How to shoot b-roll video

The key to good video is shooting sequences. A sequence is a wide, medium and close-up shot of the same object or person. When shooting video, you want to mimic how humans see the world. A person will cognitively process visuals in steps. For example, if a person walks into a room looking for a chair to sit on during a public speaking event. That person will walk into a room and see the whole room (wide-shot), then they will see a few people (medium-shot), and then they will spot an empty chair (close-up).

I also limit the shooting of zooms and pans by my students. A pan is recording video as the camera horizontally moves across the room. First, movement can look pixelated online, diminishing the quality. Second, the shot lasts a long time if shot properly. Third, our eyes do not zoom. We can not look at someone and zoom to them. Thus, it is better to shoot shots when shooting video for the web.

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