Outcome 1: Understand the requirements of working to a brief

Different Briefs

Contractual Brief

A contractual brief is a contract between the consumer and the

manufacturer that explains the rules and expectations. It tells
producers exactly what clients want from them. A contract brief is
generally a written document that needs signing which will cover a
number of different areas in which you will have to consent to make
it legal. Usually, these types of briefs include elements such as pay,
restrictions, a list of items to do, schedules, etc.

In essence, a contractual brief is when a production firm is hired to

finish a project that will have a strict set of requirements that need
to be explicitly followed. If they fail to do so the manufacturing
business may face legal action. It can be helpful for a production
company to have this sort of brief, since they would have full
clarification about what is required of them and what the customer
needs without having to discuss something. In general, everything
you do will also be covered by insurance and you will most likely
have a budget. It is also nice that it is assured that you will be paid,
which is a very secure way to operate. However, the drawbacks are
that the brief can be very controlling. In addition, even though you
can see problems inside the brief from the media company that
hired you, they cannot do anything about it and have to follow the
rules to preserve a good image as a corporation.

Negotiated Brief

A negotiated brief is simply when any particular brief is negotiable.

When a certain project has several concerns or something that the
consumer or manufacturing company would like to adjust, it can be
addressed and altered to accommodate anyone who has a concern.
Many areas of a brief may also be negotiated, such as pay, consumer
characteristics and sharing of ideas, etc. From the product's
presentation to the product itself, it may be anything. It could
actually be a benefit to work on a negotiated brief, as the product is
then more open to critique, fresh ideas and constructive feedback,
which could make the product more successful.

Formal Briefs

A formal brief has a specific set of rules and regulations for a

production company to follow, these are usually made by the client.
A formal brief is almost like a contract brief, but not all formal briefs
have to have a contract, although there may be no contract involved,
the client and the production company must agree on these set rules
and regulations.

Advantages:

- Easy negotiation, if the production company had any ideas or

suggestions to add more creativity and improve upon the product,
they could easily make this suggestion to the client.

- One a formal brief has been documented, you are unable to make
any changes or corrections. This could be an advantage as you don't
have to worry about ideas and suggestions being constantly added to
what would have been the final product. This could also be
considered a disadvantage.

Disadvantages:

- Once a formal brief has been documented, you are unable to make
any changes or corrections. This could be a disadvantage as since the
product cannot be changed in any way, if the client wanted to add
extra funding or resources to the product, this would not be possible.
 Informal Briefs

An informal brief is when you and your client decide to make

something and work together to achieve it. This type of brief is a lot
more relaxed and less formal and is usually just through conversation
and is not documented. This is when the producer and the client
discuss all the details and requirements needed to complete the
project and agree on everything.

Advantages:

- There are usually no formal or contracted restrictions which lets the

production run a lot more relaxed and easily. There won't be any
pressure to work on certain dates or have the product finished for a
definite set date. Since there is quite a lot of back and forth speaking,
the client and the producer can get into the same mindset and
overall come up with a much better project, which both parties will
be happy with.

Disadvantages:

- A disadvantage would be there is no legal proof or documentation

of anything as it is all usually completed verbally.

- The project is way more likely to end up failing as either side could
just loose interest and motivation, on top of this, an informal brief
could be something as simple as a short video for a friend or family,
making each person take the project a lot less serious.

Commission

When a production company has already gained a strong reputation,

a commission typically arises. TV broadcasters such as the BBC, for
example, also send out this sort of brief. You will be paid by TV
stations to produce a television product based on the ideas they
 already have in mind. This is good because you will already know
what the commissioner wants, and that the success of the
productions is already funded by an organisation. For any
independent production company, this is a positive as they get paid
and make useful ties as well. It is also advantageous in the eyes of
the commissioner, as they do not have to be involved in
development and can focus on other projects at the same time.
However, the possible downside to this is that the commissioner may
not be pleased with your offering. This may be because they do not
play an active role in the production decision-making process, so the
manufacturing firm could end up creating something completely
different from what the commissioner may have been expecting.

Tender

A tender is when a client advertises to the public that they would like
to make a particular form of media product. After this, most
manufacturing companies will produce a proposal document that
they will usually then pitch to the customer after observing it. A
number of different proposals from different firms will most likely
exist, so the consumer will select the best proposal to meet their
needs. The customer would then accept a company job offer and
recruit them to build their product. The key benefit of tender styled
briefs is that the consumer has an opportunity to look at several
different proposals and can make the right choice. The downside is
that the customer could actually turn down each company's offer
and they would have lost a lot of time and worked for nothing to
show for it.

Competition

Competition briefs are very different than any other briefs, since
anyone who is qualified to compete in the competition is available.
These types of briefs typically set rules and guidelines covering the
appropriate budget, structure, style and duration, so that all the
 contestants are equal. If a piece of media has been submitted to a
competition, whoever hosted the competition will be judged and
assessed as to its suitability. A competition is somewhat similar to a
tender, in the sense that the same elements apply. Elements such as
the reality that many individuals will participate and compete and
the fact that only one winner is possible. The key difference is that
you present an idea for a media product with a tender and you have
to have your media product already produced with a competition to
apply it. The benefits of entering a contest are that there is typically
a cash prize and, depending on what the contest was, you would
most likely get some publicity. However, the drawbacks are that you
have to devote a lot of time and work with no guarantee of success
to compete.

Co-operative

A cooperative brief is when two or more production companies are

employed to work together on a project. They are able to begin
working on the project after they have received the brief from the
client. If there are any disputes between the two manufacturing
firms, however, they are normally authorized to negotiate. The value
of the cooperative brief is that the project will hopefully be done
much more efficiently. The downside, however, may be that two
companies do not fit together well. Any profits made must also be
spread amongst considerably more people.

Reading a Brief

It is important to read carefully through a brief because there might

be details you do not want to sign for.  There could be a fine print
you didn't read, or there could be requirements on the contract you
don't know about. Reading the brief thoroughly means that you have
a clear understanding of exactly what is expected of you, which will
help you produce work that is up to the expectations of your client
 and suits what the brief has told you. A brief can tell you about
general details and it can be very specific; since the consumer
already knows what needs to be created, it will usually educate you
about what kind of goods are going to be created.

Negotiating a Brief

It is important to discuss with your client before production when

working on a brief as it helps you to have a clearer understanding of
exactly what the client expects. Before you start production, you can
speak to your client, as if you don't know what they want, time and
money would be lost in making a wrong product. Discussing with
your client also ensures you can point out something you think
should be changed and negotiate a way around it.

There are several legal concerns that may impact the product
presented by the brief. The copyright law that could be broken if the
work of someone else was used without permission is one example.
This might happen if, for instance, you used any photos, text or
information that did not belong to you. A product sold to the
customer containing any copyrighted work that has not been
credited or registered would break the law and the customer may
also end up being sued. The customer can then sue the production
company for supplying them with a finished product that violates
copyright.

Opportunities

This project enables me to learn how to follow an outside source

brief. In working with a client with some freedom and some
requirements, I can improve my abilities. This project also provides
me with the ability to operate
and find out what abilities I need to build. This is a different way of
working for me that will prepare me for any other work I do for a
client in the future.