B-roll is supplementary footage in a video: shots of the product, the interior, details, hands at work, the city outside the window. It’s edited over the main layer (the A-roll), which is the person talking to camera or the narration. The name dates back to the days of film, when the main footage and the cutaways sat on separate rolls.
Why shoot B-roll?
Viewers get bored of a talking head after 15 seconds or so. Cutaways give a video rhythm, illustrate what’s being said (‘our team designs…’ plus a shot of the team at work), hide cuts in the speech and keep audience retention up. In short formats (Reels, TikTok), changing shots every 1-2 seconds is one of the main ways to hold attention.
In practice: shoot more than you think you need
The most common problem in the edit is too little B-roll. When we produce video ads, we plan a B-roll shot list at the script stage (product details, people, space, emotions) and shoot with plenty to spare, because a reshoot after the fact costs more than an extra hour on set. The good news for smaller budgets: you can shoot decent B-roll on a phone, as long as you know what each shot is for.
Related terms: audience retention, hook.
