Unit 5 P1 Understanding the requirements of working to a brief.

Understanding a brief is very easy if you know what youre reading and to help you all you need to
do is follow these few points to help you understand a brief.
Structure of brief A brief is something your client or a company gives you, for you to look at and
help so this means you would have to come up an idea and provide feedback that could help with
their brief, by doing all of this it could help you get the contract from the client, however it doesnt
mean you have got the contract it means that you have been considered for it if they like your idea
then they would take you but if they dont then they wont take you, for example when you hand in
your cv to a company they wont give you that job straight away, they would look at it and see if
your suitable then they would hire you or not, another example is when my teacher gave me a brief
and I read it to understand what my client is looking for, after doing that I came with several ideas
and then I pitched it to my client to see if she will give me the thumbs up or thumbs down.
Tender - this would be when some of the briefs are sent off to other companies via post or
email and then you would be brought to the companies to present your ideas and then you
would be considered for that place but you are going to be competing against other ideas
from other suppliers. For example I was given a brief for unit 5 and it basically said that I had
to create a media product targeted towards 16 to 18 year olds letting them know the
dangers and
Negotiated this is helping the client to develop their ideas for the brief by working closely
with them and discussing the aims and objectives with them, for example my teacher gave
me an assignment brief for unit 22 and I had an idea for it but I thought it was not good
enough so I asked my teacher if she could help me develop my idea and tell me what to add
or what not to add.
Contractual This is when the brief is simply outlined in an employment contract as a
document. For example I was given a contractual brief to sign and what is basically said in
that brief was that if I borrowed equipment and something happens to it I will be held
responsible for it, another example of a contractual brief is the brief I am looking at now
which is unit 5 even though I didnt sign a contract it is similar because I have to do it
because its apart of my grade so if I dont do it I fail and will face the consequences.
Formal this is when you have a meeting with the client and they would tell you what they
would like you to do instead of giving it to you as a document. For example the brief I was
given was presented to me in a formal way and what I did was outline the key factures to
think of a great idea for my client.
Informal This is when the client verbally contacts you so they would call you and tell you
what they require from you. For me this is unlikely to happen because all my briefs are
handed to me in a formal structure.
In whatever way your brief is presented to you, your job is to read, understand and respond to your
client with your suitable ideas for you to be considered for that place.
Reading a Brief
When reading a brief you need to have an understanding on what the client is looking for. For
example I was given a brief for one of my units and it said that I had to create something that would
send a message to teenagers that binge drink, but for me to have an understanding I had to highlight
the main points that were in the brief before I could work on it. The first thing I highlighted was who
my target audience are because I would have to make my product appeal to them, I then highlighted
what the topic was about which is binge drinking, then I looked at who my client are and what they
want me to do. By doing this I have a clear understanding on what to do and who Im supposed to
target. Basically what you need to do when reading a brief is break down the content like what I did
when I highlighted the main facts that the client is looking for. You should always go back to the brief
to clarify any information that you forgot and if you still dont understand the brief you should go to
your client and clarify the things you dont understand. Speaking to your client is important when it
comes to your ideas because they can give you feedback on your ideas and provide you with
information that can help you build up your own idea.
Constraints
You should know that all work and ideas are subject to legal, regulatory and ethical constraints. You
need to know what these constraints are and what they mean and how you can work within them.
Here are the constraints and what they are and how you can work within them;
Legal Constraints you are legally committed to hand to your client the whole of your
project as laid out in the contract between you and the client. If you fail to meet the agreed
terms with the budget and deadlines, this could be a violation of the contract which could
mean you would lose money, trust, respect and the whole project and not forgetting how it
can lead to serious legal consequences. So what I would have to do here is make sure that
Im organised with my timing to meet my deadlines, I also so have to be organised with my
budgeting and I have to trust my client but if I dont trust them they wont trust me. For
example I was given a unit 48 assignment brief and what I had to do was recreate a piece of
audio but I failed to meet the deadline and I didnt hand in all of the work I have done, so I
lost on that clients trust.
Regulatory Constraints Every medium is controlled by its own governing body, a governing
body is a persons (or committees or department) who make up a body for the purpose of
overseeing something, and an example of a governing body is OFCOM. You need to know
the restrictions the governing bodies may have placed on you production and what the
possible importance may be if you choose to ignore them and if you dont know you would
need to find out before you are faced with the consequences. Also make sure that you are
clear of the codes and practice and legalisation that apply in your area of work. What I would
do here is research the rules the governing body has placed so that I know what to add to
my product and what not to add before I face the consequences. For example in one of my
units I was asked to create a short film that would appeal to my target audience but before I
could start on the research I had to know who my target audience were. When I found out
my target audience I then had to think of an idea but making sure that I use the appropriate
content that suits my audience, how I did that was by researching on the ratings the BBFC
had put on different audience and what is suitable. I also needed talent but I could not just
go up to the person and say I want you to be in my film. What I had to do was give legal
documents to sign which was a release form so that I would have their consent to use them
in my film. Taken that to mind for my project I would be interviewing people that I know and
people that I dont know so I would have to make them sign a release form before
proceeding. By doing this I avoided facing the consequences from my client and I avoided
legal issues. OFCOM are an examples of regulators
Ethical Constraints Behaving ethically is throughout the whole production process is
important. You have to acknowledge that you cannot speak freely, act a certain way because
you want to or produce anything that you want because you are not the only person so you
must consider the ideas, thoughts and opinions in all the decisions and things that you do.
From reading my brief I know that I am going to be working with a lot of people so I need to
take on board this constraint because if I dont it can get me in serious trouble and maybe
even be dismissed from client because of my poor punctuality towards others. Another one
of my briefs was to make a moving image to help teenagers stop drinking and for this I need
to be careful on the content because I would need to know the time in which my
programme will be aired for the viewers at home so I know whether to add explicit words or
scenes.
Regulation of the creative media sector must be put into mind at all times when doing your own
production work. This is very important for avoiding legal actions. So when I do my production I
would have to know all the regulations so I would not have to face the consequences which make
me fall behind and I might not be able to meet the deadline for the client.
Negotiating the Brief
You may need to analyse and tweak the initial brief with the client, either at the beginning or during
the production. This is so it will be easier for you to work with for example I was given a brief for unit
54 and we had to choose one of the brands to rebrand and I didnt think I could rebrand the ones on
the brief so I asked my teacher if I could add another brand.
Negotiating changes to proposed final product
This could happen at any stage and is mainly requested by either the producer or client and should
be accountable to a continuing review process. There should be compliance and skill to comply
when and as required. You do not want to produce something that the client didnt want that is why
you should always make sure that an agreement has been met with the client before you can begin
any work for them. I had to go through this process when I was asked to make a music video from
one of my clients and before I could make any amendments I had to talk to my client about it and he
agreed and also gave me ideas to put in.
Negotiating changes to the subject
Emergency planning is crucial. At least by having 10 per cent emergency buffer should be set to the
side at the beginning of the project in case of an unexpected event. For example I have been given a
brief for unit 33 which says I have to create a stop motion animation and I had an idea but someone
else got to the client first with that same idea so I had to think of another idea before the deadline,
that is why you should be prepared with another idea to produce to your client.
Negotiating changes to conditions and fees
It is a possibility that you would have to negotiate a change to the conditions of the contracts or the
fee payable, even the payments that have been outlined. You have to be well planned to discuss
these matters with the client and make sure that all crucial changes have been agreed to in writing
before starting the work.
Opportunities
You will be working as a team and may be recommended to have more than one role all through the
project. For example one of my briefs was to work as a team to produce a short film and in that
group I had many roles such as a camerawoman, producer and assistant director and these roles
were opportunities for me because it meant that I gained different types of skills and is shows that
Im self-developing . This is an advantage towards you because it offers you the likely development
of new skills and widens your experience, it will also show the client that you are hardworking and
you like to take on new things and they might consider you if they have another project coming up.
View the contributions you can make to the brief and identify them for you. However you would also
need to identify the opportunity inside the project where you can learn and develop new skills. If
you set yourself some goals to work towards as your aim and be sure to manage your time, then you
would have successful ideas and your clients would be sure of taking you on.
My Role
I was given a brief from my client STOP.CO.UK asking me if I can create a media product that will
send a message to teenagers at the age of 16 18 to stop binge drinking. My role is to create a
media product so I need to have an idea of what type of media product I am going to use, which I
have already done and I would be interviewing people for a TV show , what type of show it is, which
I also have a vivid idea about (light hearted, entertainment), who Im going to be interviewing this is
really important because when picking the people I would be interviewing I have to keep in mind my
target audience so for example I would not interview a 50 year old man asking them how they were
like when they were 16 because it wouldnt appeal to the target audience. I would also need to get
legal documents which is a release form for the people I am going to be interviewing, this important
because if they dont sign the form and I use them without their consent I would face legal
consequences, another important thing is keeping ethical constraints into mind and treat my fellow
team mates or partner with respect and also making sure I act appropriate in public and towards the
interviewees. If I follow all the steps of understanding a brief I will be able to meet my clients
deadline and make my work of a high standard.