Finding ways to make live briefs work in an HE setting by looking at the 7 Stages of the Creative Process. It explores the risks of implementing live briefs and ways of reducing these by outlining expectations and ensuring support.

1. Putting Live Briefs Into thePutting Live Briefs Into the
CurriculumCurriculum –– and making it workand making it work
Kate OKate O’Driscoll’Driscoll
Tony SteygerTony Steyger

2.  Case Study: TV Business and Practice
 The pedagogic underpinning : students learn
experientially, by undertaking 2 live briefs
 Supported by a full written essay and a reflective piece

3. This workshop
 why this teaching approach is important for the
student learning experience
 how it develops their transferrable skills and makes
them more employable
 how it enhances the university’s connection with local
industry and community

4. The employable graduate
 DLHE and Skillset - employment rate for our course
averages about 60%
 What are the wider qualities we are here to try to
develop and encourage to make our students more
employable?
 What qualities as educators are we trying to engender
and encourage?

5. In groups look at what qualities make up an employable
graduate.

6. How does this unit address all these outcomes?
The 7 stages of the creative process

7. Stage 1
The Brief:
The client comes in to meet the students and to deliver
their brief (4 clients – 2 per class.)
Skills:
rapport, listening skills, asking questions, researching the
client in advance, informed questions

8. Stage 2
The creative response:
interpret and respond to the brief; set up production teams;
research to develop their idea.
Skills:
understanding what a client wants. Eg. the St. George’s brief –
stories of people who have come to Southampton to make it
their home rather than celebration of multi culturalism.

9. Stage 3
The Pitch:
3 minute pitch for each client, that demonstrates a real
understanding of the client requirements.
Skills:
presentation, articulation, confidence, professionalism,
engendering trust ie can they deliver?

10. Stage 4
Pre-production:
each group designated a client; developing the story;
getting access; finding contributors.
Skills:
creative interpretation; taking the initiative with the client
eg. St George’s Day - teamwork.

11. Stage 5
Production:
filming and editing.
Skills:
technical requirements, punctuality, personal skills,
confidence, persistence, problem solving, ethical
awareness

12. Stage 6
Feedback (tutor and client):
2 rough cut viewings for feedback
Skills:
resilience, openness, positive approach to criticism

13. Stage 7
Delivery:
delivering in correct format – online/DVD etc; paperwork
- legal clearances, copyright,
Skills:
responsibilities to contributors, ambassadors for the
university eg. Rowans launch - transformative

14. Risks?
 What are the risks for us and for the students?
 What would make you hesitant about working with
external clients?

15. Pedagogical support
 guest lectures
 seminars throughout the process – supporting them in
their individual roles.
 group management /dynamics – developing the
emergence of leaders.
 seminars on ethics, copyright, budgeting etc
 technical support – eg. practical workshops in sound

16. Reducing Risk
1. Managing client expectations:
Being clear with the clients that these are students who are
learning the process. Difference in quality of end results.
2. Delivering intensive support
To ensure that all films will be of a sufficient quality to be
of use.

17. 3. Managing student capabilities:
Some briefs are more demanding than others. A certain
amount of engineering. Closely monitoring those who need
more tutor input.
4. Workload for tutors:
Classroom assignments are easier to manage and to sustain.
More work for this type of assignment – finding clients,
sustaining relationships, keeping students firmly on track.
Team teaching!

18. Building the learning incrementally over both terms.
How?
One ‘in house’ brief - a first attempt at delivering to a
client but with a safety net.
Solent TV

19. Why bother?
 Teaching excellence framework = student
employability and engagement.
 Solent Strategy – “delivering innovative and excellent
approaches which meet the needs of our students. The focus
will be on engagement, with applied activity based on
professional experience or research.”
 Job satisfaction – the transformation is greater,
students’ engagement is higher. The end product has
more public visibility.

20. Client Testimonials
“It was a challenging tight brief that required efficiency,
timing, planning and creativity to work together. I
honestly can say that all three teams executed their briefs
in a professional manner that produced some excellent
films, which we have happily used in our digital
communications for the show The Grapes of Wrath. The
students certainly did themselves and Solent University
proud / the amends were dealt with quickly and easily
and the quality of the film and storytelling shone through.
A very big well done to all and we would love to work
with Solent University again on future projects.”
Bill Sainsbury, Head of Marketing, Nuffield Theatre

21. Thank you for your hard work this year with the SACRE
film project. Once again the films will provide valuable
training and thinking materials for the staff and children.
The children learnt a lot from working with your students
who were great ambassadors for your University. I hope
that, as a consequence of working with your University ,
it will raise their aspirations and their own thoughts for
their future. I was at a meeting for C of E schools across
Hampshire and the heads were guided to the SACRE site
for 'a selection of short films' useful for Prevent”
Allan King, Headmaster Highfield School

22. “From our first meeting with the University students, we were
struck by their enthusiasm, creative ideas and their focus on
wanting to get everything as ‘right’ as possible for our young
people / The finished films exceeded initial expectations, it was
evident how hard the students had worked to capture the
personalities of our young people and convey their stories in a
very honest and moving way /we were so impressed by how
this group of students embraced this opportunity with such
thought and sensitivity.”
Sophie de Bere, Meerkats Service Co-ordinator, Rowan’s
Hospice

23. “One of the most powerful ways to celebrate St George’s
day is to tell the story of the people who have made
Southampton a great English city. Solent students have
brought those stories to life and are helping to organise
the festival where we also celebrate those who are making
Southampton a great city today.’’
John Denham, ex-MP, St. George’s Day

24. Student Feedback
Student A
“One thing I learnt from this production, is definitely how
to work well with contributors, to build a rapport. Having
a good working relationship with contributors allows us to
collect footage rich with interesting content, which was
responsible for the success of the project.”

25. Student B
“In this project, I feel we did not work as well as a team,
largely due to one participant not contributing enough,
this did create tension. However, I overcame this and
used it to my advantage, by shouldering more
responsibility and therefore shaping the outcome of the
project to a greater degree, which was satisfying. I
learned that it is important to stay professional, keep a
cool head, and avoid conflict with work colleges to get the
best result, as although some arguments are constructive,
often they just lead to tensions in the group that are not
productive.”

26. Student C
“Our original pitch was about a girl who is famous on
Instagram but due to her busy schedule she was quite
unreliable and quite difficult to keep in contact with so we
decided to change our idea. I am glad we changed it
because although the original idea would have been really
interesting, I feel “Society Swap” was a lot more fun to
make and was better suited for Solent TV. “