When editing documentary or promotional videos, there is a fairly standard structure that you’ll most likely be working with. You’ll have an interview or speaker track. This will be someone talking on camera, either straight to camera or off-camera, documentary style. Then you’ll have b-roll footage to work with related to whatever the video is about.

The first rule in using b-roll is to use clips related to what the speaker is talking about. This may seem obvious, but I’ve seen so many videos where the b-roll doesn’t match what the speaker is talking about. I think to myself – what is going on here! I understand that you may not always have perfect b-roll that matches what they’re talking about. Just try your hardest to match.

The second rule is to always cut away to more than one b-roll shot. I don’t know if it is psychological or what, but videos are more favorable when you edit 3+ clips of b-roll together before cutting back to the interviewee. Try never to cut to one b-roll shot and straight back to the interviewee. It just feels awkward.

• Rule 1 – match your b-roll to what the speaker is talking about
• Rule 2 – cut away to multiple b-roll clips, not just 1

I hope you enjoyed this quick little tip. Let me know if you have any tips in the comments below!

Cool! Well I hope you enjoyed this quick tip. If you’re interested in learning more about video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, check out my complete course:

Cheers,
Phil