Recommendation of a Strategy

Working to a Brief

By Anton Lewis

Structures of Briefs

Briefs are important in everyday lives. The goal for the assignment is to pitch an idea, but in writton form. There are many different types of briefs and in this short presentation, you'll learn about the main types of briefs. This will include Contractual, Formal, Negotiated, Commission and various others that are used in a project environment.

Contractual Briefs

A contract brief is strictly between an employee (or employees) and a client. The contractual brief explains the duties required and how the company's schemes its work. The contractual brief explains how the much employee will receive for the stated objective.If the employee or the other party were to break any agreements they would be in breech of contract and could face legal action.An example of a contractual brief is when a client wanted to sell something on the television as an advertisement, and the employee would be the production crew willing to create the advertisement.

Negotiated Briefs

Two parties have differing ideas and a compromise has to be found that makes both sides happy, sometimes involving a third party.An example of this is a marketing company having multiple cunning ideas, both with pros and cons. They may merge their ideas which can result to both parties to agree on it.

Informal Briefs

More of a verbal agreement between parties with nothing official or in writing, less formal so to speak. So to bring a party to court will have an extremely low chance of succeeding seeing as it hasn't been officially signed for, and there may be no actual recording of what was agreed on which makes it virtually impossible to know the assignment word-for-word.Situations like these are commonly done when you assign an assignment to a colleague, friend, or relative. For example, you asked your colleague at your workplace to design a banner to hang outside a local library to advertise a school play.

Formal Briefs

Formal briefs are a formal written document containing specific and concise 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 at one person. A formal brief is not always a legal document.An example of a formal brief is a college tutor assigning a task for his or her students for them to complete.

Commission Briefs

This brief is where a large media company will employ an other independent media company to create and produce the product for them. After the product has been made the larger company may go on to be use the product for an external client who will pay the independent media company for making the product which can result to getting a cut of the royalties too. The brief is not negotiated between the company and the client, however is negotiated between the two media companies.

Tender Briefs

The production company might find out someone is looking for a video. They put together a brief with a proposal and a budget and send it to the potential client. The client would look at all the different tenders they receive and choose the one they prefer. An example of this is a person is looking for a music video that has a horror-type feel to it. Production companies will contact that person with reasons why that company should shoot it (and also offering other things, such as: providing horror-type costumes for free).

Co-operative Briefs

Within this type of brief there are usually two or more companies that are hired by the client to work to the brief they have written for the specific project they're wanting to be completed. After both companies have received the brief they can then proceed to work together to produce the product. If there is a disagreement or conflict in ideas there can be a negotiated brief in order to resolve these issues.This is used famously in film production, for example. A producer may hire Lionsgate to produce the film and hire Technicolor professionals to digitally grade the film. Both parties will have to work together in order to achieve the producer/director's vision.

And finally... Competition Briefs

This is where a client can put their brief out so it can be accessed by all of the different production companies that are participating. It can sometimes been seen as a free competition as each production company will complete the brief and the client can then judge which company has the best project and as an award they have it published.A great example of this is Virgin Media Shorts. They create a brief based on a feature of choice (such as love) and people will have to create a short movie that is related or containing the feature.

The art to Understanding Briefs

Reading Briefs:When you read a brief, you must understand on what the client wants done. Key things you should be aware of is the deadline, what the assignment is, who the client may be (they could be a leading innovative marketing company) and the total budget. It's important that you read the brief thoroughly to avoid misreading something. It's always good to read the brief more than once so there is a clearer understanding of what exactly the client wants you to do. It's always good to ask questions don't forget that. It's better to have asked, than to have gone ahead with your intensions to find out later that the client doesn't like what you've done. Also, it's best to confer with the client before starting your project, this is to polish up on missed (or improved) tasks in the brief, or to ask your questions if need be.Depending on the type of brief it is, you may need to do a bit of research before starting your project. It's always good to research the client, and what the client wants done. Be sure to time yourself accordingly. Don't rush things; do things evenly paced. It's best to get a start on the project early, rather than waiting it out until the last minute. You never know, things may change (e.g. preponed deadline).

My Own Brief

Hello.
My name is Andrew Garfield, founder of the Antheas Citaden Group exclusively famous for producing features films such as Gridlock, Powerday and Total Carnage.I am now looking to create a new feature film, but this time based off the book: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I'm looking for an outstanding production company that will put forth their style into the making this film. The production company must have already shot at least three feature films and have their own professional equipment. The start date of this project is 15th March 2014 and will subsequently finish on 5th April. The budget for this film is approximately 35,000. The production company that has proven themselves worthy will be graciously paid 15,000 for the making of the feature film. This film will shall showcase on Sky Movies at the end of November 2014, so it will be a pretty big deal.If you are interested, please send your request by emailing me on andrew@acg.gov.uk. Submissions close 28th February at 11:59PM. If you have any questions, do not be afraid to contact me; I will be more than happy to answer questions.
Kind regards,
Andrew Garfield
Founder of Antheas Citaden Group Ltd.