DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

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

Submit A Story

Dear YouTubers, B-Roll isn’t content

Dec 24, 2018 by John Aldred 9 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

I’ve been watching more and more of the Camera Conspiracies channel lately. And while a lot of the things are slightly ludicrous (in a good, amusing way), they do say that there’s “many a true word spoken in jest”. And, oh boy, does this one ring true. B-Roll is not content.

B-Roll seems to have taken over the lives of many YouTubers, to the point where they’re basically an intro, some b-roll, and an ending. For the occasional showcase video, it’s impressive eye candy. But when it becomes the norm for all your videos, and more of your video is b-roll than actual content, it just gets boring. Please stop.

Historically (that is, before 2018), b-roll was the secondary camera content. They were the clips added to provide some extra context to your main camera shot. The host would carry on talking, and clips would come up showing you what they’re talking about, while they’re talking about it. For example, they’re talking about how their cat had to go to the vet, and they’re showing clips of their cat at the vet’s office, while they’re telling you what happened.

Or it’s a couple of brief clips to set up the next piece of actual content. Like, the exterior of the building you’re shooting in next. Not 3 minutes of slow motion b-roll leading up to “Hey, we’re at [somewhere], now we’re going to [somewhere else]!” followed by another 3 minutes of slow motion b-roll.

And while I’m not mentioning any names – he’s not solely responsible – b-roll seems to have now taken over and become the main feature of many videos, regardless of whether they’re vlogs, tutorials, or whatever. There’s just no meat to many of them anymore. It’s just a bunch of pretty visuals to make a video last two or three (or more) times as long.

This is partially YouTube’s own fault. The minute that “watch time is king” became a higher priority than “content is king” in YouTube’s algorithm, YouTubers had to fight to keep eyeballs on their content. And eye candy does impress a lot of new visitors to a channel. Even if only for a couple of videos before they get bored and never come back.

There are a lot of YouTubers I used to follow that I don’t anymore purely because their content has become boring, lacking in any real substance. And I follow relatively few photography related channels anymore. And it’s not just photography channels that are doing it now. I’ve seen many big YouTubers start to make the transition to over 50% of the video being b-roll, and I’ve stopped watching those regularly, too.

So, it’s having the opposite effect to that which they desire. Getting people to watch more.

Of course, YouTubers are free to create whatever “content” they wish. But we, as the potential audience, are also free to not watch it anymore.

Do you agree? Is there too much b-roll and not enough real content in YouTube videos today?

While we’re on the subject… If I see a “This is my last video!” video on your channel in the next week, I’m unsubscribing.

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 The Rode NT-USB Mini is a $99 desktop microphone for voiceovers, YouTubers and streamers YouTubers troll photographers at London Fashion Week with fake model in hilarious outfits “We got that B-Roll!” is a hilarious 80s commercial style take on buying stock footage

Filed Under: news Tagged With: b-roll, Camera Conspiracies, humor, humour, youtube

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.

« How to remove red skin in Photoshop in under one minute
The Moin L1 is a new rugged action light that costs only $59 »

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

  • Botched selfie escalates to draining of reservoir
  • Panasonic PanaTrack is a big bendy motorised camera slider
  • Once again, tourists are getting too close to bison for photos
  • Fujifilm announces shipping delays for the new Fuji X-S20
  • International Photography Awards reveals breathtaking 2022 winners (mildly NSFW)

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