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  • - What's up, everybody?

  • Peter McKinnon here and today, (clapping) hmmm,

  • we're talkin' about B-roll.

  • What it is, what it ain't.

  • How you can use it to make your footage,

  • your films, and your videos, VLOGs, whatever, way better.

  • And now that I think about it,

  • I should have probably cut some B-roll over that intro.

  • So maybe we should redo that?

  • What's up, guys?

  • Peter McKinnon here and today, we're talkin'

  • about B-roll, what it is, and how you can use

  • it to make your footage and your videos better.

  • (rock and roll background music)

  • What is B-roll?

  • B-roll is alternative, or supplemental footage

  • that you can use to cut on top of your main angle.

  • So if this frame was my main angle,

  • I could use B-roll to overlay and cut

  • on top of this shot, anything I want,

  • to make something more interesting, to tell

  • a point, to bring you in a direction

  • that I wanna bring you into, or simply

  • to just cover up the fact that this is my face rambling

  • for the next 10 minutes.

  • Because let's be honest, I tend to do that.

  • So to start, as an example, I'm gonna use the VLOG.

  • A lot of VLOGs I start with a cinematic sort

  • of intro, using B-roll shots to kind

  • of tell the mood, portray how I'm feeling

  • that day, where I am, what the weather's like,

  • and it kind of sets the tone for the episode.

  • So let's say I'm gonna go do a photo shoot in a forest.

  • We're gonna start the VLOG off in my car,

  • but I'm not gonna use any B-roll.

  • This is what that would look like.

  • Choo!

  • What's goin' on everybody?

  • We are outside a really cool forest right now

  • that has some awesome light.

  • So we're gonna pack up our gear,

  • and we're gonna go inside and shoot,

  • let off some smoke, get some cool B-roll,

  • and yeah, we're gonna go do that right now.

  • Okay, so that was fun.

  • We are freezing.

  • We're gonna get back in the car now

  • and go do something else 'cause it is way too cold outside.

  • The wind is just killi...

  • Okay, pretty boring.

  • Not much substance, not much to look at.

  • It wasn't very much fun to watch.

  • Yeah, just not feelin' it at all.

  • Let's see what that looks like again using B-roll.

  • Choo!

  • What's goin' on everybody?

  • We are outside a really cool forest right now

  • that has some awesome light.

  • So we're gonna pack up our gear

  • and we're gonna go inside and shoot,

  • let off some smoke, get some cool B-roll,

  • and yeah, we're gonna go do that right now.

  • (dramatic offbeat background music)

  • Okay, that looks a lot better.

  • The problem is, I only shot B-roll of us.

  • Me taking pictures, my friend taking pictures.

  • You don't really know where we are,

  • what we're taking pictures of,

  • what we're doing at all.

  • I didn't really give you enough information.

  • So that's when we gotta shoot B-roll

  • with the environment that we're in as well.

  • Cut those two together, it's gonna look like this.

  • (dramatic offbeat background music)

  • (uplifting offbeat background music)

  • So now, we've got something.

  • Now you can see that we're taking pictures of this forest.

  • You can see what we're looking at when you see footage

  • of us looking at something, which just helps

  • fill in the blanks.

  • It helps fill in the gaps and it gives you

  • a more whole experience.

  • How do we take even more B-roll footage?

  • Well, you can use drone footage, you can use your iPhone.

  • Anything goes at all.

  • So let's see what some drone footage would look like.

  • It's like a dance

  • The way that you

  • Shake your head in full denial

  • Love the truth

  • Didn't get a chance

  • To say it loud

  • - It looks pretty good but because this is a VLOG,

  • I wanna shot footage of me using the drone as well

  • because I'm trying to tell a story of my day.

  • I'm trying to tell a story of this photo shoot.

  • So if it's only shots of the footage,

  • if it's only shots from a drone,

  • I'm not really giving you the full picture.

  • So, let's take a look at the drone shots

  • with me operating the drone.

  • It's like a dance the way that you

  • Shake your head in full denial

  • Of the truth

  • Didn't get a chance

  • To say it loud

  • Your secrets catch you pushing down this vow

  • When he was knocking on your door

  • Nobody got in

  • Yeah when you're screaming for a hand

  • Nobody's listening

  • - Now we've got the B-roll of us shooting,

  • we've got the B-roll of our environment,

  • we've got the B-roll of the drone,

  • we got the B-roll of me using the drone.

  • So, how else can we make some cool footage?

  • Well sometimes, you just gotta do cool sh--

  • that looks awesome on camera.

  • So for us, we used some smoke grenades.

  • These thing are awesome.

  • You've probably seen them before.

  • I've used them in many photographs on my Instagram.

  • I'm sure you've seen other Instagramers using them.

  • They are all the rage.

  • If you're gonna use them, don't do it inside

  • or in an area that's gonna get you into trouble.

  • Be smart about it but I'll drop a couple links below

  • on where you can pick them up for yourself.

  • So, what do they do and why do I use them?

  • They do, they just billow smoke,

  • they just billow colored smoke

  • and what's the purpose of them?

  • They look dope, that is it.

  • If you're not into that kinda thing, skip forward.

  • No hard feelings.

  • I'm into that.

  • Pop a flare, billows a bunch of colored smoke,

  • looks badass, yes please, I'll take five.

  • So let's see some footage of this smoke

  • and what that looks like.

  • (offbeat music)

  • So there's not really much context there.

  • This guy's just playing with smoke and it,

  • alright cool, yeah it looks cool but

  • it's completely useless because we didn't show

  • the whole picture.

  • 'Cause we gotta smash together these shots of us

  • shooting, the drone, me using the drone, the smoke,

  • the whole mood, the environment,

  • you gotta use these pieces to complete the meal.

  • Right, it's like throwing all this stuff into one big soup

  • to finish off the dish so that everyone

  • can jump in and enjoy it.

  • Really weird analogy and I think it makes sense,

  • but now something to keep in mind is,

  • I shoot my B-roll, a lot of it at 120 frames a second.

  • Now, why do I do this?

  • Because I feel that it inherently makes your footage

  • look more cinematic when it's slowed down.

  • Do you have to do that?

  • Absolutely not.

  • There's still great B-roll and everything to be shot

  • at 24 frames a second or 30 frames a second.

  • I don't really like 30, I feel it looks a little weird.

  • I don't know why, it just makes me feel like ugh,

  • creepy inside.

  • So if you're gonna shoot 24 frames a second,

  • that's perfectly fine.

  • That would definitely give off a whole different vibe.

  • The slow down of the frame just inherently makes it

  • feel and look more cinematic, my opinion.

  • Now, what you're saying, I don't have an expensive,

  • fancy camera that can do 120 frames a second.

  • Well, if you have an iPhone, the seven plus

  • does 120 frames a second.

  • It does 240 frames a second and it shoots in 4K.

  • I know the Pixel phone has a ridiculous

  • image stabilization.

  • I saw a shot from my friend the other day of him

  • literally one handed driving down a driveway

  • holding his phone out and it looks like he

  • flew a drone, it's insane.

  • So, phone's have come a long way.

  • Don't underestimate them.

  • Now when you combo a 4K smartphone

  • with image stabilization and throw it into

  • a DJI Osmo, you basically got yourself

  • a 4K steady cam rig right there

  • that you can bust out at anytime to shoot incredible B-roll.

  • I use mine, I throw it in the backseat,

  • I throw it in the camera bag.

  • Any time that I am somewhere where I'm like,

  • "Woah, this looks so good."

  • I put my phone on it, I run around for like 20 minutes,

  • my wife's sittin' there waiting for me.

  • This is not a sponsored post, I was not paid

  • to say that by DJI, I just think it's a great product.

  • I get the B-roll because here's the thing.

  • Just because you're not shooting a project

  • doesn't mean that you're not going to need that

  • or could use it down the road.

  • It's important and sometimes, it's really, really helpful

  • to actually shoot a ton of B-roll throughout

  • different trips, throughout your day,

  • throughout the months because you can backlog that

  • into an archive and then if you're shooting something

  • or you're running into a problem and you're editing

  • and you can say, "Do I have any,

  • "I have like 20 minutes of B-roll that I shot

  • "when we were going for that walk in that forest

  • "'cause I had the Osmo in the car

  • "or I just stopped at a traffic light

  • "and filmed the clouds for two minutes

  • "'cause they looked insane that day."

  • That's a really good pro tip for something that

  • you guys can do to just make your stuff better

  • and make sure that you have enough material.

  • You can never shoot too much.

  • The worst thing is when you get back

  • and you're starting to edit and you realize,

  • "I've got a 10 minute clip of this guy in his kitchen

  • "talking about B-roll, but I only have

  • "like two minutes of actual B-roll to cut on top."

  • That's the worst scenario to be in.

  • I would rather be like, "I've got a 10 minute clip

  • "of this guy talking and I have like 15 minutes

  • "of awesome B-roll footage

  • "and I'm not even sure what not to use

  • "because I love all of it."

  • That's where we wanna be.

  • That's the sweet spot.

  • So, all in all now, when we take everything that we've shot

  • and we mash it into one final piece,

  • using the footage at the beginning of me saying

  • we're gonna go on a shoot and then,

  • using all of that B-roll to right at the end,

  • you're gonna get a way more whole experience

  • of our experience on this photo shoot.

  • That would look something like this.

  • Choo.

  • What's going on everybody?

  • We are outside a really cool forest right now

  • that has some awesome light.

  • So we're gonna pack up our gear and we're gonna

  • go inside and shoot.

  • Let off some smoke, get some cool B-roll

  • and yeah, we're gonna go do that right now.

  • (upbeat background music)

  • Okay, so that was fun.

  • We are freezing.

  • We're gonna get back in the car now

  • and go do something else.

  • So that's it guys.

  • That is the crash course in B-roll.

  • I hope you enjoyed it.

  • I hope you got something out of it

  • and I hope that you start to use some of these tips

  • and tricks to start applying these concepts

  • to your own films and VLOGs and projects.

  • Remember, it's the details that matter.

  • When we add all the different layers of details,

  • that just gives us a more rich experience

  • as a viewer and as a filmmaker when we're trying to

  • tell our stories across the world.

  • So, that was a nice deep exit.

  • I think I will leave it there.

  • Thanks so much for watching.

  • Hit that like button, subscribe if you aren't already

  • and I will see you in the next video.

  • Woo, I'm already excited for it

  • and I haven't even done it yet.

  • (upbeat techno music)

  • Don't be afraid, wont' let you fall girl

- What's up, everybody?

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