THE REQUIREMENTS OF WORKING TO A BRIEF
Briefs
What is a Brief?
A brief in its bare form is a set of instructions given to someone regarding a job or task.
In regard to the ESting competition we were given the task to create an original brand sting that "smacks" the attitude of E4 and with the purpose to be played on the official E4 channel.
The brief had strict rules in regards to content. They strictly said you cannot show anything violent within the daytime and if your ESting contains violence it will be played after watershed.
They require that it has to be EXACTLY 10 seconds. and MUST contain on the provided sound clips and HAS to have the E4 logo within it.
So with these rules in mind we went about planning our ESting.
What Is a Commission?
Commission or to be Commissioned is when your idea is granted authorisation to be produced within a contract.
When talking about the E4 ESting project; I would say that the brief provided us with the plan and rules to follow and our tutors commissioned us to produce the EStings themselves.
We were not commissioned by E4 themselves but we were still commissioned in the same manner by our tutors.
Tender?
Tender is when a brief is sent of several different companies via email or post and invites these companies to produce ideas that will be considered against the other companies ideas.
This creates a very competitive market for this types of briefs. Many companies create ideas that they believe can be winners but they will never know what competitors are planning so being on top form is essential.
To relate this to our production, we were not given a big budget per say but we were given a deadline to complete our ESting by in order to fulfil our contract eg. our course deadline.
Other Ways?
Other than creating an ESting after reading a brief and planning like we did for the ESting. There is other ways you can respond to briefs.
For starters you could be presenting with different forms of briefs;
Contractual - This is where the brief is given in the form of a contract to which the brief will be outlined.
Negotiated - This is where the brief provider is willing to converse and work an idea further once the right worker has been found. They may discuss end goals and agreeing on targets.
Formal - A formal meeting could be arrange to talk about there wants and desires in terms of the brief itself. This would be more common in a larger company.
Informal - Informal is the opposite of formal. A company might carry out meetings via the phone or have a meeting in a informal location.
Competition - A competition much like E4 ESting could be found and entered and handled the same way. This is an informal way but is simpler in the legal department.
Reading a Brief
The brief I was issued for the E4 ESting contain little but concise information in regards to the content of the ESting. They asked us to create a ten second sting for the E4 television channel.
The key element we had to always consider when planning was the beginning paragraph. They wanted us to take the E4 logo and create an original brand sting that smacks of the E4 attitude.
I have highlighted the key words within the that opening sentence much like we did and this set us off with the production of the ESting.
We began by watching hundreds of different E4 EStings, we looked at previous winners and also runners up. We also scoured the internet to find EStings that were entered and did not get in the running at all to really grab a sense of the originality that we needed to have within our ESting to make it something special.
We then incorporated subconscious research in recreation time but watching the E4 channel more often in order to workout what the E4 attitude was. By the end of the week we had a clear idea of how original we had to be and what the E4 attitude was.
After this we then decided to work on the actual idea and thinking creatively. The reason we did not do this sooner was because;
1. We wanted the idea to be fresh and original
2. We wanted to reflect the attitude of E4 and fulfill the brief properly.
So we looked at the rules and wrote the key points within them. We knew we wanted our ESting to be played in the daytime so we immediately agree on a no violent idea. We knew however that we could imply if we really wanted to.
We then wrote down in the biggest type possible so we would not forget that the ESting had to be EXACTLY TEN SECONDS. That means we had to come up with an idea that was possible within this time frame and not a fraction over.
As for the audio beds, we didn't have a clear idea but this point so we came back to this once our idea was clear. This way we could find a audio bed that most fits our idea rather than create an idea around one of the them. This limits us on what we can produce and how creative we can be.
We then read the final point about the logo and got a copy and thought about how we could "integrate into the idea rather than slapped on the end" We had to consider this when thinking creatively about the idea itself.
Negotiating The Brief
When it came to negotiation our options we limited somewhat. We didn't have any room to discuss room to negotiate with E4 themselves. This is due to the fact the competition has to be fair to all and no special treatment could be given to any given individual. However we could consulate our tutors who were acting as the commissioners.
As for reading the brief itself. We were not allowed to change much, The rules we strict and non negotiable. Meaning we couldn't add seconds onto the final ESting it had to be ten seconds exactly. We couldn't use any soundtracks of our own it had to be one of the provided by E4. The only real room to change was how we used the E4 logo but it wasn't a bad thing in fact, we found it easier when the rules were solid. It gave us good ground to work off. This would have only been an issue if the brief was vague. But it wasn't, the brief was strong and had no vague points and was strict which served us well and made it easier to create around.
As for any more information regarding the project we consolidated our tutors who cleared up any points.
Constraints
Constraints within our ESting could be a hug issue in regards to the outreach of our final product.
Legal - We could have encountered serious legal issues in regards to brand icons we may have featured within our ESting. However I feel the legal side to our ESting was covered by the concise rules that the brief contained. For example we couldn't infringe any legal soundtrack issues as we could only use the soundtracks provided by E4. Any other sound effects added could have infringed copyright so we ensured we trended carefully in regards to addition sound effects. As for separate images not owned by us; we had to ensure in our pre production covered the idea of originality and how to cover brand logos etc to not infringe copy right.
Ethical - Ethical constraints were a bigger factor to face when preparing and producing our ESting. We had to ensure we offended no one. We had to make sure we did not offend any races, religions or organisations in our attempts to humor audiences. So working our idea around this idea was also another consideration for us. For example we could have made a lighthearted joke around the idea of trains; which was the basis of our idea of the time. We would know we meant nothing by it, but others may not and this was a serious consideration for us.
Channel 4 has strict guidelines to what and what not can be broadcasted on television. We took a look and revised what we can and cannot say. Most of it was straight forward, some highlighted swears that could not be said past watershed and some that cannot be said at all. We learnt that we could not mention or joke around with anything regarded with terrorist and especially not base anything off any recent disasters. We knew most of this but it was good to remind ourselves the seriousness of these moments. This also applied to the 4oD and other online ways to watch Channel 4. Universal rules that can be applied everything.
Feedback
Once our ESting was planned, produced and finished entirely we then screened out final EStings to our class along with everyone else. This was we could cover a few key ideas. We were able to receive feedback from our target audience and it could be face to face which gives us honest feedback which we could take forward. We screened our ESting and received feedback to which we noted down and then headed back into the editing suite to improve.
We acted on ours immediately. Some pointed out points to which were tiny errors. For example we had a missing frame that created a black screen for a split second that we didn't notice. Others pointed our bigger ideas and issues for example adding colour correction to really give a child's bedroom look which was what our idea was based of.
Another way we gained feedback was through questionnaires online. Although we got little legitimate feedback we got basic feedback. For example a simple yes or no in regards to if this ESting appealed to you.
All and all the feedback was well received and helped us increase the value and impact of our ESting.
Budget
We didn't have a huge budget; £5 in fact was the budget we had. This meant we had to source our own props and limited us on the scale of our ESting. This wasn't a huge issue because we planned around the idea of not having a budget. Our ESting contains child's toys and paper. Both we could source from ourselves, friends and family and that goes for camera equipment also. We didn't actually spend our £5 budget in the end.
We had to make a change to our timescale of filming however. We planned on shooting one day and getting all the footage we need but due to travel delays and general unforeseen delays we had to span the shoot across two days which meant we had a few lighting issues that we had to work on in post production through brightness and contrast.
In a professional situation, I could see how budget could massively affect a production. We were lucky that our idea was simple in its preparation. However it could have been controlled easier if we had the budget for professional lighting and a studio to which could be uninterrupted.
Opportunities
Self Development
Throughout this project I learnt a few things about myself and my skill set that I never thought I would. I wasn't a huge fan of stop motion animation to start with and I thought by the end I would still feel this way but now, I can respect the art a lot more and understand how pain staking it can be.
I learn't that animation is an equally as mental taxing and equally as tough to plan as standard moving images. I learnt that a littlest mistake in the filming process sets you back massively. I can officially respect the art and would love to be able to do it as I would change a lot.
I learn't alot of myself and my ability to organised and lead a group of individuals. I also learnt how to step back and let others take charge, I also discovered my temper threshold and how to deal with setbacks that may/may not be man-made.
I discovered how I much prefer behind the camera work and thinking creatively. I never enjoyed the idea of pre production paper work either but I found myself thoroughly enjoying it on the animation unit. I will carry what I've learnt into my future projects as well as into other parts of everyday life.
New Skills and Multi-Skilling
I gathered and fine tuned the skills needed to follow a brief and how to produce a media product based of rules that need to be strictly followed.
I learn't how to produce a stop motion video. How to film a stop motion video correctly and how to produce in post production via the editing software. Using software to help adjust the frames per second to give it a real stop motion look and make it look professional.
I have learn't communication skills with a client as well as others I am working with to be firm in some cases but still remain a friendly atmosphere which is important when you are trying to thinking creatively.
As by the end of the ESting we had over 700+ photos we had to divide roles and share the back breaking work evenly. For example we were in a group of two so we alternated who was taking the photos and how was moving the pieces of paper each frame and we did this every 50 photos of so.
My Contribution
As for my own contribution to the project brief. I feel as if I lead the production for the most part, this was accountable on the fact the idea was my own. But that doesn't mean I didn't incorporate ideas from the other colleague. We used his idea in a more subtle way in order to keep everyone motivated on the project.
As for pre-production I did the majority of the paperwork in regard to talent releases. We did the story boarding and creative planning closely in order to have no communication errors whilst on the shoot to save time.
Post-production was also done closely, I would man the the editing software and work through both of our thoughts and feelings at the time.
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