Want to shoot cinematic b-roll? Follow these three crucial steps

Adding B-roll to your videos will without a doubt adds to their value and makes them more interesting and dynamic. But, you gotta do it right. In this awesome video from StudioBinder, you will learn more about the B-roll, its significance and the ways you can utilize it in your video work. The guys also share three crucial steps to nailing your B-roll and making it cinematic and professional-looking, so let’s get right into it.

We featured quite a few videos about shooting B-roll, but this one packs a lot of useful information in a pretty short time. And it’s also fun! It starts from the very beginning, explaining what B-roll is. Elliot Rosen of StudioBinder teaches you further how you can use B-roll in your videos and how it adds value to the story you want to tell.

Different kinds of films use B-roll for different reasons. For example, a documentary uses it to make the story more dynamic and interesting. A narrative film, on the other hand, might use B-roll to enhance its story. But whatever you’re shooting, you’ll find these three pro tips useful if you want to create awesome B-roll:

1. Plan it – figure out the “what,” “when,” and “how” before you start shooting and make a plan.
2. Work smart, not hard – keep in mind that you don’t need to shoot in chronological order. Consider shooting available actors first, shoot in your immediate surroundings, use lunch breaks to shoot time-lapse… Use your time in a clever way and be organized.
3. Maximize your time – use cinematic techniques like shallow depth-of-field, slow motion, and gimbals to get the most out of your B-roll shots. Remember though – don’t use certain techniques just because you can, think about whether they will add to the story and fit the style of your movie.

Make sure to watch the entire video for more details, but also for some awesome B-roll examples that perfectly illustrate the points mentioned above. And if you’d like to find out more, check out StudioBinder’s blog post about the topic.

[What is B-Roll? How to Get Cinematic B-Roll for your Project | StudioBinder]