to get a phone call. As far as missing the texts, I know that my phone will buzz every few minutes until I check to see the text I received...do you have a function like that? The Facebook assignments, on the other hand, are way over the line.  

virtualchuck

Auto Response? Some phones and/or apps have customizable auto reply functions. Maybe you can set it up to respond to the desk numbers "This is an auto response, please follow up with a phone call if you receive no further response from me within fifteen minutes" I use auto reply when I am going somewhere that coverage is questionable, and may not get a text or E-mails until hours later. Chuck  

First off, it should be stated that while in theory text assignments is a good idea...its not always practical or professional. I think as we grow older and the young ones begin to enter the work force the clash of social manners is a hurdle to always overcome...wether it be with language or technology. I think most if not all companies don't allow a person to "text in sick"...why? Because its not always reliable that the receiver got the message...so feel free to talk to the supervisor to set a policy about text assignments to photogs...or talk to them yourself and professionally help them understand how you would like a phone call instead of text. I am operating under the "nip it in bud" policy in my life...if I don't like how something is going or I don't like how I am being treated then I am going to let you know so we can find a solution that works for the both of us. I am not afraid to be upfront about my professional expectations. Help them by talking and guiding them about professional manners in the newsroom...that way 5 years from now no one will complain about them here because they got the advice of the wise photog that set them on the right path.  

Active member

Yes, in theory text assignments can be good when they have the info. Simply because at times those doing the assigning still dont have the full info. But what they should do, is call about 5 minutes after sending the text. That way they can confirm you got the text. At my last shop the assignment editor was a old school guy, surrounded by the younger gen who thinks he doesnt do anything but spend to much time bull****ting on the phone. Tho, ask them to do something like answer the hotline when its ringing and they will say I AM BUSY, GET THAT. B.S, your copy and pasting from ap wires and then changing things around. Busy my ass. But yes, they like to text alot. And if they call they like to talk your ear off before getting to the point. Or tell you how to do your job like you havent been doing it longer then they have. Sorry for the rank and off topic-ness.  

Lack of responsibility. It's NEVER my fault. I texted you. It's your fault you didn't read it. Oh you didn't get it? It's the phone carrier's fault.  

phxtvwatcher

I actually prefer texts followed up by an email with the specifics of the story. I don't know how many times I would be in the middle of an interview and my phone is buzzing. It just seems like bad timing that for the 7 1/2 hours a day when you weren't shooting that the phone wouldn't ring. Then when you are, the phone is going non-stop. I can check the text as I still am shooting and know what is happening next. I think text or email is something that every photog should get use to these and future forms of communication. I know there were a lot of photogs that were anti-computer editing years ago and now it's industry standard. I agree that social media is not a good form of immediate communication but text and/or email is fine and acceptable for me.  

I'm surprised there's not a zero fail wherein if they don't get a reply from you they call 10-15 minutes later.  

livedownunder

I have a boss that does not take calls when he gets home from work, but will conduct converstions by texting. I had a late story one night, and on the way home I needed to "discuss" some issues with the boss, which turned into a texting marathon. My thirty minute drive home took nearly an hour because I had to keep pulling to the side of the road while I read his text messages and I typed my replies. A voice conversation using handsfree would have been so much better !  

Most carriers only send text when the network is not busy. If you read the contract they only promise to deliver the text in a 12 hour period. The network around my home area is due for upgrading so its not unusual for me to get a text 3 or 4 hours after it was sent.  

Sean-1966 said: I've told them that if they don't receive a response from me then they I didn't get it. Click to expand...

I think a txt is fine for an unobtrusive alert, or to follow a phone conversation. The party trying to get the message to you is responsible for making sure you get it though. I have only gotten a few texts from work, so no stories of woe so far. I'm over the days of txt pagers and the "call the desk" messages. "LOW BATT" was funny for a day, too, but I digress... If I'm on a story, and got a txt "need a VO on your way back" I would see that as a non-emergency, and call when I could. During the phone call, I could ask the address be texted to me. The cell phone I use has the ability to cut&paste the address in the txt and use that for navigation. So, done correctly, txt would be helpful for us. Of course, there are instances BRB. Driving through a tunn  

If the text has no information, like an address, it means nothing to me. If I don't respond to the text with at least an "ok" then assume I didn't get it and try CALLING ME. I'm not going to check my phone, twitter, facebook, email, etc every five minutes to get assignments WHEN I'M MOST LIKELY SHOOTING SOMETHING ELSE AT THE MOMENT. CALL ME or CALL SOMEONE ELSE!  

zac love said: But by the time I left, I had started telling myself that you have to laugh a lot, when the place you work is a joke. Click to expand...

svp said: I'm not going to check my phone, twitter, facebook, email, etc every five minutes to get assignments WHEN I'M MOST LIKELY SHOOTING SOMETHING ELSE AT THE MOMENT. CALL ME or CALL SOMEONE ELSE! Click to expand...

The Thing on The Sticks

svp said: If the text has no information, like an address, it means nothing to me. If I don't respond to the text with at least an "ok" then assume I didn't get it and try CALLING ME. I'm not going to check my phone, twitter, facebook, email, etc every five minutes to get assignments WHEN I'M MOST LIKELY SHOOTING SOMETHING ELSE AT THE MOMENT. CALL ME or CALL SOMEONE ELSE! Click to expand...

SeattleShooter

• Oct 29, 2010

I love it when I get a phone call from the desk and they are in a huge panic so much so that I cannot understand a word they say. Then they blurt out an address expecting me to remember it as I am driving down the road. There are times I feel the people at the desk are 911 dispatch dropouts that failed the tests.  

canuckcam said: Lack of responsibility. It's NEVER my fault. I texted you. It's your fault you didn't read it. Oh you didn't get it? It's the phone carrier's fault. Click to expand...

Exactly 1911A1. I myself may look at a text or email, but i sure as hell wont respond to one while driving. But yeah, If was or wasnt on call, but was getting called in early. If it was a "RIGHT AWAY' type call i missed, i put down the time they called as my time in, missed the call or not. If they told me to come in early to get something, depending how far out i was, i put down the time to get their as time in.  

soonershooter

My former station was fond of using this as a tool to control OT. Situation: Start day at 9AM, off at 6PM,1 hour for lunch. Reality: In at 9AM, NO lunch, 6PM live shot in town 45 miles away. If lucky, off at 7:30PM, if there are no "pick this up on your way back" VOs. Upon return I would ask desk "Should I come in late tomorrow to minimize the OT?" Desk would reply, "No, be here at 9AM." OK, fine. My drive to the station was about 10 minutes. The next morning, I would receive a text at 8:45 AM: "Please come in at 10:30AM so we can reduce OT." AARRGGHH! This was, in part, a reason why I quit from that station. For the record, that station was WFMY.  

• Saturday, September 21, 2024

4Batz Drops New Single “Roll Da Dice” Featuring Lil Baby

4Batz has teamed up with hip-hop star Lil Baby for his latest single and music video, “Roll Da Dice,” released today. The track delves into the risks and rewards of modern romance, blending 4Batz’s signature mix of 90s R&B and trap with Lil Baby’s seamless flow.

“Roll Da Dice” showcases a harmonious collaboration, with 4Batz crooning lines like, “You got a smile that makes you look amazing and that’s just why I gotta see you daily,” and “I roll the dice, that’s why you’re my favorite.” Lil Baby complements the sentiment with, “I ain’t gonna leave you, you ain’t ever left me, my name in diamonds sitting on your necklace,” expressing loyalty and commitment.

The music video, directed by Ralph Canono, is set in 4Batz’s hometown of Dallas, featuring scenes of dice-rolling at a local gas station and shots of striking women, symbolizing the gamble of love. The visuals capture the excitement and uncertainty that accompany the pursuit of a deep connection.

2024 has been a milestone year for 4Batz. He wrapped his first headlining tour, “Thank You, Jada,” and achieved his first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit with “Act II: Date @ 8” featuring Drake. His collaborations with artists like Ye and Usher have cemented his status as a groundbreaking force in music, continuing to push the boundaries of sound and storytelling.

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