{"id":456,"date":"2016-03-29T21:38:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T03:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/visualrhetoric\/?p=456"},"modified":"2016-04-15T21:05:37","modified_gmt":"2016-04-16T03:05:37","slug":"using-b-roll-footage-citations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.dwrl.utexas.edu\/visualrhetoric\/2016\/03\/29\/using-b-roll-footage-citations\/","title":{"rendered":"Using “B-roll” footage; citations"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wanted to follow up\u00a0on Alfredo’s and Cuillen’s questions from class today in more depth, especially since both questions help expand our digital literacy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Alfredo asked if Fair Use covered footage from a film used as a transition. \u00a0We know from our Fair Use discussion today that an image that is central to analysis is most firmly protected by the “purpose of the use” pillar of Fair Use. \u00a0But I think our discussion did not explain how what I call “b-roll” footage\u00a0is central to analysis<\/strong>. \u00a0The explanation of why is an important exploration in composition and digital rhetoric, so I want to thank Alfredo for introducing this nuance as a problem for our class project.<\/p>\n

“B-roll” is a term from documentary film-making. \u00a0Anthony Artis explains in more detail below, in this snippet of “Your B-roll is your A-roll<\/a>“:<\/p>\n

“The term ‘B-roll’ comes from the world of film where editors used to use an \u201cA\u201d and a \u201cB\u201d roll of identical footage, before the digital age changed everything. B-roll shots are similar to cutaways in that they help break up the static interview shots, but B-roll plays a more major role in telling a visual documentary story.<\/p>\n

A long-time documentary filmmaker I know actually refuses to use the term B-roll, because she feels it diminishes the importance of these visuals\u2014and she\u2019s right. B-roll should not be a secondary or low priority. It really should be thought of as \u201cA-roll,\u201d because it is the action<\/em> of your story, which serves to reveal character. Without it, you\u2019ve just got a bunch of talking heads\u2026 booor-ing.<\/p>\n


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Even with an engaging storyteller speaking, the audience still needs to see visuals of the scene, settings, characters, and action of the story. An interview or voice-over itself is the narration or literal telling<\/em> of the story. The B-roll is the showing<\/em> of the story. Together they can complement each other by painting a more complete picture. That amazing guitarist could tell us what it was like to play Woodstock (the real one), but we\u2019ve only got half the story until we cut in the B-roll shots that show the multitudes of free-spirited, mud-covered hippies swirling to the music as far as the camera lens can see. A soldier could tell us what it\u2019s like to be in combat, but when we cut in a shot of explosions and a chaotic firefight, his story takes on real human meaning. Now we\u2019ve got a much stronger sense of story than either an interview or B-roll footage alone could have given us.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Think about how your B-roll is functioning in a video essay. \u00a0Like Alfredo says (and I think he’s absolutely right which is why I bothered to go and watch a couple video essays with his question in mind at 9:45 on a Tuesday night),\u00a0tons of video essays use film clips and secondary sources as transitional material. \u00a0<\/strong>It works\u00a0like\u00a0<\/em>the illustrative material that Artis is calling “B-roll”. \u00a0Here’s the big exception to how you’re using your B-roll and how a documentary film maker uses their B-roll (i.e. why the documentary filmmaker can’t claim Fair Use). \u00a0You’re flipping to B-roll when you want to show a bunch of examples of what you’re talking about at once (sort of like a mini-supercut) or when you’re showing a\u00a0secondary source. \u00a0Then you’re cutting back to the big scene you’re analyzing for your “A-roll”. \u00a0Both A and B are functioning together to “paint a more complete [analytical] picture”. \u00a0By this construction, you’re pairing an analytical claim (“Film does this…”) with visual examples. \u00a0Then you’re using a single sustained example to make a more localized claim. \u00a0Your video essay, if it imitates what we’ve watched, does some version of this swap several times–between A-roll and B-roll.<\/p>\n

If your B-roll is neither <\/strong><\/p>\n

a) evidence for your claim nor <\/strong><\/p>\n

b) a secondary source you are bringing into your conversation<\/strong><\/p>\n

then it is likely not covered under Fair Use. \u00a0Source material you use for this purpose from databases of material with the\u00a0appropriate Creative Commons license for your use. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The video essays that have survived copyright strikes do so because they understand this distinction. \u00a0We will talk about this in class more on Thursday. \u00a0If you’re looking for transitional footage that is not covered under Fair Use, here is a great resource guide<\/a> for how to find it. \u00a0The video below explains Creative Commons in 3 minutes! Check it out.<\/p>\n