Videos of people give your story heart and authenticity
The human face is one of the most powerful tools for grabbing and keeping a viewer’s attention.
Whether you’re building a campaign, producing a nonprofit film, or editing a short for social media, including people in your videos gives your story heart, urgency, and authenticity. Real people create an emotional bridge between the screen and the viewer. They don’t just support your narrative, they create a sense of connection.
Enter stock footage of people: It can’t replace a scripted performance or a personal story told firsthand, but it’s a powerful way to support and enrich your narrative. Person stock footage can fill in emotional gaps, enrich the atmosphere, or add global context when you can’t be everywhere at once. It helps build pacing, amplify emotion, and give your content a lived-in, relatable texture.
Whether you need a subtle cutaway or visuals that ground your voiceover in human experience, stock footage of people can carry the emotional weight your story needs, without the cost or logistics of additional shoots.
How pros use footage of people to tell real stories
Some of the most unforgettable films, campaigns, and cause-driven videos — whether made on tight budgets or full-scale productions — rely on one thing above all: people. Here are some examples of how human moments make a story feel personal, moving, and memorable.
1. Nike – ‘What The Football’ ad
The final clip of Nike’s ‘What The Football’ ad campaign uses a playful narrative about a father waking from a coma to discover how far women’s football has come. The video cuts between a comical, scripted exchange with his daughter and stylized, high-energy footage of the sport’s biggest stars. While polished and fast-moving, the footage of people is what makes it so compelling. It’s simple, brilliant storytelling, built on a great idea that shows how far the game has come and how it inspires people.
2. High Jump – Chicago nonprofit fundraising video
This Chicago-based nonprofit provides tuition-free academic enrichment programs for kids in Chicago public schools. They produced a compelling video spotlighting three students from underrepresented backgrounds. The footage mixes interviews with shots of the students reading, dancing, and doing science projects — along with stock footage clips of other pupils in everyday classroom scenes.
At the premiere screening of the video, the nonprofit far exceeded its gala fundraising goal, raising over $1 million. Emotional storytelling, grounded in real people, delivered real results.
3. Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson – ‘Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)’ Documentary
Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson’s award-winning documentary uses archival footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival to tell a much larger story about music, memory, and cultural identity. Many of the visuals are videos of people from that time, whether crowd shots, facial reactions, or city life. The film is proof that unfiltered images of real people, captured in a moment of cultural importance, can elevate documentary storytelling and anchor it in time and place.
Inside the Artlist collection: Footage of people around the world
At Artlist, you’ll find a curated collection of people stock footage that works for all kinds of visual storytelling. Our selection is based on:
Authenticity
From side streets in Hanoi to sunlit cafes in Lisbon, these clips showcase people in everyday environments, a diversity of emotional situations, and different parts of the globe.
High-Quality Production
All footage is shot by professional filmmakers and vetted for lighting, composition, and narrative clarity. Think cinematic quality combined with candid energy.
Emotion
Footage includes subtle, natural, and raw emotional expressions. Whether it’s someone waiting in line, greeting a friend, or laughing off-camera, our collection features the kind of micro-moments that connect a viewer to your subject.
Diversity
The collection spans cultures, ethnicities, generations, and locations. You’ll find families, elders, children, and communities across continents — a global mirror that respects and reflects real life.
Examples from the Artlist collection: Human moments made for storytelling
From stylized setups to natural everyday scenes, Artlist’s ‘Footage of people around the world’ collection offers a wide spectrum of visuals. Some clips are cinematic and surreal, others are quiet and observational. Whether you’re looking for something intimate, playful, or emotionally direct, here are six standout shots from the collection and how they can work for your next project:
1. Father and baby in the car
A dad plays with his baby in the back seat of a parked car. This is the kind of footage travel vloggers may look for but rarely shoot themselves. Perfect for content on family travel tips, gear setups, or how to handle long drives with kids.
2. Boy left out at school
A boy stands alone as other kids rush past him into the gym — the kind of moment that says more in five seconds than narration ever could. Non-profits and cause-driven campaigns can use this to visualize isolation, bullying, or mental health in childhood. A strong visual anchor for messaging that needs to land emotionally, fast.
3. Woman working in a factory
This shot of an African-American woman examining a metal tube in a workshop is clean, detailed, and industrial without being cold. It’s ideal B-roll for documentary filmmakers exploring women in skilled trades, or for brand campaigns about breaking industry stereotypes. It could also be a smart pick for tech education or training content that encourages more women to enter skilled fields.
4. Healthcare worker at home with family
The camera lingers as a tired healthcare worker leaves the dinner table while her family stays behind. It’s a subtle, powerful moment, perfect for non-profit storytelling about burnout, family sacrifice, or the invisible cost of caregiving. Use it to humanize healthcare in donor videos, grant applications, or public health campaigns.
5. Man with roses
Shot through a peephole in a pastel-toned hallway, an Asian man sniffs roses with theatrical flair. It’s quirky, cinematic, and memorable. This clip could be a standout moment in a Valentine’s Day campaign celebrating love in all forms — romantic, queer, unexpected. It also fits lifestyle brands leaning into surreal or stylized visuals with personality.
6. Woman meditating by the water
A woman sits cross-legged on a dock in a quiet natural setting. The light is soft, the mood reflective. This is a perfect clip for travel and wellness creators to open or close videos about anything from mindfulness to national parks, solo retreats, or stress relief.
Bring human depth to your project
Footage of people doesn’t just support your story — it shapes how it feels. The right clip can set the tone, add emotional texture, and help audiences truly connect with your message. Whether you’re editing for a global brand, a small non-profit, or a TikTok with a 15-second hook, including clips of real people helps make it resonate.
Explore Artlist’s collection to find visuals that help you tell stories with authenticity and impact.
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