WASHINGTON — Anyone who has spent even a little time in television news is likely to have the same groaning reaction to that nefarious, elusive beast that reliably stands between you and a smooth day: B-roll.
In broadcast news, B-roll is the secondary footage that complements the main interview footage (or A-roll) in a video story. It’s the expert walking the corridors of his office, the closeup of the doctor as she examines a patient, the schoolchild swinging on the playground. You need it to cover up narration and to transition between sound bites. Without it, you’re in a bind all reporters have been in and none want to repeat – especially under deadline.
Nowhere in my experience does B-roll present as much of a challenge as when shooting in the U.S. Capitol. Not only are senators and representatives disinclined to give up even more of their precious time to awkwardly stage B-roll shots for your benefit, but also, you need a permit to setup a tripod anywhere in the Capitol – with very few exceptions. And that involves a process too lengthy and complicated to be realistic in today’s fast-paced news cycle.
I got my first taste of what I call the “Capitol Hill B-roll Dilemma” when a network television station from a Midwest state assigned me to do a series of three stories about the changes to the state’s congressional delegation. It involved interviewing, among others, a current senator and representative, and a senator-elect and representative-elect.
I had already spent days staking out my subjects for B-roll at events they were likely to attend. At the first two, my guys were no-shows, and the third was rained out.
My only option was to literally follow the politicians around before or after the interview, filming them as they went about their other business. My first interview was with the state’s sitting congressman, and I was in luck – he was due to go to the House recording studio to record a greeting for the state’s Corn Growers Association.
Keep in mind, you can’t set up a tripod in the halls of the Capitol, but you can shoot with a handheld camera.
So as the congressman strutted at a no-nonsense pace from his office to the studio, I ran frantically ahead of the congressman through the dungeon-like basement passages of the Capitol, trying to anticipate which corridor he’d turn down next. I’d get 20 or so feet ahead of him, film him as he approached my camera and walked past, then sprint ahead another 20 feet and do it again.
You might think onlookers would have raised their eyebrows, but that’s business as usual in the Capitol — a no-holds-barred environment where anyone with a D or an R next to their name is a de facto celebrity.
Later that week, I was still waiting for an interview time with the incoming representative. When his office finally called me in the newsroom shortly before 11 a.m., they said he could do the interview, but only before noon.
I dropped everything, grabbed my camera gear, hopped in a cab and called fellow reporter Austin Lewis, who graciously dropped all her plans to be my camerawoman.
We got to the House of Representatives and set up in one of the only locations reporters can shoot without prior permission or permits: the circular balcony overlooking the Rotunda in the Cannon House Office Building.
Looking across the expanse of the Rotunda, I spotted the congressman-elect arriving for our interview, where I knew I had to make every minute count. As I went to greet him, I realized a Bloomberg correspondent was live on the air to my right, and CNN was live on my left. Going in either direction, I’d walk right into their shot and onto live national television.
Held hostage by cable live shots, I waited in angst, watching the politician across the room checking his watch in frustration, wondering why his few free minutes were being consumed by a no-show reporter.
Eventually I was able to get my interview, and all three stories made it to the station in time for broadcast. But I learned that week that shooting B-roll at the Capitol requires fast thinking and even faster legs, and that reporting on Congress means taking the unexpected obstacle in stride.
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Josh Lederman is a political reporter for Medill News Service in Washington. After completing his master’s degree at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in December, he will be interning for The Associated Press in Jerusalem.