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A-roll versus B-roll

Are you familiar with the difference between A-roll and B-roll footage?

If you're new to filming or you've commissioned work before, you may have heard these terms being thrown around.

Simplistically, A-roll is your principle footage, which is usually used to tell a story. For example, if you're shooting a head-ups interview with someone this would be your A-roll footage. But if this interview only consisted of someone speaking to camera for five minutes straight, there's a strong chance that the video would quickly become boring and the viewer would not remain engaged.

B-roll on the other hand is supplementary footage that is used to support or add depth and context to A-roll. Using B-roll footage helps break up a common A-roll interview shot, making the whole thing much more engaging. For example, if the interviewee is talking about the housing market in a particular town, the B-roll footage could be scenes of typical houses in the community or even shots of key landmarks in the town.

To see what this all means in practice, check out the award video interview our sister company England's Finest Photography did back in 2017.


If you have any additional questions about the difference between A-roll and B-roll or you want to find out more information about how Property Video Solutions can help your business please visit our website.

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