b_roll_strategy v1.0.0

name: b_roll_strategy description: Plan and shoot b-roll that actually carries a video — coverage systems (5-shot, 9-shot, wide/medium/tight), shot-list generation with coverage math, and cutting-on-action continuity technique. Use when planning a video shoot, building a b-roll shot list, figuring out how much coverage to shoot, or editing cut points so cuts disappear.

B-Roll Strategy

Purpose

Turn a script or shoot plan into enough usable coverage that the edit never goes flat — and turn that footage into cuts the viewer never notices. This skill covers three jobs: coverage planning (what to shoot), coverage math (how much), and cutting on action (how it joins).

Workflow

1. Map the A-roll. Get the script beats or talking-head/VO segments with approximate durations. Every beat with a jump cut or VO stretch is a coverage obligation.
2. Assign coverage per beat. Use one coverage system per scene (see references/shot-patterns.md):

• 5-shot sequence for process/activity scenes (popularized by Michael Rosenblum).
• 9-shot rule (2 establishing / 2 wide / 2 medium / 2 close-up / 1 unique angle) for location or general coverage.
• Wide/medium/tight triple for anything unscripted: "the wide tells where, the medium tells who, the tight tells what."

1. Do the coverage math. For each beat: count the jump-cut points and VO stretches; each one needs a distinct insert (no repeating the same macro twice unless it's a deliberate style). Add a 20–30% coverage buffer — some shots always fail. Use bin/broll_plan.py to generate the shot list from a beats JSON file.
2. Prioritize. Mark every shot P1 (video fails without it — payoffs, thumbnail, hook), P2 (plan depends on it), P3 (nice-to-have). On a rushed shoot day, P3s die first.
3. Shoot disciplined. Hold every shot at least 5–10 seconds (teaching standard: 20 seconds) — short holds produce clips that start late or end early and can't be trimmed. Record ~20 s of room tone. Two usable takes per insert, minimum.
4. Cut on action. When joining shots, cut in the middle of a movement, not at its start or end (see references/cut-cheatsheet.md): end shot A as the action is under way, start shot B in the middle of the same action. The viewer's eye follows the motion and the edit disappears.

Output Contract

• Shot list (markdown table): # | Beat ref | Shot description | Type | Framing/Movement | Priority — every row names a specific shot ("hands adjusting the tripod knob, close-up, 4s"), never "misc b-roll".
• Coverage totals: shots needed, buffer included, estimated raw shoot time at 20-second holds.
• Continuity checklist: 180-degree rule, 30-degree rule, eyeline matches, spatial/temporal consistency — verified before the shoot, not discovered in the edit.

Operating Rules

1. Name the exact overlay per beat — vagueness is the #1 reason b-roll goes unused.
2. Never let a beat depend on a shot that doesn't exist yet; if it's not on the list, it's not in the edit.
3. Cutting on action only works if the action actually overlaps both shots — plan pairs of shots designed to cut together.
4. When the coverage math says you're short, say so and trim P3s — don't quietly under-shoot.
5. If the script has more VO than visuals can support, flag it back as a script problem; b-roll can't rescue a density mismatch.