When in doubt, shoot B-roll
Before shooting RAAM, a seasoned documentarian told me, “shoot plenty of B-roll”. Man, they weren’t kidding. While editing RAAM, I’m finding that I need way more establishing shots & B-roll. Establishing shots are wide shots that show you where you are: main street in a tiny desert town, etc. It’s a type shot called “B-roll”. B-roll shots also include other little details that are handy in visually describing the setting or event: a sign showing the city’s name; close up of hands working on a bike; etc.
I have some B-roll, but not nearly enough. As a result, it’s hard for the viewer to figure out where we are and just how desolate some of these places are. It also gives me fewer editing. B-roll is an excellent way to hide other mistakes: if there’s some camera mixup while someone’s being interesting, you just cut to the B-roll for that section while leaving the audio on for the original shot, then back to the original when the camera is good again. The audience things you were showing some interesting detail of the conversation when you were really covering your butt. Less B-roll means less to cover your butt, and that just ain’t pretty.
