stock footage

noun

: recorded video of a generic subject (such as a person, object, or location) that is kept for later use
That explosion … could have been created by treating stock footage of real bombs, but Cameron and Dixon felt audiences were too familiar with those images.Ron Magid
For this last location, Griffith spliced in pieces of stock footage of Niagara Falls. Although the actress in reality was nowhere near that or any other falls, the audience believed her to be because the editing bound the locations together.Frank E. Beaver

Examples of stock footage in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The spot incorporates stock footage and artificial intelligence to directly comment on how such campaigns and institutional messaging deploy superficial signifiers of progress and diversity (think land acknowledgments that feel more tacked-on than actually conducive of change). Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 25 Nov. 2024 In these videos, Professor EP is either an AI voice or a person using a voice changer and is personified as a person in stock footage wearing a suit and a silver Guy Fawkes mask. Jason Koebler, WIRED, 20 Nov. 2024 Instead, the film’s 79-minute running time is padded with newsreel footage from the Nuremberg trials and other stock footage. Alissa Simon, Variety, 19 Nov. 2024 Tuxen revealed that a lot of the size came from a generous use of period stock footage, which in turn motivated the entire visual style of the movie. Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 12 Oct. 2024 The muted color palette is matched by lackluster performances from the cast, the exposition relies on what feels like stock footage, and the copious amounts of VFX manage to make the project feel dated and entirely unbelievable. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 14 Sep. 2024 For Blanchett, that G7 stock footage was as rib-tickling as most comedies out there. Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 9 Sep. 2024 Documentary footage is classed as photographed in actual occurrence, but may also include animation, archive footage, stills, stock footage, stop-motion, re-enactment and/or other techniques. Ellise Shafer, Variety, 2 Aug. 2024 The two men came to an agreement under which Moritz swapped stock footage for name rights to the 2001 film and its successors. Richard Natale, Variety, 12 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of stock footage was in 1931

Dictionary Entries Near stock footage

Cite this Entry

“Stock footage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stock%20footage. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.

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