Stock FAQs

what is stock footage in film

by Prof. Leatha DuBuque I Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Stock footage, also known as stock video or B-roll, is pre-filmed footage that can be purchased and used in a variety of projects and films. Stock footage can be licensed and saves filmmakers the time and money of shooting original material.Mar 8, 2021

What is considered stock footage?

Stock footage, also called stock video or b-roll, is a piece of video content, a clip or shot (normally shorter than 1 minute, but there are exceptions) inserted in a larger video production and that was not shot specifically for said production. These clips can be outtakes from other projects or archive shots.

Do films use stock footage?

Even big Hollywood films and television shows use stock footage. In fact, often in TV, the production will film exteriors that are going to be their “stock footage” for the show. The editor uses that footage by inserting it in between interior scenes when there's a change in location.

How do you stock a footage?

There are quite a few websites where you can sell your footage, but we mainly suggest Pond5 and BlackBox. You can join for free and upload your own footage. The difference between them is mainly in: On Pond5, as an exclusive provider, you get higher sales percentage.Nov 15, 2021

What does footage mean in film?

Footage is a section of film or video that's been shot or recorded. A TV news station might play dramatic footage of a tornado's aftermath. A film clip or a scene from a movie in production are both footage. Part of a film editor's job is combining all the best footage into a longer piece.

Is all stock footage free?

All Pixabay stock videos are free to use both commercially and non-commercially. However, there are a number of rules that apply. So make sure to check the Pixabay license which outlines how their content can and can't be used.

Do Hollywood movies use stock footage?

Hollywood uses it

Now, just because Hollywood does it doesn't mean you should too -- but really -- they use it -- all the time. It's safe to say that every production is trying to save as much money as possible regardless of the budget; this goes for major productions, too.
Apr 23, 2015

Can you sell stock footage?

You can sell two types of stock footage: commercial or editorial. It's pretty straightforward — commercial footage helps sell products while editorial footage is used by media outlets to help tell stories.Mar 15, 2019

What are stock media?

Stock media is media available for reuse by others. Related to stock footage, film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material.

What is royalty free stock footage?

In few words, Royalty Free Videos are stock video clips that are under a Royalty Free license type. This licensing model grants you a number of usage rights over the content, for a one-time and usually very low fee. Important! The license name refers to the absence of royalty obligations.

What is difference between video and footage?

As nouns the difference between footage and video

is that footage is (uncountable) an amount of film or tape that has been used to record something while video is television, television show, movie.

Can a picture be called footage?

Since the term originates in film, footage is only used for recorded images, such as film stock, videotapes or digitized clips – on live television, the signals from video cameras are called sources instead.

What is footage in montage?

A video montage is a series of short video clips sequenced together to tell a story. A documentary might use a montage to set the scene at the beginning of the film, while a drama montage might show various scenes that advance the plot cut together to build suspense.

What is stock footage?

Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock footage is called a "stock shot" or a "library shot". Stock footage may have appeared in previous ...

Why do commercials use stock footage?

Stock footage is often used in commercials when there is not enough money or time for production. More often than not these commercials are political or issue-oriented in nature. Sometimes it can be used to composite moving images that create the illusion of having on-camera performers appear to be on location.

What is stock footage?

Stock footage allows you to include images of whichever location or situation you need at a fraction of the cost of shooting, and it's there, ready to be used right when you need it.

Why do filmmakers shy away from stock footage?

This is probably the biggest reason filmmakers shy away from using stock footage -- because it looks like stock footage. You don't want to risk having your audience being pulled out of the moment because of a shot that does look like the rest of your film, which is why it's important to make sure that you 1.) use the highest quality possible, ...

What is film stock?

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector.

What is the difference between a camera stock and a print stock?

The distinction between camera stocks and print stocks involves a difference in the recording process. When the work print or edit master has been approved, the Original Camera Negative (OCN) is assembled by a negative cutter using the edited work print or EDL ( edit decision list) as a guide. A series of Answer Prints are then made from the OCN. During the Answer Print stage, corrections in the film's density and color are corrected (timed) to the filmmakers' tastes. Interpositive (IP) prints are struck from the OCN, checked to make sure they look the same as the custom timed Answer Print, and then each IP is used to make one or more Dupe Negative (DN) copies. The release prints are then generated from the DN (s). Recently, with the development of digital intermediate (DI), it has become possible to completely edit, composite visual effects, and color grade the image digitally at full resolution and bit-depth. In this workflow, the answer print is generated digitally and then written out to the IP stage using a laser film printer.

When did film formats become standardized?

Between 1900 and 1910, film formats gradually became standardized and film stocks improved. A number of film gauges were made. Eastman increased the length of rolls to 200 feet without major adjustments to the emulsion, retaining a large market share.

When was Kodak color film first used?

Experiments with colour films were made as early as the late 19th century, but practical colour film was not commercially viable until 1908, and for amateur use when Kodak introduced Kodachrome for 16 mm in 1935 and 8 mm in 1936. Commercially successful colour processes used special cameras loaded with black-and-white separation stocks rather than colour negative. Kinemacolor (1908–1914), Technicolor processes 1 through 4 (1917–1954), and Cinecolor used one, two or three strips of monochrome film stock sensitized to certain primary colours or exposed behind colour filters in special cameras. Technicolor introduced a colour reversal stock, called Monopack, for location shooting in 1941; it was ultimately a 35 mm version of Kodachrome that could be used in standard motion picture cameras.

What is safety film?

Originally the highly flammable cellulose nitrate was used. In the 1930s, film manufacturers introduced " safety film " with a cellulose triacetate plastic base. All amateur film stocks were safety film, but the use of nitrate persisted for professional releases. Kodak discontinued the manufacture of nitrate base in 1951, and the industry transitioned entirely to safety film in 1951 in the United States and by 1955 internationally. Since the late 1990s, almost all release prints have used polyester film stock.

What are the layers of silver halide in color film?

These end up creating yellow, cyan, and magenta layers in the negative after development.

What is the critical property of a stock?

A critical property of a stock is its film speed, determined by ASA or its sensitivity to light listed by a measurement on the raw stock which must be chosen with care. Speed determines the range of lighting conditions under which the film can be shot, and is related to granularity and contrast, which influence the look of the image. The stock manufacturer will usually give an exposure index (EI) number equal to the ASA which they recommend exposing for. However, factors such as forced or non-standard development (such as bleach bypass or cross processing ), compensation for filters or shutter angle, as well as intended under- and over-exposure may cause the cinematographer to actually "rate" the stock differently from the EI. This new rating is not a change to the stock itself — it is merely a way of calculating exposure without figuring out the compensation after each light reading.

Is stock footage pre graded?

The majority of stock footage available in today's market is pre-graded, which means its color profile is already built-in. This can be difficult to work with, especially if you’re taking clips from multiple sources to create a single narrative.

What is a log video?

LOG is a video file type with some aspects already baked into it, like white balance. This video file type allows some professional cameras to record over 14 stops, while originally, cameras could only capture about 5 stops. This change pushes editing capabilities to a whole new level.

Is Shutterstock royalty free?

While Shutterstock is most well-known for its library of stock photos, they offer millions of royalty free stock video clips, too. You can find over 15,000 4K ungraded footage clips on Shutterstock.

What is an ungraded RAW?

Ungraded RAW refers to the data, so while many video cameras capture data and convert that into a watchable video file, RAW is the data from the camera’s sensors. RAW footage is completely untouched, so the footage can be transformed into any file and edited in any way you like.

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Overview

Stock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures, and file footage is film or video footage that can be used again in other films. Stock footage is beneficial to filmmakers as it saves shooting new material. A single piece of stock footage is called a "stock shot" or a "library shot". Stock footage may have appeared in previous productions but may also be outtakesor footage shot for previous productions and not used. Examples of stock footage that might be utilized ar…

History

Stock footage companies began to emerge in the mid-1980s, offering clips mastered on Betacam SP, VHS, and film formats. Many of the smaller libraries that specialized in niche topics such as extreme sports, technological or cultural collections were bought out by larger concerns such as Corbis or Getty Images over the next couple of decades.

Films and television

Stock footage can be used to integrate news footage or notable figures into a film. For instance, the Academy Award-winning film Forrest Gump used stock footage extensively, modified with computer-generated imagery to portray the lead character meeting such historic figures such as John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and John Lennon.

Corporate usage

Companies throughout the world use stock footage in their video productions for in-house meetings, annual conventions, seminars, and other events. It has become popular to videotape interviews of CEOs and other VIPs using a green screen backdrop. When the green is keyed out during post-production, stock footage or stock shots are inserted, to impart a particular message.

Public domain

One of the largest producers of public domain stock footage is the United States government. All videos produced by the United States military, NASA, and other agencies are available for use as stock footage. There are a number of companies that own the copyrights to large libraries of stock footage and charge filmmakers a fee for using it, but they rarely demand royalties. Stock footage comes from a myriad of sources including the public domain, other movies and televisi…

Format

With each introduction of new standard, it requires reshooting, rerendering, or rescanning the popular footage as well as new images to show the capabilities of the next standard. Betacam SP, VHS, and early digital footage was shot in standard-definition (SD), in 4:3 aspect ratio. Next came a higher resolution format, High Definition (HD), with a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is closer to cinema …

Libraries

Notable stock footage libraries and archives include:
• Adobe Stock
• Al Jazeera Creative Commons
• Alamy
• Associated Press

See also

• Archival research
• Clip show
• Free content
• Production music
• Stock photography

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