1. Types of Production Briefs
Contractual Brief
http://sophiehunit5workingwithabrief.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/contractual-formal-negotiated-
informal.html
“Contractual client brief: This is the brief that is discussed between two sets of people the
client and the company. The layout of the contractual brief is clear and easy to read to allow the
client to complete their details, they would be asked to include personal information and
formalities that are necessary to allow them to complete the work. The advantages of these types
of contracts are that it is easy for the client to complete with extra information; also it allows
them to have more control over the process. The disadvantages are for the company making the
contract as there may be disagreements between what the client and the company would like to
be on the contractual brief.”
A contractual brief is between the two main people of the production, the client and the company.
A contractual brief gives the client a lot of freedom to put in their own input. It allows the client to
change things about the brief, although this can cause disagreements.
Formal Brief
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_formal_brief
“What is a formal brief? -
A formal written document containing specific and precise details about the goals that needs to
be achieved. The brief gets straight to the point and doesn't contain any unnecessary detail or
information. This type of brief is mainly aimed at a group of people or a business company rather
than individuals. A formal brief is not always a legal document.”
A formal brief is a stricter brief when it comes to what the client wants. Nobody else can have a
say in how the clients wants the final production to be like. In a formal brief the client will write
exactly how they want the product to end up like and the company must then take that away and
stick to the brief. This brief is very open and only gives enough information to be able to produce
the product, any issues or information that the media company would like to go over can be
discussed during the negotiations with the client. Both the client and the company employed by
them will formally agree on the project and the brief but it cannot always be legally binding.

2. Informal Brief
“http://creativemediaatjt.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/informal-brief.html”
“Definition
An informal brief is not documented and is usually of the verbal kind. It is where the client and the company
which they have employed simply discuss the requirements for the product they will be making and ultimately
agrees upon the project.
Advantages
The advantages to this type of brief is that there is more verbal communication between the client and the company
they are employing which could mean that the media company will understand fully exactly what the client is
asking of them and they should be able to complete the project to the client’s standards easily.
Disadvantages
The fact that there is no written documentation or contract to prove the employment of the company could mean
that at the end of the project the client could easily fail to pay their employees. Also this could mean that certain
things like deadlines are not completely clear and this can cause confusion for both parties.”
An informal brief is a brief usually done verbally rather than written down, nothing is official and but the
company have an understanding of what the client wants.
Negotiated Brief
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_negotiated_brief
“Negotiated Brief:
This is when two parties have different ideas from each other but they both have to come to a
decision by compromising and making sure that both the parties are happy by the decision.”
A negotiated brief is good because the client can speak in more detail to the producers and the
producers can put in their ideas. If the client or producers suggest something that the other
doesn’t agree on they will negotiate a way so both parties are happy.
Commission Brief
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_commission_brief
“This is when a TV broadcaster, such as the BBC, employs an independent production company
to produce a program for their schedule.”
This is when a TV broadcaster (such as the BBC) employs a company to produce the
programme they desire. This is good because the broadcasters can tell the production
company’s their budget and time that they have. Although this can be difficult for the
production company because things won’t always run smoothly and they may go over
budget/time.

3. Tender Briefs
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/tender-document.html
“A written invitation sent to potential suppliers of a good or service to inform them about
the information required for the buyer to choose among them. Issuing a tender document typically
begins the tender process by which a business selects qualified and interested suppliers based on
such things as their price, availability and proposed delivery terms.”
This is when two different companies join together to create a project. One of these companies is
usually larger branch than the other. However both companies will have equal roles. Av advantage
of this is that all of the jobs will be split fairly.
Competition brief
“This type of brief is given to you when participating in competitions, it allows
the clients to understand what they must do to enter and complete the
competition, this brief is different to other briefs as it is more intense with the
audience.”
http://sophiehunit5workingwithabrief.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/competition-
brief.html
A competition brief is used to tell the audience what they must do to win. It
must include all information that tells them what the audience will win and
what they must do to enter. The difference between this brief and other
briefs is that this brief is that it is usually to the public. For example to win
tickets for the ITunes festival there was a competition brief that told the
audience ‘who, what, where, why and when’. Everything they needed to know
about getting the tickets.
Using this brief would help improve my communication skills as I would be
dealing with clients closely and negotiating things. Sometimes we may not
agree with the clients and this is where having good communication skills
helps, because you can learn to negotiate and meet in the middle with the
client. Time management is very important as the client will set us a
deadline and it’s our job to make sure the work is done for that deadline.
Getting the work done on time sets a good impression and if a client likes
you they are more likely going to ask you to work for them again. All of these
briefs will gain your technical skills as each brief is different. For example
some briefs will ask you to produce a still image; this would improve your
photography skills/graphic design skills/page layout skills/creativity/IT
skills. Other briefs will ask you to make a moving image such asan
advert/short film/animation/music video/feature film/motion graphic.

4. These will improve technical skills as there is a lot more to think about.Such
as; camera techniques, lighting techniques, sound techniques, hair/makeup
skills/costume/creativity and editing skills. Time management is very
important in making a moving image as sticking to a schedule is expected by
everyone, it makes everything run smoothly.
Using these briefs will improve your career progression as although each
one is different after a while you’ll learn how to work with each brief. Every
bit of work you do can be put onto your CV and the more work you do the
more likely you are to get work. Although qualifications are important, it’s
not always what you know, it’s more who you know. There for doing a good
job for one client will make them pass your name on to other clients who
then will look at your experience and hopefully hire you.