Researching stock footage for a corporate video or a television commercial can be a long-winded and sometimes fruitless process. It’s very difficult to get it right the first time around. Particularly as there are far too many sites to get through and the correct search terms aren’t always obvious. So, thought we’d run you through some approaches that we’ve picked up here at Toast.
First off, do a bit of research
and write a list of the search terms that you think are suitable. Then methodically
run through them on your chosen selection of stock footage sites. It sounds
simple, but if you don’t do your research on the terms and run through your
results in a constructed way, then you’ll end up missing out on potentially
useful clips and just end up browsing.
If this straightforward approach isn’t working, look at how you can make your search terms
wider or narrower in order to expand or contract your results. A good start
is to look at synonyms of the words that you are using, in case you’ve missed
something out.
If you’re still stuck for ideas, run an Internet image search on your keywords and see what comes
up. Let’s say you’re looking for skyscrapers under construction, perhaps
there’s a skyscraper that’s due for completion in the next few months. Run a
search on its name, architect and surrounding area. Chances are that someone
has covered it recently, because skyscrapers tend to be newsworthy.
This is the point where you might well want to call the stock footage company, an expert,
your client, or a friend who works in the field for more information about
the search that you’re conducting. For example, if you’re making a film about
specific types of flowers, they may be able to advise you on places where you
can find these flowers. It sounds odd, but even just asking the person sitting
at the desk next to you might give you some new ideas for related search terms.
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