Using stock footage or clips from other movies is a common practice. For instance:
- Documentarians may want to use a film clip from an old movie to illustrate a particular time period or natural phenomenon.
- For establishing shots, filmmakers may find it cheaper to use another film’s footage of the Eiffel Tower rather than flying to Paris to shoot it themselves (although going to France would be more fun).
- A scene in which characters watch television or a movie will require the filmmakers to either use clips or create the onscreen programming themselves.
Depending on the kind of footage a filmmaker needs, there are three categories of sources filmmakers tend to turn to: