Structures
of a Brief
Contractual Brief
A contractual brief is usually discussed between a company and a client/
employee. This is usually in the form of a contract in which the
employee/client has to sign and work with the regulations of the company
without breaching the contract. The contract can usually be terminated during
the time if the company deems it fit depending on a situation but usually a
contract lasts a specific amount of time whether that is months or years. The
contract is usually clear to read and allows the client/ employee to enter
their own details without complication and a contract usually is a requirement
when working for larger companies. The contract usually explains what is
required from the employee such as regulations and duties required from the
client and what are both to be expected and what they can and cannot do.
A contract must
include the following:
1 - Contractor’s
Name and number
2 - Estimated
cost if required.
3 - Period of
contract – How long the contract will last
4 - Regulations
– The details of the contract itself
5 - Signature
is required along with other details.
Advantages of a contractual brief:
-
It is a
straight forward process with little hassle and doesn’t take much time to start
-
Whatever
is created will suite the company and the contract allows you to work
-
If the
company itself doesn’t stick to the contract, They will end up facing legal
actions in court
-
Disadvantages of a Contractual brief
-
If you
break the contract after signing it, the company will take you to court.
-
Once the
contract is complete, you have no affiliation to that company any more so you
have to move on and look for other work
Negotiated Brief
A negotiated brief is when two different parties collaborate on a project.
This usually starts out with both parties beginning with different ideas but
then each party would make a compromise so that it works with the other party’s
ideas. The two groups work
together to come up with a collective and similar idea that work and benefits
both of the groups.
The advantages of a negotiated brief:
-
When
completed, the product outcome will satisfy both parties.
-
It is a
compromise of what the company and the client wants which means it is more like
a team effort creating the project rather than two separate groups working
together.
Disadvantages of a negotiated brief:
-
During the
development phase, if one or either side do not make a compromise, the project
can halt and stop progression.
-
The
development phase requires on both sides contributing and pulling their weight.
If one side doesn’t, it won’t work for both parties.
Formal Brief
A formal Brief is when a client gives and employee/ agency all the
information that the Specific and precise details about what is required and
needs to be done. Unlike the other
briefs, this does not need to be a legal document and can be changed throughout
the course of the project. This type of brief usually is aimed at a group of
people (Agency) or a business company rather than a specific individual but
that isn’t always the case. This can either be in the form of a document or
could be done in an arranged meeting.
Advantages of a formal brief:
-
More
interpretation of the brief so it can be more creative
-
Half the
work will usually be done for you because the client will have done most of it.
Disadvantages of a formal brief:
-
The client
can change aspects of the project during production, which could create
setbacks on the project depending on how major the change is.
-
It isn’t a
legal document so it cannot be used in court to back up a claim if necessary.
-
It isn’t
that structured due to no contracts being involved.
Informal Brief
This brief is usually in the form of being face-to-face through a
meeting. This usually is a relaxed environment in which the employee discusses
what the client wants and gives them ideas and input to what can be
done/achieved.
Advantages of an informal brief:
-
Because it
is a basic meeting, this is easily organised and can be done but time and
cost-wise efficiently.
-
Relaxing
environment means less/ no tension for both parties
-
This
method is on of the most creative briefs as it allows the employee to discuss
his personal ideas and what he an do for the client
-
Because it
is not a proper meeting (Company wise) the ideas can be discussed here and
refined without needing documentation.
-
There is
no time limit
Disadvantages of an Informal brief:
-
The form
of brief can be seen as unprofessional and unclear.
-
It isn’t a
proper contract so no legal actions can be taken
Tender Brief
This is when several contractors/ groups discuss ideas and propose to
the commissioner their idea of how to tackle the given task giving estimated
costs along with it. The commissioner then decides which one of the
contractor’s ideas is best and chooses that person with their plan to work
with.
Advantages of a tender brief:
-
It is the
most cost-efficient way and finding out the best idea for the cheapest price.
-
If your
idea is chosen, it means that you created a better idea than others and you are
allowed to gloat in your own glory for a while.
-
The client
looks t what you can do and cost so much idea generation isn’t needed
-
Disadvantages of a tender brief:
-
It is not
certain whether your groups idea will be chosen
-
The client
may judge you based on you are rather than your idea if your idea is the same
as another.
-
It is
pretty much a competition between companies is if there is a single small
problem then the project won’t be chosen
Commission Brief
A commission is when the
client asks the commissioner what he would like the commissioner to create for
him with the commissioner giving back a cost for the product. Once the
commission is complete and the client is happy, the client then pays for the
finished product.
Advantages of a commission brief:
-
It is two
clients who are giving input (Both Client and commissioner) rather than one
which gives a better understanding of how to go about the project
-
The
commissioner sets the price for the project and he will almost always be paid
for the finished product.
Disadvantages of a commission brief:
-
The client
may not like the finished outcome and refuse to pay
-
If the
client refuses to pay then a lot of time an effort have gone to waste
-
This form
of brief usually has the most problems with copyright issues in the fact of
other people using your finished project without permission.
Co-operative Brief
This is when multiple companies work together on a single large project
for a client. Most large events are classed as co-operative briefs. An example
of this is large budget films using other companies/ people to create the film.
A more specific example of this would be One Company for editing, another for
camera crew and other for Make-up/ FX and Special effects.
Advantages of a Co-operative brief
-
Because
there are more than one company working on the project, it saves time on the
project as a whole due to multiple companies working to the same brief.
-
It is more
creative as there will be more people involved in the project
Disadvantages of a Co-operative brief
-
If one
company doesn’t pull its weight then that can create complications for the
entire project as a whole
-
It is VERY
expensive, this usually can cost from thousands to millions or even more if
working with large scale and mainstream companies.
Competition Brief
This is when a company or group creates a competition giving out rules
and guidelines with a specific goal in mind. Once released, people such as fans
and commissioners can submit their own projects into the competition. Once the
competition ends, the projects are judged and the favourite projects are
awarded with the person who won gaining a prize. The company then uses the
project for a specific purpose. The usual types of Competitions are that of
creative works, usually being art, films or sculptures.
Advantages of a competition brief
-
By stating
that there is a reward to the best, Good submissions will be given and there
will be more submitted in the hopes of winning the prizes.
-
The
company only has to pay/ reward the winners
Disadvantages of a competition brief
-
If the
company cannot deliver on the reward, legal action can be taken against them
for not delivering their promise and the competition brief itself is a legal
document
-
The more
people who enter the competition, the less likely you are to win the prizes
Negotiating
the brief
Consultation with client
To begin with a project, the client and Employee need to work together
on discussing the brief itself. This means discussing the goals that need to be
accomplished, working out any problems which may ensue and what needs to be
done. Once this is done, the employee should keep regular contact with the
client depending on the type of brief. If the client and employee do not keep
consulting over the project at hand, it should either be because of the
agreement, type of brief or something important such as injuries. Regular
discussion in needed to ensure that the work is up to the standard that the
client is expecting. It is important to have a good agreement about
communication with the client so that work can be done to the client’s needs
and the best quality possible.
Degree of discretion in interpreting brief
When the employee is interpreting the brief, it is best to keep some
discretion about the project. Reasons for this are that it allows the employee
to be creative about the product and add elements to the product, which may
improve upon what was asked within the brief. This is also good to keep up
communications between the employee and the client as it improves upon the
status between client and worker.
Constraints
A constraint is a limitation/ restriction to uphold the best interests
to the public domain and prevent problems from occurring to them. These are
rules that the employee must bide by while working on the project. There are
multiple constraints when working to a brief and these are legal constraints,
Ethnical constraints and Regulatory Constraints. These must be kept to
otherwise you may be prosecuted and dealt with. They mean the following:
Legal Constraints
A Legal constraint is a limitation set out to a person or organisation
in regards to a specific matter. These laws are to protect the general public
and those who do not have power for exploitation. This means that the employee
must abide by the rules of the law, the courts and that of any legal
documentation. Those who do not abide by such laws and guidelines can be
prosecuted. Examples include: Breaking a contract, Ignoring a Copyrighted
trademark, Breaking the law and not applying for standard requirements like car
insurance and having no licence yet still driving.
Ethical Constraints
Ethical Constraints are the moral principles of how a group must act and
the standards to which they must be kept (Code of Conduct). Issues that this
covers are privacy, personal information, Hiring and dismissal of staff and
treatment of employees. These are not usually enforced by the law but other
individuals can prosecute your and take you to court.
Regulatory Constraints
Regulatory constraints are regulations created to enforce rules
established by legislations, which are backed up by the force of the law. These
are rules for businesses on what they can and cannot do. These are usually
standards enforced around the world such as minimum employee wage, safety
standards and shipping regulations.
Amendments to proposed final product
There are usually amendments to be made when working on a project due to
unscheduled circumstances. There are multiple issues that can happen to both
the project and the budget. For the budget, Costs could either increase or
decrease for a certain element of the project, for example could be the cost of
shipping costs for moving plastic casing for a toy product. Unplanned events
such as something breaking or losing work or requirements, which could only just
be added near the end of the project that needs to be completed. Unforeseen
development issues are also a budget problem as this can cost precious time to
fix while getting closer to the set deadline if one was set.
The
project can require several amendments over the course of it taking place and
duration is one of those problems. The project could be either extended or have
the deadline brought closer, either which can cause some disorder if not
expected. Workload is another issue as the client could expect things done
together which means the workload of each employee would rise causing stress,
tiredness and lack of morale. Fees are one other project problem as the project
could require items to be bought or improved upon which unfortunately, might temporarily
if not permanently have an effect of the pay of employees.
Amendments to conditions
When working on a project for a client, the company needs to be updated
on the regulations, ethics and laws that seem ever changing. Problems can arise from this and these
can take time. If regulations change, the company needs to adapt to the new
regulations otherwise face legal action. This may require time s meetings would
need to be held to update employees on the new regulations and ways to enforce
these. If problems occur during the development phase of a product, then
components may need to be added to the brief to rectify these problems, which
means discussing things further with the client to change the conditions if
necessary. One other problem may be that of a governing body such as higher up
individuals (Company Bosses) make suggest improvements to the project or create
changes that may need both getting used to and re-learning something such as an
office layout if facility has changed.
Opportunities
to learn
Self Development
During this, I could learn new skills while working on this project as
well as learn new information about the crime of York such as crime rates, the
names of the different arrest-able offences and most important for this project,
What ASBO’s Really are. I will also have the opportunity to develop my current
skills with both the software on the computers but also the filming equipment
such as the cameras, Microphones and also the best ways of editing such as
sound and cutting techniques. One other way in which I could develop is that
this project would allow me to branch out and develop my current ideas for
future projects.
New Skills
Hopefully, I will learn how to create something realistic and yet
improve upon my own auteur style. I would like to improve both lighting setups
and how to edit sound better, creating better quality videos and an improved
product overall.
Contributions
I could potentially make contributions to the initial to improve upon it
if I feel it is necessary to help everyone work on the brief and create the
film that is required. I should make as many contributions to the project as
possible, starting with discussing with the group what would be a really good
Idea for a film, Acting if needed or working on the cameras as part of the
filming crew. I would also work in editing the films, contributing to what
soundtrack should be used and what could overall improve the project and get
the project completed before the deadline.
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