B-roll

The A-roll is your main footage — the interview, the presenter, the expert talking. B-roll is everything around it: the product in use, hands at work, the workspace, a street scene. It makes a story concrete and gives the video editor footage to lay over a cut, so an edit in the interview doesn't show up as a visible jump (that visible jump is a jump cut; the shot you lay over it is a cutaway).

Work from what is actually said: note which shot supports each statement literally or associatively, and film a handful of five to ten second shots for it. Vary the framing — wide for context, medium for the action, detail for nuance — and keep the camera as still as you can; short, calm shots edit far more easily than long, swinging ones. Roll a few seconds before and after the action so you have margin when cutting.

Record location sound as well. Room tone, tools or office noise underneath the edit makes the footage more believable than music alone. Watch continuity while filming: same clothing, same lighting, same direction of movement, or it shows the moment you place shots side by side.

In marketing video, B-roll is often the difference between a talking head and something people actually watch through. Shoot wider than you need (for example 4K for a 1080p edit) so you can reframe later and cut vertical variants for social. On a website the same footage works as background or a short loop — muted and brief.