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The prevalence of stock footage may have stemmed from its low cost, but they are not just used for commercial purposes.

In the 1920s, Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov assembled stock footage fragments together, as an experiment to illustrate the importance of editing in the creation of meaning in film. Known as the “Kuleshov effect”, the short film repeatedly intercut the expressionless face of Tsarist matinee idol Ivan Mozzhukhin with other stock footage, and created the misconception that Mozzhukhin had different expressions each time.

This concept of creating new meaning from assembling stock footage was further explored in “found footage films”. A sub-genre of experimental cinema that integrates previously shot film into new productions, one of the earliest “found footage films” was created by American artist Joseph Cornell. The film Rose Hobart was assembled partly from footage of East of Borneo and was titled after its leading actress.

Today, the use of stock footage is practiced more rampantly by the everyday man. The advent of video sharing websites, and cheap, layman-friendly editing softwares have spawned millions of home-made videos using recycled footage, most commonly in the forms of fanvids and mockumentary videos.

视频素材：跨越商业用途

视频素材的普遍性可归功于其低成本的性质，但它们并不只是用于商业目的而已。1920 期间，俄罗斯导演列夫•库勒雪夫组合了一系列的视频素材,作为一个实验。他希望以此证明,编辑在影片里扮演着创造意义的重要角色。

被称为库勒雪夫效果,短片反复交切沙皇日场剧的偶像伊凡 Mozzhukhin面无表情的镜头与其他的视频素材，并制造了Mozzhukhin每次都带有不同表情的错觉。

组合视频素材并寻得全新的意义,这种新颖的概念,通过“现成影片”被进一步探讨。

这是一种类型的实验性电影，将先前拍摄的视频注入新的作品。其中最早的“现成影片”出自于美国艺术家约瑟夫•柯内尔 。电影名为《罗丝•霍巴德》, 是重组了《东婆罗洲》的部分视频,并以女主角的名字命名。

如今，视频素材的运用已经不限于专业人士，大众人士也开始普遍使用。视频分享网站的普及，便宜又容易使用的编辑软件的崛起，已促使数以百万计自制影片的产生。这些以旧视频改装而生的影像，通常会以影迷视频或伪纪录片的形式重现在人们眼前。