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A-roll

American  
[ey-rohl] / ˈeɪˌroʊl /

noun

  1. primary video footage for a story, television show, or film, shot by the principal film crew and the director, recording both video and audio of the people interviewed for a news story or the lead actors in a film or show.

    The producer needed two crews to shoot A-roll and B-roll simultaneously to match the tricky weather conditions in the exterior scenes.

Etymology

Origin of A-roll

First recorded in 1980–85; as opposed to the B-roll containing stock footage or background video

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The A-roll and the B-roll don’t quite match.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 6, 2017

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.