What is 'b-roll' in reality TV editing?

What is 'b-roll' in reality TV editing?

Richard Hall (Reality TV Producer) gives expert video advice on: How are 'reaction shots' used in reality TV editing?; What is a 'story arc'? and more...

B-roll is an old expression that comes from film. It used to be shot on A-roll and B-roll. A-roll is audio and B-roll is film, the picture, and somehow that expression has stuck around. There's B-roll that you shoot that are scene-setters. If you're establishing the town where the house is where the family lives, you've got to go out and shoot B-roll of the town. If it's a quaint little town, you've got to shoot quaint. And then you've got to shoot the street where the house is, and if it's a quaint little street you've got to shoot the street. If you've got to shoot the house, you want to shoot the house and have a time lapse camera to see the sunrise and sunset over it and things like that. That's classic B-roll: scene-setting stuff or if you need to establish other things, but they usually have to do with location.