DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

A minimalist approach to shooting B-Roll for your videos

Mar 23, 2020 by John Aldred Add Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

For anybody who shoots videos, especially on their own, shooting b-roll can be a bit of a pain. You have to have it, though, really, to stop your video just becoming some kind of long monologue. It’s the supplemental footage that shows what you’re actually talking about, or just provides context for what’s going on or the topic at hand.

It’s something Sean Tucker knows all too well, having gone out in the past carrying far too much gear in order to shoot it and ultimately using very little of it. In this video, he talks about going back to the bare minimum to shoot his b-roll with just a Sony A7III and a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens.

Carrying too much gear to a shoot is something many of us do, especially after we start thinking about the b-roll. We want the slider and the gimbal and all the other fancy kit that manages to creep its way into our bags. But it often does more harm than good. We fall into that trap of having too much choice, that often holds us back from shooting anything at all.

When we force ourselves to go back to the minimum amount of gear, we’re always ready to shoot. And we’re looking for interesting things far more often because we’re not worrying about the shot being missed by the time we set up a slider or bust open the lights.

Sean shoots his b-roll now with just a Sony A7III and a Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens. This gives him less to worry about, and more freedom to concentrate on really finding the shots that help him to tell his story. He shoots everything at 120fps, which might be something a cliché for b-roll these days, but he doesn’t shoot that frame rate just because he expects to slow everything down to a fifth of regular speed. He shoots that speed because he doesn’t know until the edit whether he wants to or not.

I often do the same, although the camera I usually use for my b-roll doesn’t go faster than 60fps, but it’s the same principle. If I want to slow things down, I can (and it can be a lifesaver for some shots, due to the illusion of stabilisation it can provide), but when I want to play it back in realtime, I can do that too. If I shoot 24fps for everything, the option to slow things down has evaporated.

What do you use to shoot your b-roll?

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

The importance of B-roll: how to use B-roll and raise your videos on a new level Five tips for shooting light and airy high-key minimalist newborn photography Photographing Rock N Roll’s Biggest Stars – 36 Years Of Shooting Austin City Limits Stop shooting bad b-roll – here’s how to take yours to the next level

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: b-roll, gear, inspiration, Minimalism, Sean Tucker

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« These “magazine covers” are a clever parody of our society [mildly NSFW]
Nikon has suspended camera repair services in the USA and Canada »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Here’s a bullet time video booth you can build yourself
  • Ricoh has discontinued the HD PENTAX-DA 21mm F3.2AL Limited silver lens
  • This “stellar flower” unravels the twilight’s evolution in 360 degrees
  • Strobes vs Continuous LEDs – Which is right for you?
  • Wave goodbye to Apple’s My Photo Stream next month

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy