In the words of Mark Zuckerburg, video has been the prime way that people consume content online for several years.
You may be used to image libraries of visual assets but how do you now create a B-roll library of shots that can be re-used in future content?
B-roll is the name for the supporting footage that illustrates your film. Maybe, that’s things like buses in the town centre, summer in the park or social care staff talking to a client.
Now, I don’t think every film should feature it but it is certainly useful from time-to-time.
Here’s some ideas for you and some pitfalls to avoid.
GDPR and shooting for the public sector
Firstly, anything you do shoot in the public sector is subject to GDPR. So, under the ICO’s office’s rules you need ‘explicit permission’ from people if they are recognisable.
If you are conducting an interview, then get their permission and explain exactly how the footage will be used. That’s what’s meant by the ‘explicit’.
So, the resident saying: ‘I think Dudley Council is great’ can be used for the video of the park event the council stepped in to save. However, the quote can’t be re-used for the budget cuts video unless the speaker agrees.
My colleague Julia suggests using something like Google Forms to create a form which can then be adapted for each job. Each form URL can then be run through a tool like qr-code.io to generate a QR code you can take with you while you are out and about. The interviewee then uses the QR code from their phone to access the link. Smart.
This avoids the issue of building up a sheaf of paper that then gets rained on or left in the car.
For big events, the ICOs office suggests a catch-all permission sign by the gate to the park informing people that Dudley Council are filming for social media a film that celebrates the park fun day. People can contact a steward if they want to opt out and can be given a coloured lanyard. That way the videographer knows to avoid them on the day or in the edit.
With children make sure you get that explicit permission.
Interestingly, journalism isn’t covered by GDPR. The Councillor accused of punching the bus driver can’t tick a box saying ‘no publicity’ as they arrive at court. Nor should they.
Shooting B-roll
Most B-roll you’ll want to shoot probably won’t have people who are identifiable. It can be things like the park in summertime or buses running through the town centre. This stock footage can then be repurposed in future for other film projects.
There’s an obvious advantage for shooting your own B-roll.
Whatever you do shoot is likely to have local landmarks or be recognisable. Where I live, the buses are National Express West Midlands. If I see London buses illustrating a film about subsidised buses through Quarry Bank all credibility in the film has gone.
Do get into the habit of shooting B-roll when you are out and about.
Here’s what to do:
- Shoot 20 seconds of landscape footage
- Shoot 20 seconds of vertical footage
- Shoot some alternative perspectives of the same in landscape and vertical.
Creating your own B-roll library
The first thing to do is save the file with the right key words.
So, a file name “Transport_Halesowen_bus_station_landscape” may work for the landscape shot of the Queensway bus station and “Transport_Halesowen_bus_station_vertical” will work for the upright.
Remember to use the same system of labelling for all your B roll.
Now that’s been shot where to store it?
Well, there are commercial providers I’ve looked at, but they start from around £4k a year and your budgets may not stretch to them.
I’m not totally convinced they are needed.
A perfectly workable alternative is to use Google Drive or Microsoft’s OneDrive. Create folders for the subjects you’d like. So, Parks, transport, social care or whatever works best.
Here’s an example of the areas to save as part of your file name.
Having a file naming system like this will help you recover it again. Feel free to change, adapt or simplify.
Here’s an example of wide and vertical B-roll. This is St John’s church, Halsowen outside my office.
And here’s the landscape shot. This was shot straight after the upright.
I’ve kept the low murmer of the churchyard on as audio in these cases but there is an argument for removing sound for general shots like these. Not everyone remembers to adjust sound levels on each clip in the edit.
Spending time creating B-roll
There may be an argument for either commissioning a videographer to create you some B-roll. If you can’t do that, you may want to devote some time for gathering footage you know you are likely to re-use. That time spent can very quickly pay for itself.
If you are out and about filming once you’ve posted your video take a few minutes to add your individual shots to the library.
B-roll libraries
Depending on who you are, B-roll libraries could be an option. They can be quite generic and the danger would be to use some footage which clearly wasn’t from the area you are talking about. A few years ago, a designer for Birmingham City Council famously used a shot of Birmingham, Alabama in some literature to wide Brummie derision. This is a risk you need to be aware of if you go down this path.
They can also be quite pricey.
A good tip would be to make a search for what content is available.
Here’s an example of bus B-roll from Pixabay. It was found using the search ‘UK bus’. Closer examination indicates it was shot in Liverpool.
Here’s an example of some footage from Pixabay:
Under the terms and conditions of Pixabay, you don’t have to credit the website or even the person who uploaded it, although they say they encourage it. You can also give the uploader a few quid, too. Again, that’s optional.
Almost all footage in B-roll libraries are landscape so if you were looking to create in vertical you’d need to import the clip as a cutaway and layer it over so it overlaps in the edit.
I’ve had a look at different B-roll providers and made some test searches along UK, UK regional and UK rural options. The cost and quality varied.
Most libraries allow their assets to be downloaded and stored within your own libraries. Double check.
Of course, you also need to be alive to the fact that a slick drone shot of a town centre at night you are using in a film to illustrate your council’s night time economy may lead to questions. Like ‘how much was that drone?’
External B-roll libraries I’ve looked at aren’t strong on people content. So, if you are making content for the NHS or social care there may not be anything down for you.
Lastly, be alert to the fact that some external libraries may have AI-generated footage. This may or may not be in line with your AI policy.
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