The Economical Insert
A ‘library shot’ or ‘stock shot’ is a generic piece of footage that a production licenses from a commercial library rather than filming themselves. This practice is a fundamental part of film and television production, used to solve a variety of logistical, budgetary, and creative problems. Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars to send a crew to film a specific shot, a producer can simply purchase a license for a high-quality, pre-existing clip for a fraction of the cost. These shots are typically used as brief inserts or establishing shots and are chosen for their generic, easily integrated nature.
The Practicality of Stock Footage
The decision to use a library shot is almost always driven by practicality and budget. It is the go-to solution in a number of common scenarios:
- Establishing Location: The most frequent use. A film set in Chicago might license a handful of library shots—an aerial view of the skyline, a time-lapse of the ‘L’ train, a shot of Wrigley Field—to quickly and economically establish the location, even if the rest of the movie is filmed in Toronto.
- Prohibitive Cost or Access: It is vastly more affordable to license a shot of an airplane landing than to arrange and film one. Similarly, historical footage, news events, or footage from dangerous or inaccessible locations (like the deep ocean or outer space) are only available through libraries.
- Safety: Large-scale, dangerous events like explosions, building demolitions, or natural disasters are often depicted using stock footage to avoid immense cost and risk.
- Generic Inserts: Simple shots like a phone ringing, a computer screen with scrolling code, or a crowd of anonymous people can be easily sourced from a stock library to save time on set.
The Challenge of Integration
While library shots are a powerful tool, they present a challenge for the post-production team. The editor, colorist, and visual effects artists must work carefully to ensure the licensed footage blends seamlessly with the material that was originally shot for the film (the ‘principal photography’). This often involves meticulous color grading to match the look and feel, and sometimes adding digital film grain or other effects to degrade the often pristine stock footage so it doesn’t look jarringly different from the main footage. A well-integrated library shot is one the audience never even notices.