Working to a brief 5.1
What are briefs, why do we need them and what is a negotiated brief?
Briefs are forms or "contracts" that are often created by a clients and agencies for a particular purpose, whatever that may be. Briefs include all of the terms and conditions that require signage - by signing the document you agree with its contents - at this point the contract is sealed and the project can begin. The contents of a brief are very important in the overall development of the project, as it often includes all necessary information regarding the client’s desired outcome. Despite this, some clients allow negotiation of said briefs, meaning that the production company they have approached can adjust the contract in a way that may suit them better. The brief is negotiated between all parties until an agreement is reached and the project can begin. The brief itself is a contractual agreement between two or more parties, bound by law. This means that depending whether the brief is formal or informal, breaking the agreement could involve harsh consequences, as explained within said document. Briefs that are negotiated are often informal ones, which means that there is either a much less detailed brief, or the contract is purely based on trust, for example a hand-shake, or even a simple "Yes". (Betting between friends would be considered an informal brief) As these both require less writing, and are often not as important as bigger projects that use formal briefs, there is normally room for negotiation. Formal briefs are not exempt from negotiation, but in most cases less freedom is given to the production company, if any at all.
Types of briefs Briefs come in many different styles, which is entirely dependent upon the situation. Some of the important variables that may affect whether a client's brief ends up being formal, informal, negotiated, competitive or co-operated are as follows: - Is the project important enough to require legal documentation that prevents one of more parties involved from not providing, or receiving the goods and/or services agreed to. If so, then a formal brief is required. Formal briefs require signage, which legally binds the parties and insures that, for the client, as long as the agreed upon fee is produced, the product will be provided. - Is the project viable to incorporate outside influence, provided by the company that has been approached to provide the service. If so, then the brief can be negotiated. In this case, it may need to be re-written. - Are you entirely certain on what you want in your production, or do you need greater influence from the production company (or multiple different firms) that has been approached? If this option is your reality, a co-operated brief would be a step in the right direction, as it enables the client to hire many firms to work together on a project. - Do you have a particular production company in mind, or are you will to open the project up for multiple different companies. If so, then a competitive contract will be greatly beneficial. Formal and Informal briefs A formal brief can instantly be made apparent by its appearance. A informal brief will usually be a vocal agreement, sealed by a handshake; although that is not always the case, for example linked below are two examples of a formal briefs:
As you can see, due to their more text heavy delivery that expands minor details into important points, as well as the prompt for a signature; these briefs are clearly formal contracts. Informal briefs need not even have to exist on paper, they can just as well be spoken agreements sealed by a handshake - although, they will not be bound by law, making them very risky and an unreliable way of confirming the contract. Formal briefs do require paper documentation. Many of these briefs are contractual, which means they require signage and are legally binding. Not all informal briefs are non-contractual, briefs that are written documents usually are. Informal briefs are usually small to medium sized documents that delve into much less detail. While being quick and easy to make, they have more room to pan out in a way that goes against the client's plans. |
Co-operated briefs
Co-operated briefs are when two companies come together to work on a single brief, for a client; therefore allowing both parties to maximize the uses of synergy. An advantage of using this type of brief means that multiple creative bodies can work together in creating the best possible product for the client, and therefore means that the brief can be better understood than if there were only a single company working on the project. Companies like Lucas films hire multiple different companies to create the visual effects that go into their films.
Negotiating the brief
As mentioned previously, the written brief is an ongoing document that can be amended at any point, either by the client or the salesperson. All those relating to the document must be kept up to date with all changes put forward, as it may directly influence their involvement in the project. There should be a degree of discretion when interpreting the brief that allows for more creative influence by the project creators, as well as covering any legal and ethical concerns that may arise. Any amendments put forward by either parties regarding the brief must be agreed to by each member involved in the production - this is a legal requirement. These amendments could be aimed at the budget, particular conditions, fees, mainly everything that can be changed. The brief must contain information about the service fees, this information must be made clear as it is also a legality.
Competitive briefs
Another interesting way clients maximize the quality of the product they desire is by creating a competitive brief. Put simply, the entire project is given to multiple different firms, with the best end product - chosen by the client - being used. These kinds of contracts are clearly aimed in the client's favor, with the potential salespersons at risk on not getting paid for their efforts. Competitive contracts also grant the entity awarding the contract an opportunity to review many different businesses and select the one it feels most appropriately suits the particular project needs.
A staggering amount of outsourced government briefs are of the competitive type. For example, briefs for construction projects and Medicare are competitive. Unlike in the USA, here in the UK the government creates competitive contracts that offer huge deals for drug companies, prosthetic manufactures and so on. By doing so, they are able to force these companies to fight each other for the position, while giving the NHS the opportunity to take on the companies that provide the best, and most cost effective products. If a contract awards work opportunities via a bidding process, is it automatically considered a competitive contract. This kind of contract is seen as a feast or famine way of doing business for work providers, as they could pour time, money and effort into something that may or may not pay off. Also, to keep the contract competitive, the winner can be fired at any point if their work is surpassed in quality by another company, but this isn't a common occurrence in the media industry.
https://youtu.be/qSjGouBmo0M?t=5m11s
This is a visual example that explains the NHS's contract agreements in more detail.
The type of brief I am using is a formal, contractual brief, that has to be signed and is bound by law.
Commissions
A commission is a mutually agreed upon fee relating to the delivery of goods and/or service(s) that has been negotiated between the parties involved. The salesperson that has received the commission must proved their services for the client as agreed upon. In most cases, legal tender changes hands before the service has been provided. This is a type of informal brief that is not always bound by law. In some cases, the production company can commission another source to provide them with a product, for example Sky, Channel 4 and the BBC all commission production companies to provide services like animation.
Tender
Legal tender is a form of payment that is recognized by a legal system as being valid for financial transactions. For example, this does not always have to refer to bank notes, services are occasionally paid for with other services, or materials like gold, silver, etc. The method of payment must be made apparent in the brief, which must be signed by all parties. Usually, the payment is made via virtual transactions in today's age.
Legal and ethical considerations
All parties involved must insure that they abide by the regulations of the law, this includes location restrictions, as well as the filming of material that may be deemed harmful/illegal. Ethical considerations carry with them moral responsibilities, as well as legal ones. Permission must be obtained from the landowner when filming on non-public probity, without this, you cannot hope to film legally. Copyright consent letters must also be sent out when using material that is not of your own creation, such material can only be used with permission. Regarding ethics, although not illegal, it is advised to that you do not create unethical content that may cause harm. If this is a necessary part of your production, then proper warnings must be applied to the beginning of the video.
It is important to understand that although you may believe that the agency has more experience than the client, and therefore knows best, that no decisions are made independently without the client's approval. After all, it is their product at the end of the day and it is your duty to provide the service that they've paid for. The legal considerations regarding deviating from the brief must be contained within said document. These must be defined within the terms of the law.
Co-operated briefs are when two companies come together to work on a single brief, for a client; therefore allowing both parties to maximize the uses of synergy. An advantage of using this type of brief means that multiple creative bodies can work together in creating the best possible product for the client, and therefore means that the brief can be better understood than if there were only a single company working on the project. Companies like Lucas films hire multiple different companies to create the visual effects that go into their films.
Negotiating the brief
As mentioned previously, the written brief is an ongoing document that can be amended at any point, either by the client or the salesperson. All those relating to the document must be kept up to date with all changes put forward, as it may directly influence their involvement in the project. There should be a degree of discretion when interpreting the brief that allows for more creative influence by the project creators, as well as covering any legal and ethical concerns that may arise. Any amendments put forward by either parties regarding the brief must be agreed to by each member involved in the production - this is a legal requirement. These amendments could be aimed at the budget, particular conditions, fees, mainly everything that can be changed. The brief must contain information about the service fees, this information must be made clear as it is also a legality.
Competitive briefs
Another interesting way clients maximize the quality of the product they desire is by creating a competitive brief. Put simply, the entire project is given to multiple different firms, with the best end product - chosen by the client - being used. These kinds of contracts are clearly aimed in the client's favor, with the potential salespersons at risk on not getting paid for their efforts. Competitive contracts also grant the entity awarding the contract an opportunity to review many different businesses and select the one it feels most appropriately suits the particular project needs.
A staggering amount of outsourced government briefs are of the competitive type. For example, briefs for construction projects and Medicare are competitive. Unlike in the USA, here in the UK the government creates competitive contracts that offer huge deals for drug companies, prosthetic manufactures and so on. By doing so, they are able to force these companies to fight each other for the position, while giving the NHS the opportunity to take on the companies that provide the best, and most cost effective products. If a contract awards work opportunities via a bidding process, is it automatically considered a competitive contract. This kind of contract is seen as a feast or famine way of doing business for work providers, as they could pour time, money and effort into something that may or may not pay off. Also, to keep the contract competitive, the winner can be fired at any point if their work is surpassed in quality by another company, but this isn't a common occurrence in the media industry.
https://youtu.be/qSjGouBmo0M?t=5m11s
This is a visual example that explains the NHS's contract agreements in more detail.
The type of brief I am using is a formal, contractual brief, that has to be signed and is bound by law.
Commissions
A commission is a mutually agreed upon fee relating to the delivery of goods and/or service(s) that has been negotiated between the parties involved. The salesperson that has received the commission must proved their services for the client as agreed upon. In most cases, legal tender changes hands before the service has been provided. This is a type of informal brief that is not always bound by law. In some cases, the production company can commission another source to provide them with a product, for example Sky, Channel 4 and the BBC all commission production companies to provide services like animation.
Tender
Legal tender is a form of payment that is recognized by a legal system as being valid for financial transactions. For example, this does not always have to refer to bank notes, services are occasionally paid for with other services, or materials like gold, silver, etc. The method of payment must be made apparent in the brief, which must be signed by all parties. Usually, the payment is made via virtual transactions in today's age.
Legal and ethical considerations
All parties involved must insure that they abide by the regulations of the law, this includes location restrictions, as well as the filming of material that may be deemed harmful/illegal. Ethical considerations carry with them moral responsibilities, as well as legal ones. Permission must be obtained from the landowner when filming on non-public probity, without this, you cannot hope to film legally. Copyright consent letters must also be sent out when using material that is not of your own creation, such material can only be used with permission. Regarding ethics, although not illegal, it is advised to that you do not create unethical content that may cause harm. If this is a necessary part of your production, then proper warnings must be applied to the beginning of the video.
It is important to understand that although you may believe that the agency has more experience than the client, and therefore knows best, that no decisions are made independently without the client's approval. After all, it is their product at the end of the day and it is your duty to provide the service that they've paid for. The legal considerations regarding deviating from the brief must be contained within said document. These must be defined within the terms of the law.
Developing a planned response to a brief
When developing the planned response to a brief, the team behind the production must insure that they fully understand the assignment, after this, they must hone-in their skills via research into the product. This research can be carried out by gathering primary information using questionnaires, or by using books and internet sources to collect secondary research. Either way, the production team must fully understand exactly what it is that they are doing in order to create a product that pleases the client. Along the production timescale, it is also important to keep the client updated with the direction of the production, allowing them to offer amendments. After the main bulk of the research has been carried out and the production team is comfortable with the amount of information, then they can begin to generate ideas. The process of idea generation is an important one that require the uttermost creativity. Multiple concepts will be theorized, but only one can be used - which is why merging the best ideas into a concept is usually the best way of dealing with things. In the refinement stage, the main bulk of ideas are condensed into a plausible concept that meets all the criteria listed in the brief, it is at this point the production can truly be underway - as long as the client is contempt with the concept.
Opportunities
Note that each project you work on is a learning experience, and as with most things, you will improve with time. Trying out new things and learning from your mistakes is what makes creative productions truly special. Taking on projects that are different to what you're used to is great for self-development and grants you the ability to learn new skills as you go along. Working on briefs as a production team offers the chance to learn multiple different skills, like editing, directing and presenting - these multi-skills are what makes an effective production company.
For this unit I had two ideas. My first was to film a short action film, but due to time management, I had to fall back on my second idea, which was an advert. The reason I wanted to create an advertisement was because last year, when I had to create an advert for a soft drink, it didn't go as well as I had hoped, and I felt like I could have done much better. Because of this, I decided that I could use what I had learned from my time at college to create an advert that I would be happy with. It also gives me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and create and plan a better product than before. This particular unit has helped me understand how to work to a brief, as well as how to write different kinds of briefs.
When developing the planned response to a brief, the team behind the production must insure that they fully understand the assignment, after this, they must hone-in their skills via research into the product. This research can be carried out by gathering primary information using questionnaires, or by using books and internet sources to collect secondary research. Either way, the production team must fully understand exactly what it is that they are doing in order to create a product that pleases the client. Along the production timescale, it is also important to keep the client updated with the direction of the production, allowing them to offer amendments. After the main bulk of the research has been carried out and the production team is comfortable with the amount of information, then they can begin to generate ideas. The process of idea generation is an important one that require the uttermost creativity. Multiple concepts will be theorized, but only one can be used - which is why merging the best ideas into a concept is usually the best way of dealing with things. In the refinement stage, the main bulk of ideas are condensed into a plausible concept that meets all the criteria listed in the brief, it is at this point the production can truly be underway - as long as the client is contempt with the concept.
Opportunities
Note that each project you work on is a learning experience, and as with most things, you will improve with time. Trying out new things and learning from your mistakes is what makes creative productions truly special. Taking on projects that are different to what you're used to is great for self-development and grants you the ability to learn new skills as you go along. Working on briefs as a production team offers the chance to learn multiple different skills, like editing, directing and presenting - these multi-skills are what makes an effective production company.
For this unit I had two ideas. My first was to film a short action film, but due to time management, I had to fall back on my second idea, which was an advert. The reason I wanted to create an advertisement was because last year, when I had to create an advert for a soft drink, it didn't go as well as I had hoped, and I felt like I could have done much better. Because of this, I decided that I could use what I had learned from my time at college to create an advert that I would be happy with. It also gives me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes and create and plan a better product than before. This particular unit has helped me understand how to work to a brief, as well as how to write different kinds of briefs.