Check Out Why Stock Film Footage Is Displayed In Television Shows

Posted on January 3, 2010
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The royalty free stock footage is also called ‘archive footage’ and it can mean several things. When film is shot, not all of it is used in the final product. There are bad takes, scenes they decided to cut entirely, bloopers or extra film shot because they didn’t know how much they would need. Generally, all of this film is saved and stored. This can be property of a movie studio or available for anyone to use.

The reasons why this film is kept are numerous. First, it is stored through the editing process because filmmakers might not know everything they need. They afterwards forget about the extra film or store it because it is property of the studio. Or they can use the extra film to put out a behind-the-scenes preview for the movie, allowing the audience to see some of the things in the movie without actually showing scenes from it.

Since the birth of the DVD, stock footage library makes for nice special features. Bloopers are a great way to get to know the cast and footage can let the audience know how certain stunts or big moments were really done. It can give clues to the what it might be like to be on the set. Many fans of movies watch these special features religiously and would do anything to get their hands on all of the stock footage from a film.

Public domain footage is included in many films. There are many large moments in history that were taped and are available for people and filmmakers to use. The government maintains much of this footage. It makes it easy for filmmakers to find appropriate clips of their subjects or to include or research historical figures for their projects.

All iconic moments are subject to being archive footage – even scenes from other movies. In fact, one might say that classic movies are especially qualified to be stock footage. Some shows are comprised of people sitting around and discussing famous movies, making lists and countdowns, and showing clips. This allows the audience at home to see what they are talking about if the audience member hasn’t seen that particular movie.

Not all footage is very interesting. It is most commonly seen in movies when characters are driving or walking somewhere. Someone in real life video taped out of the back or side windows of a car and then had the images put on film outside the actor’s car, so it looks like they were really going somewhere, not just sitting in a studio.

It is certainly not as interesting as other types of stock footage, but it can be a clear indicator of the quality of film. If even the background shots are well thought out to go with the main action, it will all appear seamless and appropriate.

Stock footage can also become very useful for shows with low budgets. If a similar action happens a couple of times in a film, the film makers can get away with showing the same stock footage video from an early part of the movie. Children’s shows do this constantly since kids tend not to notice.

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