B-roll Guide
This page is intended as a guide to help you film a staff interview or update which can be included in a corporate information or training video produced by me at Island 41. To keep costs low and make filming as easy as possible, the interview should be conducted over a Zoom or Teams call (and I can be on the call to make sure everything goes according to plan). As you will know from your experience, the quality of video and audio on Zoom or Teams is not the best, and so those involved in the interview will need to use their smartphones to capture the video and audio, as this will produce near-broadcast quality recordings.
Example scenario: A short interview between your CEO, who is the architect for a new way of working at your organisation, and a manager who is implementing and embedding those changes throughout their team or department.
The scenario above assumes that it is a two-handed interview, which could either be two colleagues in conversation about a new process or one person prompting the other with questions that elicit responses, but it could just as easily be only one person being interviewed on camera. Once you have worked out your scenario, who will be on camera and what they are going to say, there are two main considerations to address before filming can take place, as well as some general guidelines that can really help improve the overall look and feel of your B-roll video.
1. Video – don’t cross the line:
Imagine an interview between two characters sat on either side of a table, and then imagine that there is an invisible line that stretches directly between them, extending infinitely behind them. If you want to film them having a conversation (ie appearing to look at each other on screen) the camera cannot cross this line. If it does, then one of the images will appear to flip and they will not be looking at each other.
Now clearly, the diagram above shows a studio setting, and you won’t be using this as your two interviewees will be speaking to each other over a Zoom or Teams meeting, so all you have to do is get each person to position their smartphones slightly to one side of their computers – but make sure one puts theirs on the left-hand side and the other on the right-hand side. Make sure that the phones are at eye-level to avoid filming at an awkward angle and either on a tripod or supported on something like a stack of books. You also might want to test each phone to see whether the front or back camera gives a better picture.
With all the equipment set up like this, the two people can speak with each other directly on Zoom or Teams, which will help the interview feel and look natural, and the videos captured on both smartphones will show each person looking slightly off camera (one to the left and one to the right) – which is essential for the edit to show them speaking to each other. This takes care of the video and is the first consideration that needs time and planning to get right. It’s only fair to say that the more time, planning and creativity you employ to get the setting right, the better the result will be.
But what about the sound?
2. Audio – don’t blur the line
Note: In order to get clean and crisp audio, you’ll need to make sure that the people conducting the interview are in as quiet a space as possible, as any background noise on the recordings will be almost impossible to remove during post-production.
Clearly the people conducting the interview are going to need to hear each other speak, and the chances are high that in course of their conversation, they might naturally interrupt or speak over each other. To make editing possible in post-production, I am going to need a clean audio file of each person speaking, so the easiest way to achieve this is to ask both of them to wear earbuds (as opposed to headphones, as that might not look so good on the video) so that their voice is the only one that their smartphone will record. If possible, ask them to wear just one earbud in the ear furthest away from their smartphone so as to hide it from view. This means that they can both hear and see each other during the conversation, but the smartphones will see and hear just one person.
These separate recordings can then be spliced together in a sequence so they are seen speaking to each other in turn – you can click on the image above to see an animated representation of an edited conversation. Think of it as a TV interview where you see one person speaking at a time, and the view switches between the two; they won’t be both appearing on screen at the same time.
In the case of only one person being interviewed on camera for your B-roll sequence, I would still advise using this set up as it will then be possible for you (or perhaps me) to interview them and their responses are then used in the same way – rather like a TV news reporter, but looking slightly off camera is just as acceptable and effective as looking into it.
This edited sequence can then be used to add content, context or colour to the main video, referred to or introduced by me as a part of the narrative.
3. Other things to think about
The fact that your B-roll video is not being filmed in a studio is no reason not to make it the best it can be, and to help you with this there are a number of things you can do to help you achieve a really good result.
Lighting. Think about the natural light in your space. It might be nice to film your subject with a panoramic office view behind them, but this causes two problems. Firstly, there may be more light behind the subject than in front and this can make the subject appear dark or in silhouette. Secondly, the view itself may distract viewers from what is being said. Arranging the subject, computer and phone in such a way that the natural light is out of view from the smartphone off to one side will solve this and can help light the subject. In addition to this, try various configurations with the ceiling and any desk lamps to achieve the best look. Harsh white light works well on surfaces, but tends to make faces appear pale – so a well positioned desk lamp with warm light can help.
Background. The simpler the background, the better the result. As the final edit of the B-roll video may well involve switching back and forth between two videos, a less cluttered and fussy background means the viewer will find it easier to focus on the subject. Strategically positioned plants, awards and photographs are all well and good – but multicoloured wallpaper, other people close by and half-open doors might distract. A busy office background at a distance might look good – provided there is not too much movement or sound to take focus away from the subject.
4. Final reminder
Having gone to the lengths detailed in this document to make sure your video is the best it can be, please remember to start the smartphones recording before the interview begins. I know how easy it can be to forget…
Good luck!
