Free Film Clips
and B-roll Footage

Find free footage, archive clips and B-roll resources for your documentary project

Need free film clips, archive footage or B-roll for your documentary? Below are some useful places to start, from public domain archives to free stock-footage sites. Every site has its own rules, so check the original source before using a clip in your film.

Start with the resources below, and always check the licence or usage policy on the original site before downloading or publishing footage.

Here are a few examples of free footage available from one of our favorite websites for public domain footage: The Internet Archive | Archive.org.

More free resources:

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Free Footage Examples from Archive.Org

Pride the Saddle Horse (1952)-- This old film clip illustrates various roles of the horse in modern life, and traces the development and training of a colt until he becomes a prize saddle horse at three years of age.

A Colour Box -- A Three minute hand-painted film by Len Lye.

What Is B-Roll?

B-roll footage is any supporting visuals that helps demonstrate the theme or thought of your story. It can be used in between interviews or to visually explain what a narrator is describing. If the narrator is talking about a cat in a tree, b-roll is the footage showing a cat in a tree.

When you're out in the field shooting a story, you'll want to make sure and shoot plenty of b-roll, because once you're back at your computer editing, you'll want a lot of footage to choose from to piece together your story.

There are several ways to gather b-roll:

Shoot the footage yourself
Purchase footage from a stock footage company such as Pond5
Research and gather public domain footage from government agencies, non-profits, businesses and other organizations

What happens if you're producing a historical documentary about events that have already taken place? Perhaps WWII? Or a film about cartoons from the 1930's? That's when you'll need to put on your reporter hat and start searching for existing clips that you can use for b-roll.

Perhaps you're interviewing an expert on a certain subject matter, let's say typewritters. You'll want to find footage (b-roll) of old typewritters that you can edit over on top of the experts voice when he is describing the typewriters.

Public Domain | Free Film Clips

There is a massive selection of free video and film footage across the internet.

The Internet Archive is a great place to start. You'll find everything from full length movies, old home movies, cartoons, wartime film clips, video game footage, vintage educational films, live music concerts, sports events and live news coverage (including a collection from 9/11).

But there are plenty of other sources of footage if you're willing to dig a bit. Say for example you need beautiful nature scenes. Check out the National Park Service B-Roll Section of their website. Or what about medical scenes. You can check out the National Cancer Institute B-roll collection.

View A Growing List of Resources Below For Additional Free Film Clips and B-Roll Footage.

Additional Sources of Free Film Clips & Stock Footage

Please find below additional resources for free film clips, b-roll and stock footage.

Desktop Documentaries does not endorse any of these groups, these are simply quick referrals for your convenience.

Please check the use policies and restrictions for the materials you download from each website to determine if your intended use is permissible.

Videvo.net
Pexels.com
Footagecrate.com
Videezy.com
Vimeo.com/freehd
Pond5.com (free weekly clips)

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