: recorded video of subjects or locations used to provide supplementary material for a film or television show
Zenovich casts video footage of Williams's manic stage persona, including plenty of B-roll from his various TV and film projects, against found audio interviews that reveal the comedian's quieter side.—
Julia Felsenthal
Julia FelsenthalGoodman and Jacobson are both trained photographers, and often find themselves shooting the produce with one of Butters's two new digital cameras, one for still photography and one for B-roll, in the likely event that she decides to do a television show or a series of how-to DVDs.—Dana Goodyear
Dana GoodyearExamples of B-roll in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Win or lose, the plays will be clipped incessantly, jammed into highlight reels or viral tweets, and B-roll of fans flooding the streets past subway stops adorned in Knicks colors and Timberlands will be plastered all over a thousand documentaries.
—
Kyle Wagner,
New York Daily News,
3 June 2026
No B-roll of an ambulance racing toward Halifax Health.
—
Zach Dean Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
22 May 2026
Local media bustled about the sidelines, snapping photos and recording B-roll, alongside a handful of soccer bloggers and influencers who had come from all around the world.
—
Cheri Lucas Rowlands,
Longreads,
21 Apr. 2026
Reporters often need to have a couple of different versions of the story, so enough B-roll should be shot to allow for this eventuality.
—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
16 Apr. 2026
More chatting, the camera turns away to shoot some B-roll.
—
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
So the movie enlists a few dozen experts in a series of interview clips that, spliced together with illustrative B-roll over the top, form the visual backbone of the movie.
—
Nikita Ostrovsky,
Time,
27 Mar. 2026
Bongino began his first episode back in the host chair of The Dan Bongino Show by playing some B-roll from his FBI tenure, fondly reminiscing on the travels that were taken and the times that were had.
—
Dan Adler,
Vanity Fair,
2 Feb. 2026
Shackleton began collecting interviews and shot evocative B-roll footage of ghostly California freeways and parking lots where the killer may have once lurked.
—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
21 Nov. 2025
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Kyle Wagner,
New York Daily News,
3 June 2026
No B-roll of an ambulance racing toward Halifax Health.
—
Zach Dean Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
22 May 2026
Local media bustled about the sidelines, snapping photos and recording B-roll, alongside a handful of soccer bloggers and influencers who had come from all around the world.
—
Cheri Lucas Rowlands,
Longreads,
21 Apr. 2026
Reporters often need to have a couple of different versions of the story, so enough B-roll should be shot to allow for this eventuality.
—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
16 Apr. 2026
More chatting, the camera turns away to shoot some B-roll.
—
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
So the movie enlists a few dozen experts in a series of interview clips that, spliced together with illustrative B-roll over the top, form the visual backbone of the movie.
—
Nikita Ostrovsky,
Time,
27 Mar. 2026
Bongino began his first episode back in the host chair of The Dan Bongino Show by playing some B-roll from his FBI tenure, fondly reminiscing on the travels that were taken and the times that were had.
—
Dan Adler,
Vanity Fair,
2 Feb. 2026
Shackleton began collecting interviews and shot evocative B-roll footage of ghostly California freeways and parking lots where the killer may have once lurked.
—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
21 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“B-roll.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/B-roll. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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