Transcripts
1. B-ROLL for Beginners!!! : Hi there. I'm Mary Lou Mandel, and I am also a
content creator that learned so much from learning on the Internet
from other people. I am here to teach you
about the art of B roll, which is essential for creating engaging in dynamic video. In this super short course, you're going to learn what
B role is, why you need it, and how to effectively
shoot and organize, and edit and utilize this
footage, this B role. By the end of this
class, you will have the skills to capture beautiful footage that you can use to enhance your content. B roll is the supplemental
footage that you would intercut with your main
footage, which is the A role. So the A role would be this footage, right?
The talking part, the main part, the
main focus of it. And the B role will look
a little like this. It is the supplemental
footage that you lay on top of your videos to give
context and visual interest. This course is broken down
into bite size modules that you can use so you can start creating your own B role. We even have a hands
on project where you will take the B roll
shots that you capture, and you'll be able to put them together into a little video. Ready to go all in, I highly
recommend downloading my 101 B roll shots that you can shoot
at home by yourself. It goes along with the
class really well. And, of course, no
matter what you do with this class,
any of my classes, and any of your video creations, I want you to remember to
create, release and repeat. And, like, also have
a good time with it. It's just the Internet, okay? It's not so serious.
2. What is B-ROLL?: What is B roll? B roll is the supplemental
footage that's going to add depth and interest
to your video. So if the A roll is your
talking head or the interview, whatever the main footage is, the B roll is the stuff
that you're going to add, just to make it
more interesting. It's going to give
you visual context. It's going to keep things
moving. It's going to spice things up. It just
makes things more better. Bill is critical
because it helps break up the longer shots
that are your role. So if you have an interview
or you have a talking head, the bil gets dropped into
these different places, so your audience
doesn't get bored. It adds variety, and
you can also use it as a band aid to cover up things that maybe you
needed to fix in editing. So it is a really good tool in helping everything flow better. Like, Bill has saved
me so many times. Have definitely seen be role in things that
you've watched. Like in documentaries, B roll is used to illustrate
the topic at hand. In tutorials, it'll be video to show the
step by step process. In commercials or
promotional videos, it's going to be used to show close up details or features of the product
that they're talking about. For example, if you're
making cooking videos, the A role, the main footage will be you talking
about the recipe. The B roll will show the
food getting chopped, mixed, tossed into the pan,
sizzling, things like that. That's what your B roll is,
which is going to just make the video so much spicier.
Make it taste better. That you understand
what B role is. I want you to sit down for a couple minutes and write down some shots that would go along with whatever content
that you are making. If you are doing a cooking show, write down a couple
of things that could go with that, if you're
doing a tutorial. What are a couple of shots
that can go with that? If you really have no idea, what are just a
couple of shots that you can start to take
around your house? I promise you there's a lot. To help you get
started, I've created a supplemental digital
download called 101 B roll shots that you can
shoot at home by yourself. Yeah, it's a very long name,
but, you get what it is. That resource is
packed with ideas that you can incorporate
into your videos.
3. Plan your B-ROLL : Let's get to
planning our B role. Before you even start, it's really important to plan out what you're going to get. Like, sure, you
can catch things, Willy Nilly, but it is
better if you got a plan. It's going to save you time, and it will definitely help you make sure you get the
things you actually need in order to
tell your story, 'cause I can't tell
you how many times, I wish I got a certain shot, and I did it because I
didn't write it down. Let's make a little
list. Okay? We make a lit list, we're gonna
make a little shot list. We'll be ready to go. Now,
let's talk about a shot list. A shot list is essentially
just going to be a checklist of the shots that you need to get in order to
tell your story. It's not much more
complicated than that. For example, if you are making a tutorial on how you
make your morning coffee, your shot list might
include close ups of the coffee beans or a shot of you pouring the coffee or a shot of yourself taking
a sip of the coffee. Think of all the
different steps that make up thing that you're
trying to show. In this case, making coffee. What are all the different parts of getting to your cup of coffee that you could get little shots of in order
to tell this story. The main thing to
keep in mind when planning your B role is thinking about what will actually
enhance the story. Which visuals will help you explain the thing that's
going on in the main footage? For our class project,
I want you to take the lists that you
made and think about what these different shots could look like because there's tons of ways
that they can look.
4. Shooting your B-ROLL : Now it's time for the fun stuff. Let's actually
shoot some B roll. When you're shooting
your B roll, you want to consider a variety of different types of shots. You can do close ups.
You can do wide shots. You can do different angles, they can be high,
they can be low. You can get really
creative with it. And sometimes the types
of be roll that you capture will start to
define your visual style. Having all these different
types of shots will add visual interest and keep
your audience engaged. As with any video, good lighting is so important, but that doesn't mean you
need to have studio lights. Whenever you can, try to use natural light
because it's free. You just need a window and
pay attention to composition. By composition, I mean where your subject is
placed in the shot. So depending on if you're doing a vertical video or
a landscape video, you might place the
main thing that people should be looking
at in different places. Again, as with all videos, you don't need
expensive equipment in order to get your B roll. You can get really great footage on your smartphone camera, especially if you focus on the lighting and
stabilizing your shots. By stabilizing your shots, I mean, you don't want
to have shaky footage. In order to fix that, you can use a tripod, you can
use a stabilizer, or you can just set it
on a table on top of books and just make
sure it doesn't fall. And when you're filming things always be mindful of focus. You want the thing that you want people to look
at to be in focus, especially for those
close up shots. Now it's your turn to
go shoot S B roll. While you're doing
this, I want you to keep in mind capturing things from different angles in different compositions
in different ways. For example, if you're
shooting a product, I want you to shoot it up close. I want you to shoot
it in a wide shot, and I want you to shoot it in a couple of different angles. Get creative with it, because a top down shot is
different than, from the side shot, from
underneath, from inside. Get creative. That's the
whole point of this. It's so much fun.
You can do anything.
5. Class Project: Now that you've learned
the basics of B roll, let's put those skills to practice with the class project. For this project, I
want you to create a 15 to 32nd sequence using at least five
shots of B roll. This can be ones that you came up with yourself or
that can be from the hundred and one B roll
shots that you can shoot at home by yourself
download PDF file. Think about how these
shots can go together so you can create
a visual story. If you're feeling spicy, you can even add
music or a voiceover. If you need to know
how to do that, just you can just
ask in the comments. Once you've completed
your Bull sequence, upload it to our
project gallery. This is the best
opportunity to share your work with me and the
other folks in the class. Don't worry. It doesn't
have to be perfect. The point here is to practice, to create, release, and repeat. So have some fun with it. I can't wait to
see what you make.
6. Conclusion: Made it to the end of the class. We've covered what B roll
is, why it's important, how to plan your shots and tips for getting
some killer, B role. I truly hope you feel
more confident in B roll and capturing
it for your videos. Like with most things, B roll is a skill that gets better
the more that you practice. I encourage you to
experiment and see what else you can do in order
to enhance your videos. Even while you're watching
movies, documentaries, TV, keep an eye out,
and you'll start to see what is B roll,
and what is not. I can't wait to see the amazing B roll sequences
that you create. Thank you so much for joining me for this course and remember, create, release, and repeat.
Marielou Mandl, Video Creator, Content Creator
