Guide
Types of b-roll: 7 kinds, from process shots to establishing shots
Updated
B-roll is the footage shown while someone keeps talking, also called a cutaway. The 7 types are process shots, screen recordings, photos, close-ups, establishing shots, your own footage and stock footage.
In short
- The 7 types of b-roll are process shots, screen recordings, photos, close-ups, establishing shots, your own footage and stock footage.
- Process shots and product close-ups work as proof, because they show your real work and product.
- Screen recordings and photos cost nothing to make, and no one else has the same ones.
- Stock footage suits general things like weather or traffic. Your own clips suit anything about your business.
- A b-roll clip works best when it appears on the exact words it shows.
- types of b-roll, each best at showing something different
- 7
- types you can make without filming: screen recordings and photos
- 2
- for a finished 30-second Cutroom video with b-roll, on the Lite plan
- Under $2
The 7 types of b-roll
Five of the seven say what the clip shows, and the table below has one sentence each type fits. The other two say where the clip comes from: you filmed it, or you took it from a stock library.
- Your own footage is anything you film yourself: your premises, your product, your work, your results.
- Stock footage is someone else's clip from a library like Pexels or Pixabay, showing something general.
What each type shows, and a sentence it fits
Pick the type by what the sentence says, not by what happens to be in your folder.
| Type | What it shows | A sentence it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Process shot | Hands doing the work, from start to finished | "Here is how we clean every filter." |
| Screen recording | Software, a chart or a listing, recorded from your screen | "This is what the dashboard showed." |
| Photo with motion | A still photo with a slow zoom or pan | "This is what it looked like before." |
| Product close-up | The product itself, close enough to see the detail | "Look at the stitching." |
| Establishing shot | Where it happens, in one wide shot | "At our workshop on Main Street..." |
Type: Process shot
- What it shows
- Hands doing the work, from start to finished
- A sentence it fits
- "Here is how we clean every filter."
Type: Screen recording
- What it shows
- Software, a chart or a listing, recorded from your screen
- A sentence it fits
- "This is what the dashboard showed."
Type: Photo with motion
- What it shows
- A still photo with a slow zoom or pan
- A sentence it fits
- "This is what it looked like before."
Type: Product close-up
- What it shows
- The product itself, close enough to see the detail
- A sentence it fits
- "Look at the stitching."
Type: Establishing shot
- What it shows
- Where it happens, in one wide shot
- A sentence it fits
- "At our workshop on Main Street..."
Which types of b-roll work best as proof?
Process shots and product close-ups. They show the thing you claim, so viewers see it instead of taking your word for it.
- A process shot is proof because the viewer sees your hands doing the thing you claim.
- Use a process shot when you talk about how something is done, like cleaned by hand or made fresh that morning.
- Use a product close-up when you talk about the product itself, like the stitching, the seal or the finish.
- Both have to be your own footage, because no stock library has your process or your product.
A product close-up, full screen in a vertical video
The clip covers the screen while the sentence is about the product. The speaker's voice keeps going underneath.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Should you use stock footage or your own footage?
Use both, each for different sentences. Stock shows a general idea, and your own footage shows your business.
- Stock footage fits things any business could show, like three seconds of winter, a highway or a busy gym.
- Your own footage is best for anything about you, like your premises, your product and your results.
- A stock clip under a claim about your business shows someone else's business, so viewers trust the claim less.
B-roll you can make without filming
Screen recordings and photos cost nothing to make, and no other business has the same ones.
- A screen recording shows the real work of advisors, recruiters and anyone who works on a computer.
- Blur or crop every client name before a screen recording goes into a video.
- Photos work for things that only exist as photos: the before state, the old premises, a certificate.
- Add a slow zoom or pan to every photo. A photo that does not move looks like the video froze.
How to use an establishing shot
An establishing shot shows where something happens. One per short video is enough.
- You do not need a drone. A shopfront you walk toward, a street sign or the view from your door works.
- Put it early in the video and keep it short.
- End the video on the person or the product, not on the establishing shot.
5 b-roll shots every business should film
Film them vertical, hold each shot for about ten seconds, and move the phone slowly or not at all. Only two or three seconds of each clip ends up in the finished video, so the rest gives you room to trim.
- Your hands doing your actual work, close enough to fill a vertical frame.
- The front of the place you work, filmed as you walk toward it.
- Your tools laid out, whatever tools means in your trade.
- The thing a customer takes home, like the keys, the report or the finished product in its box.
- A slow shot of the area you serve, with something local people will recognize.
Where Cutroom fits
Cutroom puts b-roll on the exact words it shows. You upload one clip of you talking, and it uses your own clips first, then free stock.
- You upload one clip of you talking, up to 3 minutes long. You can also upload your own clips and photos.
- Cutroom uses your own clips first where they fit, then searches millions of free stock clips and photos.
- Highlight a phrase in the transcript and a clip covers exactly those words. Put any clip full screen, on a small card or in a bottom band.
- It cannot film your process shots or close-ups. You film those yourself.
- A 30-second video costs 110 credits. Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, which is about 11 videos.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom mark; Lite removes it.
How Cutroom adds b-roll to your video
One clip of you talking in, one vertical video with b-roll on your words out.
Upload one clip
Up to 3 minutes of you talking
Cutroom finds b-roll
Your own clips first, then free stock
Highlight a phrase
A clip covers exactly those words
Export
A vertical MP4, 20 credits per minute
Questions people ask
- What are the main types of b-roll?
- There are seven: process shots, screen recordings, photos with motion, product close-ups, establishing shots, your own footage and stock footage. All of them are also called cutaways, which is the general word for anything shown while the voice keeps going.
- Which type of b-roll is best for a talking head video?
- Process shots and product close-ups, because they show your real work. If you work at a desk, a screen recording does the same job. Stock footage suits passing mentions, not claims about your business.
- Is a screen recording b-roll?
- Yes. B-roll is any footage shown while the voice keeps going, and a screen recording counts. Record at full resolution, crop to the part that matters, and blur names first.
- How many types of b-roll should one video use?
- Two or three kinds in a 30-second video, as long as each clip shows what is being said at that moment. A 30-second video has room for about four to six clips, because each one is on screen for two or three seconds.
- Do photos count as b-roll?
- Yes, with a slow zoom or pan on them. A clear photo of the right thing is better than a clip that is only loosely related. Some things only exist as photos, like the before state, the old shop or a certificate.
- Does Cutroom add b-roll for me?
- Yes. Cutroom searches millions of free stock clips and photos as part of the edit, and uses your own uploaded clips first where they fit. It cannot film your process shots or close-ups for you.
- Can I reuse the same b-roll in many videos?
- Yes, and most businesses do. Reuse your premises, process and area clips as often as you like. The one to watch is a clip so recognizable that viewers notice it, like your own front door in every video.
Pick the type that shows what you say, and let Cutroom put it on the right words. Your first video is free.