Task1 working to a brief
- 1. WORKING TO A BRIEF LO1 Paige Moorby
- 2. CONTRACTUAL BRIEF Definition A contractual brief is a brief when a media company signs an agreement to complete a specific task within a time frame to a specific budget. The budget and the time is a specification made prior to the event happening. This brief is usually put down in a document which is then signed by both parties, this makes the document a legal agreement, a contract. As it is a legal document it means that you can take the other party to court if this trade is not what is signed for. A contractual brief is a brief which involves a signed contract. Advantages: -The first advantage of this brief is that both sides of the contract know what they are going to receive, there is an exact contract so you know exactly what you’re giving or receiving so there is no panic of the potential errors. All of the specifics are wrote down to follow so there are no confusions. -Another advantage is the level of protection given from the client and the worker, as there is a legal document involved which is protecting both sides of the deal so neither side gets caught out in any scandals. -Funding is another advantage of this contract, as there is a pre signed document you know what you need to do on what budget, the clear guidance means that you can budget fairly for the work and there will be no overspending as you know exactly what you need for when. Disadvantages: -The first disadvantage of this brief is the potential of being sued which is a really high price for either side and can be a potential disadvantage if something goes wrong. -You can’t really get out of it, this is a disadvantage as from the second you sign it you are locked into
- 3. FORMAL BRIEF Definition A formal brief is simple yet formal document that simply gives you direction on what you should be doing. This type of brief only gives you the minimal information for you to complete the project, the rest of the information would come through having a chat with the client and then it will be down to the producer and have some of their input. This brief does not have a contract involved but after negotiation and a brief is formed then you can turn this into a more contractual brief that isn’t necessarily legally binding. Advantages: -This brief gives you flexibility with creativity, time and budgeting. This is beneficial for a freelancer as they get more input into what they are producing. -This brief also keeps things more simple and friendly so there is less to worry about legally and you get to drive more of the ideas and production. You get a better friendship with the client and an ability to suggest which makes the work a lot lighter and less heavy on the freelancer. -You can often have more discussion with the client which then is formalised in an E-mail. This is a good method of communication allowing there to be a good understanding of clarification. Disadvantages: - As a formal brief is not legally written so you are not going to be legally insured. This brief is less secure which means you have less protection over the work which you are going to producing.
- 4. INFORMAL BRIEF Definition A informal brief is a potential verbal agreement, there is no need to have a contract or written document involved in the process. A client and a producer discuss what they want to happen and then it just happens. There is a date and time set but then it is left to just happen. This is a very casual brief as it is depending on both sides to have a level of responsibility and to get the job done. This is just a brief which is not formalised with documents. Advantages: -The advantage of this brief is the producer has full reign on what happens, it is completely down to the producer to make the product appropriate without any real instructions. -There is full control to the producer, there tends to be a time frame but no specific dates so the freelancer has full control of the whole of the production. -This kind of work is also really laid back, there is not much stress involved in this agreement it is a simple way of producing work for a client. Disadvantages: -The disadvantage of this brief is the lack of reliability involved. If there is no finalised contract which means that the production, payment and the final product is not always reliable. -Another disadvantage of this brief is that there can be a lot lost through chat, if there is no contract then things can go wrong and things can be forgotten during the production. Neglecting details or potential for the work can ruin the production. -There is no protection for either side of the trade. This means that you might make something but not be payed or vice verse which can cause detrimental issues for both sides of the party, an informal brief is not a secure method for production, finance and protection of a business.
- 5. CO-OPERATIVE BRIEF Definition This type of brief is a brief which is completed by two or more production companies work together to complete the task for the client. The client hires two companies and then they work simultaneously together to complete what the client wants. A negotiated brief may need to be put in place if the producers can not work together during the negotiation and has a disagreement. This type of brief allows production companies to work together to make strong work for the client. Advantages: -As there is two or more production companies working on this brief it means that there are more opinions and ideas. This means that the client has more options during the negotiation and there is a high chance of a much more successful end product. -Production companies always have to budget their work, as this is a joined task this means that the companies can split the financial cost, this means that it is more profit for the companies if they work together. -As there are two companies working together this speeds up production time which is both beneficial for the client- they get their product faster and the producers who don’t have to spend as much time on it. This is good for both parties. Disadvantages: -Even though the budget will be cut meaning there is less for the companies to pay it also means that the wage they get from the client will also be split between the two production companies. -The other disadvantage to this brief is that there is a much larger chance of a disagreement within the negotiation, this means that the production companies are likely to argue and potentially drop
- 6. NEGOTIATED BRIEF Definition During a co-operative brief there would be a conflict of ideas and negotiation. After a discussion with both production companies they negotiate a final brief. This brief is designed to consider all of the production and clients thoughts to make the project run. As soon as the negotiated brief is sorted and done it means that both of the production groups have to stick to this and allow the project to be completed to what was decided in the brief. Advantages: -The advantage of a negotiated brief is that all of the parties involved can have a discussion and finalisation on the fine details as well as what needs to be led and done. This means that the whole team will be able to be on the same level and know exactly what is being done which will result in a much more successful final project. -As there is a discussion prior to the negotiated brief being set, this discussion can create a fire chat which can spiral into ideas, thoughts and lead to a successful better product. This conversation and brief allows everyone to collaborate with each other and steam ideas into a really successful outcome. Disadvantages: - The disadvantage with this brief is that if there is several parties involved you are unable to please everyone. So after the compromise not all of the parties are going to be happy with the compromise and agreement, this can lead to them not wanting to do the work or just taking more time and putting less effort into it. This can be annoying as the final product will not be as strong as it could have been.
- 7. COMMISSION BRIEF Definition A commission brief is when a large company hires a smaller independent company to create a product for them. This brief is negotiated between two companies, this product then is used by a larger company the independent company will be paid for making this product and potentially part of the products profit. Advantages: -The small company who is making the big product means they get paid for the initial work and also profit on product. Not only do an independent get to gain more experience and have bigger advantages they will continually make profit. -When you receive a brief you are able to understand the work as you are in the same field as them, they are advanced in the same field so can produce better work. -A good thing about this brief is the ability to work for a higher company, this is a good way to build contacts and experience. Disadvantages: - The disadvantage to this brief is that you are going to earn less money. If you had taken the work directly for that audience then you would have got paid more. A larger company can take a cut of some of the money.
- 8. TENDER BRIEF Definition A tender brief is when a client publishes that they need something made. A production company can then create a brief, proposal and budget which they then pitch to a client. Several companies enter and pitch then the client can decide on the best proposal. The winning production company can then start the production. Advantages: -You get a lot more ideas in this method. There is a lot of flexibility to who you want and an organisation gets to select the best proposal and then they get full control over ideas which are more suited to their organisation. -A client gets to listen to more ideas and take on board more suggestions which they may not of initially had, this means they will have got the best ideas and could easily imply them else where. It gives more options and potentials. -As the production company has already planned, proposed and budgeted this means they have a plan of action and are ready to start, this means that there doesn’t need to be the negation time that is usually there in a brief. Disadvantages: - A disadvantage of this is that a production company might waste a lot of time planning and proposing. There is not a guarantee for the production company which means that it is
- 9. COMPETITION BRIEF Definition A competition brief is a brief that is available to production companies. Each company completes the brief and sends it to the client. All of the completed projects are then judged by the client and one of the projects is published. This is a motive for production companies to enter as they could win money and the client only has to pay the winner. Advantages: -If a niche production company/ individual wins then that could lead to further to opportunities. You wouldn’t just win money you could also win some more jobs within the company or other companies. -The client gets to see and judge other work and it allows smaller companies to get their work out there so clients get a variety of work. A lot of entries will be given so they get a lot of quality content to go from. - The brief is a free entry so people can get involved and get experience even if they don’t win. -There could be a lot of quality entries which means that there could be one winner but there will also be other’s as their was a brief and a high standard of work then they could producers less for using their work. Disadvantages: -There is a potential failure, if the rewards are too shabby and there isn’t much publicity then you are going to have a lack of entries. This means that there is less choice for the client and the end result might not be good. -There is also a potential for the entries not being to a high enough standard, if the quality isn’t good then the client is not going to want to use it but they will have to use one. -People might put a lot of time into a product and it might not get chosen which could be an issue
- 10. MY BRIEF For my client brief it was a formal brief. I had a chat with my client prior to giving him the brief, in this chat we spoke about the potential work which I could do for him and his company. I then emailed him the brief and he emailed me it back and we have since further discussed the work and what I could produce and when for. There were no signings which meant that it is not a contracted brief but there was a formal brief as there was a physical brief involved.
- 11. READING THE BRIEF Why is it important to thoroughly read your brief? It is important to read the brief thoroughly, this is because you need to know the expectations and what the client was so you can produce the product which they want. You can get to know the ethos, the background, the opportunities, the limitations and the deadline to the clients needs. You need to make the work accurate or it is a waste of budget and time. You need to be able to make the work accurate and have the details of the client so that you are able to contact them and have all of the fine details that you need to produce a quality outcome for the client.
- 12. READING THE BRIEF What is the nature and demand of your client brief? My client has asked me to produce a series of photographs that are detailed, show features and are clean and sleek to represent the vision of the company. The final product needs to be high quality images that need to be suitable to go onto an existing website. The photographs will promote the apartments for what they are showing all of their features. As for the demand of the content the client wants them produced as soon as possible but as long as it has a high standard it doesn’t really matter as much.
- 13. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF Why is it important to discuss the brief with your client prior to production? It is important to discuss the brief with your client prior to production so that you can discuss a range of issues and the potentials. A discussion with a client is an essential before you can even think about starting production. -Budget. Budget is a massive part of a brief especially for the producer. The producer needs to know how much they are going to get paid and the task the client wants them to do. They can then use this to workout what they are going to need and the budget that they are going to be able to set themselves ready for production. An example of this would be if a freelancer was making a photography series for a company they would need to know their budget for making these before starting so they didn’t overspend on the shoot and end up loosing money. -Designs- designs are another part of the brief discussion, this is important for both the client and producer. They will both have ideas on what they want the final product to look like and through the brief they can finalise any of the ideas they both have into one design plan. An example would be having a client with an idea of a poster which they want to create and then having a freelancer producing this but wanting to tweak things to make it more suitable. By putting these ideas together you can get a much more suiting product for both the producer to make and the client to receive. -Time scale- time scale is needed to be negotiated on the brief so that the client can establish when they want the final product in for so that the freelancer can go ahead and make sure they can schedule their time so that they meet the deadline. If this wasn’t discussed on the brief then it would be hard to produce a final piece for the producer as they wouldn't know when for and the client wouldn’t know when they would receive it so it is an untied end. -Ethos- the ethos of a company is essentially the heart of the company. When discussing the brief it is important to understand the client and the company ethos. This will allow you to be able to get the fine details of the company and be able to include them in the final product. The ethos will also allow you to understand a company more, an example of this would be a freelancer doing work for a small organic shop, the freelancer would want to know all of the minor background information -Plans- both the client and the producer are going to have plans. These are probably going to be different to each other so by negotiating and forming a brief they are able to combine ideas and thoughts and produce a final plan. The producer can then use this plan and produce an outcome that fits with the plan and the client. -Contact- through the brief you can get the contact details of your client and have regular contact with them which makes sure that you can have a good connection and make sure you’re both on the same page and can keep contact through production. This is beneficial for both the client and the producer as having contact makes things more friendly and suiting.
- 14. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF What are the advantages and disadvantages of employing discretion with a brief? The advantages of employing discretion within a brief means that you as a producer have the ability to have some creative freedom within the plan and production. If there is a brief with some general rooming within it then you have the ability to put your own interpretation and individuality into the work that you will create. Even though there is that level of individuality that a producer can have as there is still a brief that is there and has been formed with the client in mind so that the final piece which is produced is produced to the clients needs and standards. The disadvantage is that the client can really control the direction of the brief at this point. They are the ones who are wanting the work and essentially paying you so if the client is not happy with the movement of the brief or the things the producer wants then this can make the client unhappy, not pay you and waste your time. As a producer it is important to keep the clients needs in the brief whilst enforcing your own creativity into it. It is all about the use of the brief and keeping what the client wants without changing it all for the negative.
- 15. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF Are there any potential legal/ethical/regulatory issues with the brief’s proposed product? For my personal brief there are no issues that would be a potential issue legally, ethically or regulatory. As I am only taking photographs of someone's owned apartments there are no potential issues that these photographs could cause. There will be nothing in the photographs which could cause any issues. If I was taking photographs as
- 16. NEGOTIATING A BRIEF Amendments you have considered to: The Product The Budget The Conditions
- 17. OPPORTUNITIES What opportunities could this brief allow you to explore? Self Development Learning new skills
- 18. OPPORTUNITIES Multi-skilling Contributing to a project