Tips for Shooting Better B-Roll for Your Videos

On this tutorial by the guys from Rob & Jonas’ Filmmaking Tips they take a look at different aspects of shooting b-roll.

Over the years of producing LensVid we discovered just how much b-roll is important. The better an more interesting b-roll you get, the more options you have in post the the more interesting and dynamic your final result can look.

One good tip is to try and get as many angles as you can each of your b-rolls and shoot it from different angles – if you need repeat it time and time again until you are pleased with the results.

Another advice that we have that the guys in the video didn’t mention is to plan ahead. Try and write down all the possible b-rolls that you would like to shoot and go over them one by one. Try and correlate the b-rolls to the different parts of your video.

Also – always shoot more than you need (they suggest 10 seconds extra and this seems like a good amount. As with any video you need some action – have movement – either the camera or the subject needs to move – otherwise you are creating stills not a movie.

The guys have some tips on how to do movement shots using things in your environment (corners, edges etc.) of course if you have a motorized gimbal, slider, dolly, etc. – it will be much easier (and typically look more professional.

You can watch more HDSLR and video techniques on our dedicated HDSLR channel here on LensVid.

Iddo Genuth
Iddo Genuth is the founder and chief editor of LensVid.com. He has been a technology reporter working for international publications since the late 1990's and covering photography since 2009. Iddo is also a co-founder of a production company specializing in commercial food and product visual content.

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