B-Roll for Beginners: What It Is + What to Film for Your Business
If you’ve spent any time learning how to make better videos, you’ve probably been told:
“You need more B-roll.”
Great.
What’s B-roll?
And more importantly, what are you supposed to film when your business doesn’t involve making cinematic coffee in a sun-drenched kitchen?
Let’s make this simple.
What is B-roll?
B-roll is supplemental video footage used to support the main subject or story of a video.
If you’re talking directly to the camera explaining your service, that’s your primary footage, often called A-roll.
When the video cuts away to show you performing the service, working at your computer, packaging an order, walking into your studio, or doing whatever it is you’re talking about?
That’s B-roll.
It gives the viewer something else to look at while helping you show what you’re talking about instead of only telling them.
Why should businesses film B-roll?
Because you can use it for approximately everything.
B-roll can become:
- Reels and TikToks
- Voiceover videos
- Educational content
- Trending-audio posts
- Service or product videos
- Website videos
- Ads
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Storytelling videos
- Background footage for text-based content
And unlike a talking video about a specific promotion, a good B-roll clip can often be reused.
That five-second clip of you working at your desk might support a post about running a business today and a completely different post six months from now.
Think of B-roll as building a visual library for your brand.
What should you film for B-roll?
Start with what you already do.
You don’t need to manufacture an elaborate scene every time you need footage.
Film the little actions that naturally happen inside your business.
B-roll ideas for a service-based business
Try filming:
- Preparing your workspace
- Setting out your tools
- Performing part of your service
- Greeting a client
- Cleaning or resetting your space
- Walking into your studio or office
- Opening your laptop
- Taking notes
- Answering an email
- Preparing for an appointment
- Showing a before and after
- Close-ups of your hands working
- Details around your space
B-roll ideas for a product-based business
Film:
- Packaging an order
- Unboxing a product
- Using the product
- Product details and close-ups
- Restocking
- Preparing shipments
- Your packaging
- Products on shelves
- Behind the scenes of making something
- Different ways to use or style the product
B-roll ideas for a personal brand
Your B-roll might include:
- Working at your desk
- Filming content
- Editing
- Taking a phone call
- Writing in a notebook
- Walking into a meeting
- Setting up equipment
- Making your morning coffee
- Packing your work bag
- Working with a client
- Speaking at an event
- The everyday parts of your job
And yes, sometimes the coffee clip is allowed.
We just don’t need 37 of them.
Get more than one shot
One of the easiest ways to make your B-roll more useful is to film the same action from multiple perspectives.
Instead of filming yourself working on your laptop once:
Get a wide shot.
Get a close-up of your hands.
Film over your shoulder.
Get a detail shot of the screen or workspace.
Now one tiny action gives you several clips you can edit together.
You don’t necessarily need more things to film.
Sometimes you just need more ways of filming the thing you’re already doing.
Keep your clips longer than you think
Please give Future You some room to edit.
Don’t hit record, perform the action for 0.7 seconds, and immediately stop.
Start recording.
Pause.
Do the action.
Pause again.
Then stop.
Those extra seconds give you clean space on either side of the movement, making the clip much easier to use later.
You can always trim footage.
You cannot travel back in time and ask yourself to keep recording for two more seconds.
You don’t need to know exactly how you’ll use it
This is one of my favorite things about building a B-roll library.
Not every clip needs a Reel concept attached to it when you film.
Capture useful, evergreen footage of your business while you’re already doing the work.
Then when you need to make a voiceover, explain something, hop on a trend, promote a service, or create a quick text-overlay Reel, you aren’t starting from zero.
You already have something to work with.
Start filming the boring stuff
The things that feel completely ordinary to you are often the exact things your audience doesn’t get to see.
Your process.
Your tools.
Your workspace.
Your hands doing the thing you’re good at.
The tiny steps that happen before the finished product or service exists.
That’s all content.
So the next time someone tells you to “get some B-roll,” don’t overthink it.
Set up your phone.
Film what you’re already doing.
Get a few different angles.
And keep the camera rolling for an extra couple of seconds.
Your camera roll will thank you later.
