Usage Of Stock Film Footage Is Necessary For Movies

Stock footage can be called many things and used for many reasons. It is most commonly called archive footage. When movies are made, not all of the film used in the making of the movie becomes part of the final product. There are mistakes, bad takes or a myriad other things to account for literally miles of film shot. This extra film is stored in giant warehouses until it is one day needed.

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 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.

Big historical moments can be considered archive footage, too, if they are video taped. Most of this is public domain or the property of the government. It makes it easy when someone wants to make a biopic; they then have all this real footage of their subject at their disposal. It adds credibility to the film because it shows the filmmaker did his or her research.

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.

Though it does not draw attention to itself, this type of stock footage is very important to the subtext of the movie. It can tell an audience a lot. If the movie is done well, the passing footage in the background can give subtle clues to what’s going to happen or to the characters’ inner thoughts. If a movie is not carefully thought about and planned, it is easily noticed through shoddy details like background footage poorly matched to the current action.

This stock footage clips is also very useful in films with low budgets or television shows that can get away with using the same clip over and over. Many children’s programs use this type of video HD stock footage. If a character does a certain joke or dance over and over, it is very often just the same clip played every episode.