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
Cite this Entry
“Stock footage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stock%20footage. Accessed 9 Jul. 2026.
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