Making explainer videos with stock footage is a great way to get a “real-life” look without busting through your budget on a big film shoot. But how do you use stock to make a video that’s not… well… stock-y? Here’s how we do it the Piehole way!
Go for Awesome
We have made a lot of videos using stock and so we gave a little bit of thought into what works and what doesn’t. We think it pays to be bold. A big part of the success here comes down to scripting, i.e. writing scripts that lend themselves to stock.
Play to Stock’s Strengths
The stock footage needs to be a part of the story in a natural way. For example with stock, you can easily use a variety of footage so it lends itself to quick, dynamic edits of different clips.
Be Design-ery
Styling is important with any video but with stock, you can’t rely only on the footage to make your video look good. You need to bring your A-game. This includes things like great typography treatment, using motion graphics to bring life to the footage, and doing color correction so that the clips are consistent.
Use Cool Animation Sequences
An animated sequence to explain your product is a good way to break up the footage and give the viewer a bit of visual variety. See for example the 3d animated tech-looking sequences below.
Use Stock to Set the Mood
Sometimes you just need a real-life look but you don’t want to be getting carried away using too much footage. This can work well in screencast demo-type videos like the one below.
Below is another example of where stock and demo are combined. This specific video has also received video design awards for being one of the best tutorial and testimonial videos.
Use it in a Filmed Video Too
Some parts of a live-action video lend themselves naturally to stock, even if you are filming. By using stock you can reduce the number of scenes to be filmed and the number of actors, thereby reducing a lot of costs. For example, check out the video below. The delivery person in the video is stock but you wouldn’t guess it as even the color scheme matches the styling of the video.
Where to Find Stock Footage
Just sit back and leave that to us, that’s what we do! Although, stock can be sourced in many different places. Companies like Shutterstock, iStockPhoto, Dissolve, and Pond5 have high-quality libraries in HD. We work regularly with Shutterstock.
Explainer Videos with Stock: Behind the Scenes
These kinds of videos take a bit of tweaking sometimes. Some of our most popular videos were tough projects where the first internal drafts… needed a bit of work. An experienced creative team knows what to cut and what to change. The success of this depends on a combination of people: your producer, creative director, scriptwriter, and more subtle things like having a good relationship with a great sound studio.
Topping it all Off
In conclusion, with a bit of clever scripting and great design, it’s possible to make fantastic explainer videos with stock footage.
