B-Roll: What Is It And Why Do I Need It?

It all comes down to the goal of your video. If you’re interviewing employees about your company for a recruitment piece and want to showcase your brand in a positive light, including b-roll footage of employees happily working will help convey your message. We’re a visual society; simply stating facts or opinions without showing the audience what you mean isn’t very effective on video. B-roll footage spices things up rather than just showing the “talking heads” discussing a topic, so we suggest adding enticing footage to most interview videos. Promotional and training videos also usually require b-roll to keep viewers’ attention spans in-check and interested. Additionally, b-roll in promo and training videos allows for necessary shots of the product, location, services, or specific elements of the training.
To see an example of engaging b-roll, take a look at the Patient Safety Documentary we filmed for Transparent Health. Would simply talking about the beauty of Telluride have been as effective as supplementing it with b-roll footage?

Keeping the goal of your video in mind, omitting b-roll mainly comes down to the editing style of the production. If your video is cut in a fast-paced, engaging way like this ASUG Conference promo, you don’t have to show supporting footage because the message is strong, and the goal of the video is focused on showcasing the ASUG members. If you’re going for a deep and emotional type of testimonial video, showing only the interviewees speaking direct-to-camera is sufficient. This Retirement video is a perfect example of strong interviews that do not require b-roll.