In
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
and
videoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.-History:...
,
footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by
movie cameraThe movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent...
or recorded by a
video cameraA video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
which usually must be
editedFilm editing is part of the post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selecting and joining together shots, connecting the resulting sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
to create a motion picture,
video clipVideo clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer piece. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
, television show or similar completed work. More loosely, footage can also refer to all sequences used in film and
video editingThe term video editing can refer to:* non-linear editing system, using computers with video editing software* linear video editing, using videotape* vision mixing, when working with live video signals...
, such as special effects and
archiveAn archive is a collection of historical records, and the location in which the collection is kept. Archives contain records which have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime....
material (for special cases of this, see
stock footageStock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that is not custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is far cheaper than shooting new material. A single piece of...
and B roll). Since the term originates in film, footage is only used for recorded images, such as
film stockFilm stock is photographic film on which motion pictures are shot and reproduced.-1889–1899:Modern motion picture film stock was first created thanks to the introduction of a transparent flexible film base material, celluloid, which was discovered and refined for photographic use thanks to the work...
,
videotapeVideotape is a means of recording images and sound on to magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
s or
digitizeDigitizing or digitization is the representation of an object, image, sound, document or a signal by a discrete set of its points or samples. The result is called digital representation or, more specifically, a digital image, for the object, and digital form, for the signal...
d clips – on
live televisionLive television refers to television broadcast in real time. Today it is used mostly for programs such as Today, CBS This Morning, and local television news. However, from the early days of television until about 1958, it was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke...
, the signals from the cameras are called
sources instead.
The origin of the term "footage" is that early
35 mm35 mm film is the basic film gauge most commonly used for both still photography and motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1892 by William Dickson and Thomas Edison, using film stock supplied by George Eastman. The photographic film is cut into strips...
Silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
has traditionally been measured in feet and frames; the fact that film was measured by length in cutting rooms, and that there are 16 frames (4-perf film format) in a foot of 35 mm film which roughly represented 1 second of silent film, made footage a natural unit of measure for film.
In
filmFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
and
videoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.-History:...
,
footage is the raw, unedited material as it had been originally filmed by
movie cameraThe movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images, each called a "frame". This is accomplished through an intermittent...
or recorded by a
video cameraA video camera is a camera used for electronic motion picture acquisition, initially developed by the television industry but now common in other applications as well. The earliest video cameras were those of John Logie Baird, based on the electromechanical Nipkow disk and used by the BBC in...
which usually must be
editedFilm editing is part of the post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selecting and joining together shots, connecting the resulting sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...
to create a motion picture,
video clipVideo clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer piece. The term is also more loosely used to mean any short video less than the length of a traditional television program.- On the Internet :...
, television show or similar completed work. More loosely, footage can also refer to all sequences used in film and
video editingThe term video editing can refer to:* non-linear editing system, using computers with video editing software* linear video editing, using videotape* vision mixing, when working with live video signals...
, such as special effects and
archiveAn archive is a collection of historical records, and the location in which the collection is kept. Archives contain records which have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime....
material (for special cases of this, see
stock footageStock footage, and similarly, archive footage, library pictures and file footage are film or video footage that is not custom shot for use in a specific film or television program. Stock footage is of beneficial use to filmmakers as it is far cheaper than shooting new material. A single piece of...
and B roll). Since the term originates in film, footage is only used for recorded images, such as
film stockFilm stock is photographic film on which motion pictures are shot and reproduced.-1889–1899:Modern motion picture film stock was first created thanks to the introduction of a transparent flexible film base material, celluloid, which was discovered and refined for photographic use thanks to the work...
,
videotapeVideotape is a means of recording images and sound on to magnetic tape as opposed to movie film. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
s or
digitizeDigitizing or digitization is the representation of an object, image, sound, document or a signal by a discrete set of its points or samples. The result is called digital representation or, more specifically, a digital image, for the object, and digital form, for the signal...
d clips – on
live televisionLive television refers to television broadcast in real time. Today it is used mostly for programs such as Today, CBS This Morning, and local television news. However, from the early days of television until about 1958, it was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke...
, the signals from the cameras are called
sources instead.
The origin of the term "footage" is that early
35 mm35 mm film is the basic film gauge most commonly used for both still photography and motion pictures, and remains relatively unchanged since its introduction in 1892 by William Dickson and Thomas Edison, using film stock supplied by George Eastman. The photographic film is cut into strips...
Silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
has traditionally been measured in feet and frames; the fact that film was measured by length in cutting rooms, and that there are 16 frames (4-perf film format) in a foot of 35 mm film which roughly represented 1 second of silent film, made footage a natural unit of measure for film. The term then became used figuratively to describe moving image material of any kind.
TelevisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
footage, especially news footage, is often traded between
broadcastingBroadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. The audience may be the general public or a relatively large sub-audience, such as children or young adults....
organizations, but good footage usually commands a high price. The actual sum depends on duration, age, size of intended audience, duration of licensing and other factors.
AmateurAn amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without formal training or pay. An amateur receives little or irregular income from their activities, and differs from a professional who makes a living from the pursuit and typically has some formal...
video footage of current events can also often fetch a high price on the market – scenes shot inside the
World Trade CenterThe World Trade Center was a complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City whose seven buildings were destroyed in 2001 in the September 11 terrorist attacks...
during the
September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
were reportedly sold for
US$The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
45,000. Sometimes film projects will also sell or trade footage, usually
second unitIn film, the second unit is a team that shoots footage which is of lesser importance for the final motion picture, as opposed to the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving actors, or at least the stars of the film...
material not used in the final cut. For example, the end of the non-
director's cutA director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
version of
Blade RunnerBlade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick...
used landscape views that were originally shot for
The ShiningThe Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. Though it had mixed reviews from the critics upon its release it was wildly popular with moviegoers and financially successful...
before the script was modified after shooting had finished.