Plan A: B-roll (page 2)

Problem B

You are taping an interview of a soldier who has just returned from Iraq. He is telling you some incredible war stories, but you know you can't fly to Iraq to collect the B-roll. Your mind starts working quickly. You ask him if he has photos from his deployment, but he didn't have a still camera. You ask him if you can get access to go shoot in the local military base, but he says no way. What do you do?

You notice the soldier is wringing his hands and shaking his foot nervously while he is talking about a particularly crazy battle scene. When you are finished collecting your A-roll footage, tell your subject you want to shoot some random video without audio. Disconnect your external mic and zoom in on his foot. Keeping half an eye on the framing of your shot on the LCD, ask him to tell you some more detail of one of the crazier battles. Tell him you are not recording audio, which may relax him, enabling him to get deeper into details which he may have been more careful about previously. Hopefully, he will start wringing his hands and shaking his feet again, and these gestures will make great cut-aways. Best-case scenario, and less intrusive, would be to use a dedicated camera- person while you, as director, talk with your subject.

Problem C

The opposing political party in your town has won control of government, and they are going to enact a host of new, exciting initiatives that include employment for more local citizens, building new buildings and changing social services. You call the government offices, and they tell you they are too busy to meet with you for an interview before your deadline, but they can give you pre-recorded speeches and audio sound bites to use. Now you need a whole lot of B-roll. This one is easy.

After listening to the audio and assembling a rough audio cut, you head out and shoot various government buildings, construction workers on the job, happy-looking business-looking people walking during rush hour, and all the other general B-roll shots you can think of to show this new beginning. But your piece is missing that certain something, that pizzazz. What do you do?

Think outside the obvious 'new beginning box' of people, government and society. Get poetic. Think of analogies for new beginnings. How about extreme close-ups (XCU) of dew hanging off vibrant green buds on a tree that viewers will recognize as a local breed. XCUs make excellent B-roll footage. Maybe you can acquire, or better yet shoot, if your camera has the ability, a time-lapse shot of a spring flower sprouting from the ground. Think of the analogy of springtime to show a new beginning and creatively cut the shots into your work.

Get It, Got It, Good

In the world of Hollywood and network television, it is rare that a cameraperson is also the editor. On the other hand, in our world, it is the rule, with few exceptions. B-roll is a subject that both cameraperson and editor must be conscious of. But if the director and/or shooter do not collect it, you (as the editor) are in big trouble. If you are solely the editor and not involved in the shooting of a project, make sure the director and/or shooter collects an ample amount of B-roll. If you come onto a project after it is shot, I would suggest you make sure there is plenty of B-roll before you shake hands or sign a deal memo locking you into a piece that is going to be difficult to edit.

Remember, B-roll could very well be the Band-Aid that will save the cuts in your project.

Contributing editor Morgan Paar is a nomadic producer, shooter and editor, making documentaries worldwide.