Where do people go for B-roll?

June 18, 2009 9:56 AM

I'm thinking of shooting and uploading some b-roll for sale to others who might need it, with locations and keywords and all. Is there a marketplace for this?

When people are putting together news clips (or any kind of video, but mostly news), they usually shoot some extra footage that they can use to cover up jumpy edits, or for voiceovers. They call it B-roll.

Is there a marketplace for b-roll that you haven't shot yourself? Let's say you're doing even yet still another story about obesity in America and you need a shot of heavy people with no heads. If you're not sure you can go shoot some b-roll of this before the deadline, could you buy some online?

posted by bryanjbusch to media & arts (4 comments total)

The term to Google is "stock footage".
posted by xo at 10:12 AM on June 18

Footage Firm (footagefirm.com) is a decent place to start.
posted by ASoze at 10:26 AM on June 18

Yes, there is a market for this. However you better be good and/or cheap, you're up against the likes of Getty and ABC who has essentially all of the footage shot for every obesity story for the last 50 years.

I know a few people who use stock footage pretty regularly, they've never complained about a shortage of options, just an occasional high price on a clip. However those clips are usually stuff that needs special access (like interviews) or You Had To Be There, like the crash of Flight 1549.

One problem with shooting stock footage is in general people want it to match the footage already shot, so doing anything more interesting than the local 6:00 News would shoot is a waste of effort. As a result it can be difficult to get noticed for your style and material.

But search through some stock footage libraries and check their offerings and prices. If you think you can offer something new or at a better price, you're set!
posted by Ookseer at 11:55 AM on June 18

iStockphoto, which is my go-to for stock images and graphics, now has video.
posted by radioamy at 4:08 PM on June 23