B-Roll

B-roll is supplemental footage that complements the primary A-roll (typically interviews, dialogue scenes, main action), used to illustrate context, cover edits, establish location, transition between scenes, or simply provide visual interest beyond a talking head. The term dates from the era when news broadcasts used two physical reels of film — the A-roll containing the interview, the B-roll containing the cutaways. In documentary, B-roll comprises landscape shots, hands-at-work shots, building exteriors, archive material, anything that visualizes what the subject is talking about. In narrative film, B-roll can include cutaways to ambient details (a clock, hands fidgeting), insert shots, second-unit photography, exterior wides. In corporate and branded content, B-roll is the supply of generic-yet-relevant footage that lets an interview cut around itself: a CEO discussing a product is intercut with the product being made. Editors rely on B-roll heavily because it solves two problems simultaneously — visual variety (preventing audience boredom on extended single-subject shots) and editorial flexibility (allowing internal cuts within long interview answers without visible jump cuts). Productions budget for B-roll specifically; documentary shoots often allocate 30-40% of shooting days to B-roll capture. Lower production-value B-roll can be supplied by stock footage libraries (Getty, Pond5, Storyblocks) but original B-roll typically signals higher production quality.