Working to a brief LO1

1. Working to a Brief
LO1
Katie Hair-Morse

2. Contractual Brief
Definition: A contractual brief is a signed agreement between the production
company and the client that the product will be a certain way and drafted /
produced within an agreed timescale and for a set price. If either party changes
an agreed point it becomes a breach in contract and can cause legal issues.
Advantages: Both the client and the media company know where they stand and, if
applicable, the company is clear on how much it will earn from the project. This
type of commission is likely to prevent issues and confrontation between the
client and production company as everything is in writing and accessible to all
parties to refer to should the need arise.
Disadvantages: If either party change their mind on any part of the contract, the
brief will have to be revised, rewritten and agreed on once more. The parties
may have to negotiate to a new brief so both sides are satisfied, but compromise
may have to be made. For example, if the client wishes the project finish date to
be brought forwards, the production company may raise their price in order to
complete work with increased time pressure.

3. Formal Brief
Definition – A formal brief is a written agreement between the production company
and the client to give an outline of the desired outcome of the project and allows
the parties to agree on a timescale and set a price (if applicable). This kind of
brief isn’t legally binding and can be negotiated between the client and
production company/ companies.
Advantages – As a formal brief is written up and discussed, all parties should be on
the same page about the desired timescale and outcome of the project. The
media company must adhere to the agreed terms.
Disadvantages – This kind of brief isn’t legally binding meaning that if the client or
production company break the terms of the brief, for example the client
underpaying the production company / the company charging the client more,
no legal action can be taken to resolve the issue.

4. Informal Brief
Definition – An informal brief is a verbal agreement made between the client and
the production company. These briefs are usually arranged in a meeting where
the clients expectations are discussed and the producer confirms a time scale for
the product to be completed.
Advantages – This form of brief is not legally binding so no contracts have to be
redrafted if anything changes as long as both parties remain aware of the
situation. Production company may have more freedom within the guidelines
given by the client.
Disadvantages – As the brief isn’t in writing, there isn’t a document to refer to except
possible notes made in the original meeting. It is easy for misunderstandings to
happen with this kind of brief and clients may be unhappy with the outcome.

5. Co-Operative Brief
Definition – More than one production company works on a project for the same
client. The production companies will work in conjunction with one another. This
is common for smaller companies working on a large project. This can be in the
form of a contractual, formal or informal brief depending on the nature of the
project.
Advantages – Large projects can be split up between production companies to make
them more manageable and create bonds between small companies. This allows
small companies to branch out more and gain experience with bigger clients.
Disadvantages – Miscommunication between production companies or the
expectation of the client can cause friction. Unless well planned, the timescale of
the project may become ambiguous or prolonged. Communication between
production companies and the client is essential.

6. Negotiated Brief
Definition – A negotiated brief is where multiple companies are working together on
a project and have conflicting ideas on the brief terms or involving the
production methods and content of the project. The parties would have to come
to an agreement, meaning that one or both companies will have to compromise
in order to make the content for the client.
Advantages – Negotiation can make the brief clearer and more manageable for the
production companies and can give the client the desired outcome. If terms of a
co-operative brief are discussed and revised, the outcome of the project is likely
to be better for the client as all members of production are happy.
Disadvantages – If all parties cannot come to an agreement it can cause conflict
between companies which can cause further issues for the client. This can cause
the project to run over the projected completion date and may affect possibility
of future co-operative projects.

7. Tender Brief
Definition: A tender brief is where the product that needs to be made is advertised to a
wide range of production companies, each of which will send a response to the brief
and have to pitch their concepts to the client and the production company with the
best ideas will get the job. For example, the Scottish Arts Council released a brief
document online for someone to do their marketing campaign in 2001 which
attracted responses from various of local and nationwide marketing companies.
Advantages: The client gets to see a wide range of interpretations of the brief and decide
on the one they like best and for the best price. The production company that gets the
brief can use that as further marketing and advertising for their own brand, especially
if the client is from a big company.
Disadvantages: The production company may not make as much money from this sort of
brief and would have to put in a lot of work just to secure the job, which is not
feasible for smaller companies who have limited staff and resources. The client may
not find a production company that they want to work with due to this or the client
may not get a lot of responses to the brief, as opposed to the client approaching a
production company and making an enquiry themselves.

8. Competition Brief
Definition – A competition brief is where a client releases a brief to a range of production companies
or amateur media creators and select the best one to use. This applies in many different contexts,
from television idents to corporate promotional videos to short films or sketches, competition
briefs are common ways of getting a variety of ideas and creative input from a wide range of
people. An example of this is the Dezeen + Samsung TV stand design competition, which invited
professional interior designers, students, amateur's and non designers to participate as a
marketing device for the Samsung QLED TV.
Advantages – The client often allows the production company to have free reign on the project within
the limitations of the brief, as they have chosen that company because they like their ideas and
concepts. The production company can use this as marketing for their own brand, and can say
they won the competition brief and were able to work on ‘X’ project for ‘Y’ company. This is
especially good for amateur content creators and smaller production companies.
Disadvantages: The production company have to make and pitch the concept from the brief back to
the client, which consumes a lot of time and resources that would be wasted if the company do
not win or get their submission shown. The company / amateur producer will probably not get
paid for this (unless it is a cash prize), however the exposure is good for most companies. This
sort of brief is generally mainly used by larger and more well known clients as a smaller company
may not get as many responses and could reflect badly upon their brand.

9. My Brief
• Which type of brief is being used in the corporate promotional project? Explain your response. What type of
brief was this? Try and justify why it was this brief.
• Talk through the advantages and disadvantages that you came across within this brief.
The brief I am doing is a formal brief as my client has clearly listed what they would like
from me in an e-mail (below) and I have the brief clearly written. As the brief has been
typed up and we both have digital copies and we can discuss whether the terms of the
brief have been met during and towards the end of the project. On Monday the 4th
February we had a formal meeting and further discussed what she would like from me
and I explained what I will be able to do and how. I have since written up notes from the
meeting and sent those to her to ensure we are on the same page. The advantages of
this brief are that my client and I are both clear on what the outcome of the project
should be and how it will be produced. It also prevents dispute between the producer
and the client for the same reasons. We are making arrangements for filming in the
coming weeks. The downside to this kind of brief is that it isn’t as detailed as a
contractual brief and I could perhaps have a clearer brief from the client. Alternatively,
using an informal brief would mean that there would be more freedom for the producer
to make a product based on the suggestions of the client, but it would leave possibility
for the client to be unsatisfied with the outcome. Since the brief has been established,
my client and I are planning in a more informal manner, speaking over the phone or in
informal meetings.

11. Reading the Brief
Why is it important to thoroughly read your brief?
On the reading the brief slide make sure to talk about what they wanted from the brief, how was this outlined to
you?
Its important to thoroughly read the brief discussed with the client to ensure you are creating a
product that the client will be happy with. It is essential to know the desired style of the video,
alongside other important details such as weather the client wishes to have an interview, music and if
so, the style in which these should be presented. My client gave several examples of videos that had a
similar style to the one they would like me to create and we discussed in a meeting what aspects she
likes and how I’d be able to achieve this. She also explained the main purposes of the video so I would
have a clear idea of who the target audience is and where the video would be published – in this
instance she would like a video for her website and for the company Instagram account. We discussed
the possibility making a long version of the video for the website and a short one for social media.
With this in mind, she decided that a formal completion date would not need to be set and that she is
happy for me to do as much as I can with the time constraints given to me by college. The client clearly
stated in the brief sent to me that the video needs to show off her holiday rental flats in a competitive
market, giving me the impression that she is expecting a high quality product that will allow her
accommodation to stand out amongst other holiday rentals in York, a city which is known to be a
popular holiday location and has a wide range of holiday lets for a customer to look at. Since our
meeting, I have done market research and watched a variety of promotional videos for holiday rentals
to see what other videos are like. We have exchanged video links and further discussed the video that
we will be producing to ensure that we are on the same page about what she would like me to create
for Emperors Holidays.

12. Negotiating a Brief
Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to production?
Discuss why it is important to talk to your client prior to the production. Are there any legal issues?
Would the client be able to outline what they want from the production?
It is important to discuss the brief with the client to ensure that I am making a product that meets their
needs and is of a high standard. My client is advertising luxury holiday accommodation and needs a
video that not only reflects the standard of the rooms within the apartments themselves, but also
focus on the finer details within them and their location. In our first meeting, my client disclosed that
the video will be featured on her new website and social media pages. I have also been asked if I could
make a company logo, which, alongside the website, is a key area of the clients branding, hence why it
is so important to discuss the brief with the client and ensure I can reflect the brand in a positive way.
There are no legal issues in this project as the brand of Emperors Holidays is not legally functioning,
however, this does not mean that I can have free reign with the project, as I am still under the
guidelines set by the client as to what she would like the product to look like and how it will represent
her brand. Talking to the client also can allow the producer to get to know them to an extent and find
out what they like and don’t like. I intend on setting up meetings with my client to discuss the look and
atmosphere of the promotional video aswell as the content, as these are things she has shown the
most interest in (eg, soft lighting, naturally lit rooms).

13. Negotiating a Brief
What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief?
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to negotiating a brief. Will this affect your interpretation of
the brief? May the brief be too vague? What if the brief was vague and you were contracted?
Negotiating the brief can make projects more manageable for production companies and allow the
production company to work under conditions that are better suited to the project. It can also give the
client a clearer idea of the timescale in which the production company will complete the project and
how they achieve it. This also applies for if the client wishes to make any changes to the brief, timescale
and pay may have to be re-negotiated to accommodate any changes. When negotiating a brief, a
compromise has to be made, which is easier if the brief is informal as there is no written agreement in
the first place. However if it was a formal brief, it is easy to go through and make amendments to the
brief together, which then allows the client and producer to see how much has changed from the
original copy. With a contractual brief, it is legally binding and the brief may have to be completely
discarded and a new brief formed in order to make any changes. If a brief is too vague it can cause
problems for the production company as to what they are making and under what circumstances and
can also leave ambiguity for the client regarding how much they are paying, the budget of the project
itself and the amount of time it may take. This is an especially big problem if the brief was contractual
and both parties are legally bound to it. At this point it may be best to meet with the other party and
draw up a new, clearer and more detailed brief to prevent any legal dispute at the end of production.

14. Negotiating a Brief
Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues when negotiating a brief?
There may be issues when negotiating a brief, these can come in many forms and at various levels of
severity. For example:
• Brand misrepresentation – A producer uses a brand’s logo, name or product in a way that has not
been agreed by the company, and the company do not condone. This can cause legal action,
especially if it breaches a contracted brief.
• Ethical misrepresentation or lack of ethical representation: If a product shows an ethnic group in a
way that is not an accurate representation, it can have serious consequences. This form of
misrepresentation can cause problems for an ethnic group and can breed contempt within society
if widespread. Lack of ethical representation is where a product lacks diversity and does not feature
people from varying backgrounds.
• Gender misrepresentation or lack of gender representation: Like ethical representational issues,
gender representation issues can spread negative and incorrect stereotypes about how each
gender should behave. This could be in the way a gender is represented in a product, or lacking the
gender in the product altogether (eg a scene in an office or lab where there are no women, or a
beauty salon or dance group with no men).
The issues I am likely to encounter are likely to be more minor and will just have to be negotiated with
the client. An example of this would be if the client had requested a specific song to feature in the
video, but I do not have the rights for that song. A negotiation would be to find a royalty free
instrumental version of that song, or try to find a royalty free song that is of a similar nature. This would
mean that the client had to compromise, but ultimately the video would be the same quality and have
music that suited them. I will use my client's company logo in a way that is appropriate and on terms
that we agree upon, and it will not be published anywhere until she has seen it. I do not have to worry
about the other factors as my client has said that she does not wish to have any people in the corporate
promotional video as it would detract from the product itself.

15. Negotiating a Brief
From the brief you were given were there any limitations? In terms of production, budget or
timings? Please explain.
I have found limitations with planning as my client also does work in Leeds and I work part
time in Harrogate, meaning we have had to work out when filming will be able to take place to
suit both of our schedules. However, my client has been extremely helpful and doesn’t min if I
film over a few days rather than in one go. We have agreed that filming will commence on
Thursday the 8th of March (in college time) and I will try to get everything in one go. However,
we have the limitation that the ‘product’ is a holiday apartment and may have guests staying in
it over the production period. We would have to work around this and try to film as much as
possible in one go. For this reason, I feel that the timings of production are restricting as I may
be able to get better footage. I also have limitations with gathering and transporting resources
from college to the location and then home as I do not own a car. I will have to transport
equipment on buses and trains to get to the location. However, my client has offered to collect
me from college when I have the equipment to make it easier for me and to allow production
to start quicker. There is no budget for this film and anything I may need would come out of
my own pocket. If I were to have a budget I may be able to access equipment for a longer
period of time and rent out lighting, as this is a key area of the atmosphere that my client has
shown an interest in. Despite this, I feel that a budget will not affect my production a great
deal, as I am filming for a holiday letting company and would not need any props or costumes
and can access equipment from college.