Money b-roll: 25 shots for finance videos, from cash counts to a wallet screen
A shot list for finance editors: 25 money b-roll shots, from counting cash to a declined card and a moving chart, how to film or source each one, the rules that come with real notes, cards and charts, and the crypto shot you can film without a real wallet.
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Money b-roll is the footage cut over a finance video's narration: cash being counted or falling, cards and receipts, budgets, charts and wallet screens. You can film most of it yourself with prop notes and a phone in slow motion, license the rest from stock under each clip's terms, and record the crypto shot on a simulated wallet.
Money b-roll: what finance videos actually cut to
A finance video is a voice talking about something the viewer cannot see: savings, debt, a market, a balance. B-roll is the footage cut over that voice, and in finance it carries most of the picture. The narration says "your emergency fund" and the screen has to show something; the more precisely it matches the sentence, the less the viewer drifts.
Most money b-roll is easy to film at home with a phone, a few props and an afternoon. The rest comes from stock libraries or screen recordings, each with its own rules. Below are 25 shots in five groups, how to get each one, and the rules that come with filming money.
25 money b-roll shots, and how to get each one
Cash
| # | Shot | Use it for | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hands counting bills, top-down | Income, payday, saving | Film it: real small notes or prop bills, flat light |
| 2 | A money counting machine riffling notes | Business revenue, volume | Film it with prop bills; record the sound, it does half the work |
| 3 | Bills falling through frame | Windfalls, waste | Slow motion, dark background, prop bills |
| 4 | A wallet opened, two notes pulled out | Everyday spending | Film it with your own wallet, cards turned face down |
| 5 | Strapped bundles on a table | Large sums, negotiation | Prop bundles, framed as a pile rather than one flat note |
| 6 | Coins dropping into a jar | Small savings, compounding | Macro, slow motion, a glass jar against a window |
| 7 | An empty wallet turned inside out | No money b-roll, broke | Film it: the cheapest shot on the list |
Cards and payments
| # | Shot | Use it for | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | A card tapped on a terminal | Spending, convenience | A prop or expired card, number never in frame |
| 9 | A declined payment | Money loss b-roll, overdraft | Stage it on a prop terminal or a designed screen |
| 10 | A receipt printing, long | Hidden costs | Film at a willing shop, or print one at home |
| 11 | A phone tapped at checkout | Mobile payments | Your phone, lock screen only, no card details visible |
| 12 | An online checkout on a laptop | Impulse buying | A mock store page, not a real account |
Saving, spending and money loss
| # | Shot | Use it for | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Bills and envelopes on a kitchen table | Budgeting, debt | Prop letters with invented names and amounts |
| 14 | A hand writing figures next to a calculator | Planning | Film it; write numbers that match the script |
| 15 | A shopping basket filling up | Inflation, groceries | Your own basket at home, or a store that agrees |
| 16 | A gas pump total climbing | Cost of living | Film your own fill-up |
| 17 | A "past due" stamp on a letter | Money loss, late fees | A prop letter and a rubber stamp |
| 18 | Someone at a desk, head in hands | Regret, stress | Film it, or stock with a model release |
Markets and charts
| # | Shot | Use it for | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | A price chart moving on a monitor | Markets, volatility | Screen recording, with the platform's attribution |
| 20 | Numbers scrolling on a ticker | Market news | Screen recording or motion graphics |
| 21 | A desk with several screens at night | Trading, focus | Your own setup, screens showing charts, not accounts |
| 22 | The financial pages of a newspaper, close-up | The economy | Film a paper copy; keep headlines out of focus |
Crypto
| # | Shot | Use it for | How to get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | A phone showing a crypto wallet balance | Holding crypto, portfolios | A simulated wallet on your phone (see below) |
| 24 | A token price moving on a phone | Volatility, a red or green day | The same simulated wallet, token detail screen |
| 25 | A novelty bitcoin coin on a desk | Crypto as a topic | A souvenir coin, macro lens |
Shooting money b-roll yourself
- Slow motion for anything that falls. Apple's iPhone guide notes that Slo-mo records at 1080p and 240 frames per second from the back camera by default, which turns a dropped stack of bills into a usable shot.
- Lock the color. The same guide describes a Lock White Balance setting for video; use it so the color of the notes does not drift between takes.
- Top-down and macro. Hands and paper read best from above; coins, serial numbers and card edges read best up close.
- Match the sentence. Film three versions of each shot (wide, close, moving) so the editor can cut to the exact line.
The rules that come with filming money
Real notes. In the US, the San Francisco Fed calls using US currency on camera "perfectly legal", while noting that burning it is illegal. The statute behind it, 18 U.S.C. 504, permits films of currency for screen and television, but no prints from that footage without the Treasury's permission. In the UK, the Bank of England treats filming genuine notes as a digital reproduction: a note showing more than half of one side must carry a SPECIMEN overprint unless it sits at a slant of more than 20 degrees. Fanned bills and bundles usually stay clear of that line; a slow close-up on one flat note does not.
Prop notes. They are legal only within the reproduction rules of the currency they copy, and they must never leave the set as money. The country-by-country rules are in prop money for videos.
Cards and account screens. A readable card number, an account number or a real banking app balance is personal data on a public video. Use prop cards, mock statements and invented names.
Charts. Charting platforms set their own terms. TradingView, for one, allows its charts in video broadcasts with attribution, and asks for a line such as "Charts by TradingView" when its branding is not visible on screen.
Stock clips. Read the license on the provider's own page. Pexels needs no attribution but says "Don't imply endorsement of your product by people or brands on the imagery." Pixabay bars commercial use of content showing recognizable trademarks, logos or brands in relation to goods and services. Vecteezy's no-cost license requires attribution and covers video projects with budgets up to $1,000, and its Editorial Use Only clips stay out of commercial or promotional work. If the edit itself is mostly borrowed footage, platform originality rules apply too, as covered in how luxury motivation channels are made.
The crypto shot: a wallet screen
Shots 23 and 24 are the tricky ones. The obvious source is your own wallet app, and it is the one source you should not film. Bitcoin.org's privacy page puts it plainly: "Anyone can see the balance and all transactions of any address." In August 2026, Chainalysis counted a record $58 million stolen in violent attacks on crypto holders in 2025 and warned that publicly disclosing holdings "can make individuals targets." Stock libraries are not much better for this shot: branded wallet clips are often licensed for editorial use only, as crypto stock footage and its licenses explains.
That is the part a real wallet cannot solve: it cannot be on camera without showing its owner's address and holdings. A larp wallet, also called a crypto wallet app simulator, is an app that shows a believable crypto wallet screen built from the balances you type in, for videos, skits, pitch decks and demos. It holds no funds and touches no blockchain. Filmed on your own phone, the wallet shot becomes footage you made, with no clip license to check and no real balance on screen. The recording side (notifications, status bar, moving prices) is in recording a wallet screen for video, and the larp wallet guide covers the term.
Where the line is
B-roll illustrates a sentence; it does not prove one. A stack of prop bills in a video about saving is fine, and so is a simulated wallet in a video about volatility. The same footage captioned "my portfolio" or "what I made this month" becomes a claim, and every number on a simulated wallet was typed, so it proves nothing about anyone's money. Presenting it as real holdings or gains is a deception our terms of use forbid; keep a Mockup label in frame while the wallet is visible. For scenes where the balance is the joke, money skit ideas lists the props each one needs.
My Larp Wallet is one such app: you type the tokens and amounts, the built-in tokens follow live market prices, and the screen opens full screen on the phone you film, so shot 24 moves the way a real price does.
Sources
- Apple Support, Change video recording settings on iPhone, read 2026
- Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, U.S. Currency's Starring Role in Film, 2019
- Legal Information Institute, 18 U.S. Code 504: Printing and filming of United States and foreign obligations and securities, read 2026
- Bank of England, Using images of banknotes, updated June 2026
- TradingView, Terms of Service and Company Policy (Attribution), read 2026
- Pexels, License, read 2026
- Pixabay, Content License Summary, read 2026
- Vecteezy, License Agreement, updated June 22, 2026
- Bitcoin.org, Protect your privacy, read 2026
- Chainalysis, Violent wrench attacks targeting crypto holders, 2026
Questions
How do you get b-roll footage for a finance video?
Film it yourself, license it from a stock library, or record screens. Self-shot footage is the safest and the most original; stock clips come with license terms that differ per library and per clip; screen recordings of charts or apps carry their own attribution and privacy rules.
Is it legal to film real money for a video?
In the US, the San Francisco Fed says using US currency on camera is perfectly legal; burning it is not. In the UK, filming genuine notes counts as a digital reproduction, and a note shown flat with more than half of one side visible needs a SPECIMEN overprint.
How do you film money falling in slow motion?
Use slow motion: an iPhone records Slo-mo at 1080p and 240 frames per second from the back camera by default. Shoot against a dark background with strong side light, drop prop bills from just out of frame, and collect every note after each take.
What is good b-roll for losing money or having no money?
An empty wallet turned out, a declined payment on a prop terminal, bills stacking up on a table, a chart falling, a hand pushing coins across a counter. Stage them with props rather than real cards or account screens.
Can I use stock money footage on YouTube?
Yes, within the clip's license. Pexels needs no attribution but forbids implying endorsement by brands shown, Vecteezy's no-cost license requires attribution, and clips marked editorial use only cannot go into promotional videos.
Compose the screen instead of describing it
Your tokens, your amounts, your accent, laid out in the browser, then opened on your phone at your own address. A mockup, and we never pretend otherwise.
- Unlimited tokens, amounts and accents
- Add it to your home screen; it opens like an app
- Live market prices that keep moving
- Your own address, mylarpwallet.com/you
Cancel anytime · Secure payment by Stripe · See the wallet
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