What is B-roll? A-roll vs B-roll in video production explained

B-roll is the supporting footage cut into the main footage of a video: shots of the place, the work, the product and the people. The main footage, usually someone talking, is called A-roll. A-roll tells the story and B-roll shows it.

If you have seen the term on a call sheet or in a quote, check with your crew what it includes on your project. This explainer covers what B-roll does in the edit, the related terms you are likely to meet, and what you can organise so it doesn't get squeezed out on the day.

What is the difference between A-roll and B-roll?

A-roll is the narrative footage, usually with dialogue: the interview, the presenter to camera, the speaker on stage. B-roll is supplementary or alternative footage cut in over or between those main shots. It gives the A-roll context and visual interest.

The names are usually traced back to 16 mm film editing, where two rolls, A and B, were assembled in a chequerboard pattern so the splices wouldn't show. Accounts of the history differ slightly. The term A-roll has partly fallen out of use, which is why you mostly hear about B-roll on its own.

The B doesn't mean second best. Without B-roll, an interview is a talking head from start to finish, every cut shows, and viewers hear about things they never see.

The interview tells the story; the B-roll is how the viewer gets to see it.

What does B-roll do in the edit?

B-roll does several jobs in the edit, and most go unnoticed when they work. When an answer is cut, the editor can lay B-roll over the join so the picture doesn't jump.

The same trick softens other awkward cuts. If two takes have different backgrounds, a jump cut or zoom cut between them would distract; a few seconds of B-roll draws the eye away. It also smooths the handover from one speaker to the next.

More isn't always better. If the edit cuts to B-roll every ten seconds because a brief or a timing rule demands it, the important moment loses its impact. When someone says the thing that matters, let the viewer see their face.

• Covering cuts: Shortening an answer leaves a visible jump in the picture. B-roll laid over the join hides it.
• Showing what is said: When the speaker mentions the workshop, the product or the team, the viewer sees it.
• Context: If the speaker refers to last year's event, earlier footage of it works as a cutaway.
• Pace and variety: Changing the picture keeps a long answer moving without losing any of the words.

Call sheet and quote terms describe specific kinds of shot

Call sheets and quotes use a handful of overlapping words for B-roll. Knowing them helps you check that what you agreed is actually on the schedule. Check how your call sheet labels the B-roll slot, and ask your crew if the wording is unclear.

In a quote, B-roll may be its own line or part of the shoot day. Ask which it is and which deliverables it has to serve. For what that means in cost, see the day rates and packages.

• B-roll: The umbrella term for supporting footage: the environment, people at work, and details.
• Cutaway: A short shot that interrupts the main action, such as audience reactions, background activity or archive footage the speaker mentions.
• Establishing shot: A wider shot showing where we are, such as the building, the site or the room.
• Details: Close shots of a product, hands at work, a screen or a document.

Your B-roll shot list starts with what the interview says

The strongest B-roll list comes from the interview, not from a vague idea of what looks nice. Every claim a speaker is likely to make is a picture you will need. If someone says the team checks every order by hand, you need shots of hands checking orders.

In my corporate work, pre-production covers the brief, script, shot list and shooting schedule. Most of my corporate work ends up in three places, the homepage, the sales deck and the recruitment page, which need different edits of the same shoot, so I plan for them from the start. Your brief to the videographer is the natural place to note what the film must show.

Stock or third-party footage can sometimes fill a gap, but generic shots tend to look generic. B-roll filmed on the same shoot as the interview matches it.

1. Write down the key statements you expect the speakers to make.
2. Match each statement to something that can be filmed: a process, a product, a team at work.
3. Add establishing and environment shots for each location.
4. Check whether you hold earlier event or product footage for cutaways, and confirm you are allowed to use it before the edit.

B-roll needs its own time and access on the shoot day

B-roll needs its own slot on the schedule alongside the interview, not whatever time is left at the end. How long it takes depends on how many locations and activities you want to show, so agree it with your crew. What matters is that the slot exists and the places are ready.

The running of the whole day is covered in what happens on a video shoot day. This checklist covers the B-roll side that you organise.

• Access: Who opens each location, and whether the crew needs passes or an escort.
• Working hours: When the line, lab or office is actually busy, so there is real activity to film.
• Who is in shot: Make sure colleagues know about the filming and are happy to appear; check your internal policy.
• What must not show: Client data, screens, documents and trademarks, tidied away or switched off in advance.

At an event, B-roll has to be caught as it happens

Event B-roll works differently from interview B-roll. Around an interview you can schedule extra shots before or after. At a conference or awards night, reactions and atmosphere happen once, alongside the main action.

So at events a second camera, or extra coverage, provides the cutaways. I shoot events knowing how the footage will cut together, and with two cameras you keep the winner's face as well as the handshake. How the number of cameras changes the edit is covered in two cameras or three.

Tell the crew which moments matter most and where key people will sit, so a camera is ready when the reaction comes.

Before your next shoot, write down what the film must show and run each location through the checklist above. If you are planning an interview-led company film, the corporate video production page explains how the planning and shot list come together, and your notes make a good starting point for the first conversation.