Sometimes during an initial discussion about a legacy video, I know I’m going to recommend to my potential client that they incorporate stock footage. Perhaps the narrator’s life was intertwined with some pivotal events in history that old newsreels can help visualize. Perhaps the family has little in the way of images like photos and memorabilia, and I know that I can instead use footage to provide context, interest, and “entertainment value” to the stories being told.
My most recent legacy video was a good example. During our initial phone call, my client outlined the life of her 95-year-old father-in-law whose stories we would be documenting: Shanghai from New Orleans at age eleven and forced to shovel coal on a steamboat for months; hopping freight trains during the Great Depression; she joined the Army as a minor when she was fifteen and then joined the Merchant Marine after Pearl Harbor; survive being torpedoed; landing on Utah Beach on D-Day; hitchhiking with Bedouins to visit Cairo, Egypt: the list went on and on. I knew stock footage could really make this video sing.
Stock footage in a personal video biography, you might ask? Isn’t that kind of thing reserved for big budget productions? Where can I find the vaccines I need? How can I pay it? All good questions and I’ll address them here.
WHAT IS STOCK FOOTAGE?
Just so we’re on the same page, I’m talking about movies and videos from years past: newscasts, documentaries, government propaganda and training movies, commercials, cartoons, TV shows, etc. There are plenty of great old movies and videos available. The trick is to figure out what you need, find the right font for it, and then license it and yes, pay for it.
SO WHAT DO YOU NEED?
Before you begin your search, it’s helpful to have an idea of what you’re looking for and how much in terms of runtime you might need. Let’s say you need footage of the D-Day landing in France. At first, if you haven’t screened or even filmed your family narrator yet, you may need to calculate how many shots/seconds of footage you think might meet your needs. If you already have an interview that you can project, or even a rough draft of the sequence where you’d like to insert the stock shots, you can use them to get more precise times for the amount of footage you want.
Make a “wish list” of themes and estimated run times and use them and then start exploring.
WHO HAS THE MERCHANDISE?
There are many companies that offer stock footage. Here are three to get you started:
- purchase footage
- periscope film
- WPA Movie Library
Companies differ when it comes to prices and final products. Some offer pre-cut clips for a fixed cost. Others charge by the second and require minimum orders. Offerings may be royalty-free or licensed for a production. You may be able to choose the crop, frame rate, and codec you want, or you may just need to take what’s provided.
FIND THE RIGHT THINGS
Searching for the perfect clips can take some time, but it’s also fun. Fortunately, most stock footage providers have preview clips online. So it’s a case of going to a site, entering your search terms, and seeing what comes up.
When you find something you like, make notes about it: location, clip number, and timecode (most clips have visible timecode, allowing you to select In and Out points, crucial for timing execution and cost). Many sites also allow you to store lists of your searches, if you first create an account or course.
Consider downloading screenshot or preview clips, if possible. They can be low resolution versions of the clips, or even high resolution versions, but with watermarks to prevent theft. Import clips into your editing timeline for precise In and Out points; even edit them in your program to see if they meet your needs. You’ll also get a better idea of the quality (which can vary widely) from a larger preview file than from postage-stamp-sized clips online.
Feel free to contact a company directly if you don’t see what you’re looking for on their site. They may be able to point you to some hidden nugget that didn’t show up in your search.
PAYING THE PIPER
Stock footage companies generally have different pricing tiers. For example, footage purchased for a big-budget television documentary will cost more than the same footage for a legacy video production that might have an audience of a handful. Productions such as personal video biographies can generally qualify for lower cost “personal use” pricing. It’s best to get an idea of what a company charges when you first visit their site, so you don’t waste time looking for images that you later find you can’t afford.
MAKE YOUR FINAL DECISIONS
Seconds (and therefore their cost) can add up quickly, so do your best to only order as much material as you think you can use, and maybe just a pinch more. I always ask for a few more seconds here and there, just to know I’m covered (and I almost always use it), but not enough to blow the budget.
One final note: Be careful with duplication! It’s not unusual to find the same shots reused in various newsreels and documentaries, and sometimes even altered a bit within the same film to make them look different. I once made the mistake of buying two different shots of a WWII submarine launching a torpedo, one from the right side of the sub and the other from the left, only to find they were the same shot, just flipped horizontally. So some money wasted but a lesson learned.
Ordering footage online is quite easy. Some clips are available for immediate download, while others may take longer to transfer to the format you need and then upload.
WOW
Your family and clients will be amazed when they see your stories dramatically enhanced with historical footage, perhaps supplemented with music and/or sound effects. If you feel that stock images are permanently out of your reach, try again. With a little research, you may be able to incorporate some of those great old scenes into your next family video.