Are you looking for good B-roll? Well, the cheapest and easiest way to get what you need is to shoot it yourself - thus giving you ultimate control over the shots you will get. But shooting it yourself is not always an option. That's when stock and archival footage come into play. There is a lot of B-roll footage out there so here are some tips on how to get what you need.
First, figure out what type of footage will work for your project? Do you need standard definition or high definition video? Will you need long clips or short clips? Are you looking for clean footage or something more graphical? Next, consider how much time and money you are willing to spend to get the type of footage you want.
I suggest starting with internet search to pin-point the type of footage you need. Keep in mind that it is often hard to find good footage for free.
If I am looking for footage from a particular industry, I will may search specific companies or associations for that industry to see if they have any footage available. They often do and are willing to share it at no charge. Just look under the "media" or "press" section of their websites or give them a call. I get a lot of good airplane and travel footage that way.
If you are looking to keep costs down try finding "public domain" or "royalty free" footage (meaning it is free to use) Just take note that "public domain" or "royalty free" footage often has a transfer or download fee. The National Archives is a good place to look for older footage that is generally in the public domain. (such as WWII, film shot by the military, Universal News reels, presidential speeches) if you are in the Washington, DC area or know someone in the DC area that can physically go search the Archives for you. Most of the footage is free to use but there is a small transfer free.
A number of United States government organizations provide stock video footage that is in the public domain. On some, like the White House website, you can download directly from the site. Others, like the Census Bureau website, require you have order the videos which they will send to you free of charge. Here is a very small sample U.S, agencies that have B-roll footage:
• White House
• U.S. Census
• NASA
• National Institutes of Health
Wikipedia has a nice list of public domain images - mostly photographs but some video footage as well.
News outlets have some of the better B-roll though they can get pricey. If you are looking for something a little more fair on the pricing side, try Gannett Video Enterprises (GVE). They have 22 television stations in 19 markets. They can fulfill many types of b-roll requests but are most commonly use as an archival resource. Their clients are usually folks who need B-roll for a specific story such as murder trials, severe weather, caught-on-tape, things like that.
I have recently stumbled upon Pond 5. It has a lot of shorter clips that individuals upload and then set the price. They have HD footage, music and sound effects as well.
Here are some other recommendations that have come my way but that I haven't tried yet.
• Public Domain Comedy Video has a lot of old school (black and white era) comedy video.
• Videohive has a variety of B-roll footage and motion graphics.
• Getty Images
• Istock footage has pretty cheap video and other images
• Footage.net
• ThoughtEquity
• Archive.org
And remember, always be clear about the cost and rights of the footage before using it. Some footage is priced per clip while others are priced per second. Some video may have a cheap fee for broadcast but may cost considerable more for internet use. When in doubt, call or email the footage holder with your questions.
Visit http://www.docsandtv.com for more production tips and to learn more about the author, Sydnye White. Sydnye White is a National Emmy Nominated Producer who's credits include the series Home Made Simple for TLC and Moneywise with Kelvin Boston for PBS. Her documentaries include Great Books: The Autobiography of Malcolm X for The Learning Channel and the Discovery Channel's Detroit SWAT.
