Stock footage
Stock footage, also termed archive footage, library pictures and file footage is film or video footage that is reused in a film. Stock footage is of great use to filmmakers as it is generally far cheaper than actually filming a needed scene. Stock footage can also be used to integrate news footage or notable figures into a film. For instance, the Academy Award-winning film Forrest Gump used stock footage extensively, modified with computer generated imagery to portray the lead character meeting historic figures such as John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and John Lennon.
One of the largest producers of public domain stock footage is the United States government. All videos produced by the United States military, NASA, and other agencies are available for use as stock footage. There are a number of companies that own the copyrights to large libraries of stock footage and charge film makers a fee for using it, but they rarely demand royalties. Stock footage comes from a myriad of sources, including governments, other movies, and often news outlets.
Television and movies series also often use stock footage taken from previous installments. For instance, all the Star Trek series kept a collection of shots of starships that would appear on a regular basis, being used most of the time a ship was seen.
News programs use film footage from their archives often when more recent images are not available. Such usage is often labeled on-screen as "Library pictures".
Excessive use of stock footage in feature films tends to generate a great deal of negative criticism.
Examples in news media
- Obese people shown from the neck down
- Smokers shown focused on the mouth only
- Terrorist training camps with members swinging on monkey bars
- Pharmacists separating precription medicine from trays into bottles
- Coastal damage for hurricanes and tsunamis
- Health stories with a man on a treadmill with nodes attached to his body while running
Examples in film and television
- Overhead shots of cities
- Overhead shots of cities with traffic and movement sped up
- Scenes of crowded streets
- Airplanes, landing/taking off at an airport
- In anime, various attacks, transformations, and still images are often reused in many episodes
- City skylines and aerial shots
Examples in popular culture
- The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" used stock footage from the Star Trek: The Original Series episodes "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Mirror, Mirror".
- Jaws: The Revenge used stock footage from the first Jaws film.
- A few Godzilla films have stock footage.
- The movie Airplane II: The Sequel uses stock footage of failed flying machines in a parody of a flashback scene.
- Various American television shows, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Late Show with David Letterman, have made use of the "Monkey washing a cat" footage for comic effect.
- Through the use of stock footage from Superman: The Movie and Superman 2, Marlon Brando was able to reprise his role as Jor-El in the 2006 film Superman Returns after his death.
Examples of Popular Stock Footage Providers
References
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