Stock Footage – Merits of its Usage

Stock footage are ideal alternative to creating a whole new set up in film making and other production companies. They are cheaper and saves time as well.

Film making business is usually a monumental endeavor today. Be it a movie, documentary, television show, advertisement or news, there is serious competition in every field. Film makers are delving into untrodden waters to give their audiences something new and unique, and we love it. The process of audio, video, direction, script etc., keeps evolving. Hence, it is not hard to agree that the film industry, a fraction of entertainment business, is so highly competitive today.

However, there is a involvement of multiple, and often multi-million dollars, factors in a film before it gets projected on the screen. Right from the idea of the story (of the film) to the editing and adding of effects; there are usually hundreds of differently expert people from different walks of life that contribute their expertise to make the movie a success. Therefore, the pressure for something better and something different is huge on film makers too.

When an idea is already developed for a film or an ad, the next thing is to materialize the idea. This creation or production stage of the film is what usually takes the most time, energy and money. For example, let us say you want to make a movie or an ad, you basically start by setting up a surrounding that the story demands, in order to capture it in the camera. Here, costumes, lighting, preps etc are required to make the shot more convincing.

In another interesting instance, lets consider a movie scene that involves a natural disaster or a historical figure (who are obviously absent at present). For one single scene, it would be a lot to create a natural disaster or depict a historical figure, it even sounds impossible. However, with advanced technology and what is called 'stock footage,' such scenes can be created with much ease, in lesser time and with lesser money too.

A stock footage is very handy for film makers as it provides an alternative to shooting a whole new material or scene. Stock footage are being widely made use of by film makers, television series, news channels and so on. Many famous movies and television series can be cited as examples of footage usage. Hence, more application of stock footage has led to even more demand for them.

There are many stock footage companies that are catering to various film makers' needs today. With the idea of the shot in mind, you can search for stock footage that meets your standards best. Footage companies are present widely on the Internet, providing footage in digital formats. This allow an even faster acquisition of the footage by film makers or anybody searching for one.

Stock footage can be found for categories such as sports, nature and landscape, animals, historical, marine, cities and locations, war and disaster, aerials, industry and transport, space and technology and many more. Therefore, it is easy to find a footage for almost any type of shot. You can even preview a stock footage before downloading at some stock footage distributors' website. There are also stock footage available in HD (high definition) quality for better visual clarity and appeal.

If you are a film maker or a student preparing a show reel as part of your project, then you should consider using stock footage to save time and money. To search for stock footage of any kind, use the Internet, you will be delighted to discover the abundance out there. Choose from the thousands of 35mm, 16mm, Beta and HD footage to make your job easier and cheaper too.

The writer is associated with MrFootage, a distributor of high quality stock footage on the Internet.