The Requirements of Working to a Brief

What is a Brief?
A brief in its simplest form, is a set of instructions that a person must follow to perform a task. Project briefs are very similar, however they involve a group of people that work in a team. Each member is allocate a specific role and task that will ultimately allow the team to perform a  task. The actual project brief outlines the project/tasks requirements, costs and constraints.

What is a commission/what does it mean to be commissioned?
A commission, is when a person/company pays someone to complete a task, such as writing a script. Script writers are often approached by buyers and asked to commission an original script or sometimes an adapted version of a novel. When a writer has been commissioned to write a script, they must work under the commissioner's brief, which could be formal and result in payment once completed.

What is meant by the term ‘tender’?

A "tender" brief, is when a client will advertise a brief. Companies will then respond to the advertised brief in the form of a formal pitch. The client will then look over the pitches and then choose which one will suite his needs. The tender itself will include a number of a requirements such as the budget, time limit and a general synopsis of the job in hand. Once the client has chosen the company to work with,  they will often keep in contact to make sure that they are on the same page in terms of the briefs design.

This tender brief was advertised by an association requiring the need for a market consultant. The companies background and requirements are listed in the brief.

A website such as people per hour, allows clients to advertise their briefs online. Companies and freelance personnel can pitch their ideas through emails. This makes it easier, for both parties to advertise their briefs and for companies to pitch their proposals to a large number of clients.






How else could you respond to a brief?
Competitions commonly use briefs in a similar fashion to a project brief.  You respond to the brief like you would any project brief, by following the information and then completing the task. Contestants are given a list of guidelines and information regarding the competition. I have previously worked on a competition based brief when creating the "ESting" animation. The competitions brief which states the rules and guidelines can be found the official ESting competition website.
Link to Brief: http://estings.e4.com/competition
This is my finished entry for the ESting competition:


Reading a Brief
All briefs vary in a number of ways. One of the biggest differences that you may encounter is how professional and strict the brief is. The ESting competition that I entered held very strict rules and guidelines. These rules referred to a number of points that if ignored would result in entries being dis-approved. The main rules include:
- The ESting must be no longer than 10 seconds long.
- Contestant must ONLY use supplied music in order to avoid copyright issues.
- The supplied soundtracks must NOT be edited or remixed
- The ESting must include the E4 logo and only one entry per person.

The ESting brief although strict, was relatively easy to follow and did not cause any issues in any of the production stages.

Negotiating a Brief
During the production stages, I rarely found myself questioning certain aspects of the brief. The brief is luckily very informative and although strict,  its guidelines are easy to follow. However if I did encounter problems regarding the brief I was able to contact my tutor, who would help me on certain aspects of the brief such as the limits of creativity and the constraints of using the supplied soundtracks. In the professional media industry briefs are most likely far more formal and strict in regards to creativity and negotiations.  One of the major differences is the issues of ethical. legal and regulatory guidelines and constraints that protect viewers and material. Using copyrighted material such as music can create huge legal issues in which companies and individuals are forced to pay compensation to the owner of the material. Plagiarism is very similar as the consequences can be just as bad as using copyright material. It was very important for me to make sure that my own ESting creation was as creative and original as possible in order to stand out from other entries. In the professional industry the same logic applies but with far stricter and hard hitting effects if not followed. Ethical issues can also cause problems for writers and commissioners as regulatory bodies such as Ofcom and BBFC monitor media formats in order to protect potential viewers from suffering from offensive material. Ofcom for example will often ban programs, adverts and radio shows if the material is deemed inappropriate and/or offensive to the viewer.

A brief should always be read thoroughly by the writer so that they understand the guidelines and intentions. If at any point the writer is unsure of a certain aspect of the brief, the commissioner should be contacted, therefore avoiding issues later on in regards to time management, budgets and conditions.

I was lucky in that I did not have to face any issues such legal, ethical and regulatory problems. This was mainly due to me following the brief and understanding what was expected of me and the work that had to complete. The brief itself was fairly easy to follow, however issues would have been a common problem had I not read the brief and understood it fully. In the professional media industry, it is much easier to make such mistake and unknowingly causing issues of legal and ethical misconduct. Professional briefs are far more formal and strict, which makes the writers responsibility of understanding the brief even more important.

Opportunities
Someone might respond to a brief such as a competition in order to broaden their publicity and ultimately get their name heard and their work seen. The opportunities that are created from winning such a competition can change people's lives as they are usually supported financially by companies. Others might respond to a brief as it's their job and only source of income. Writers will often work on a number of projects at one point in time as they rely on the income from completing their commissioned work.  Being able to work alongside a brief broaden my understanding of creating work . I was able to understand the roles and responsibilities of working to a brief. I was able to gain a number of new skills such as time management, organisational skills and working under pressure and in a creative environment. I was also able to continue my skills in filming and editing.