Brief Structures

Brief Structures

Contractual

A contractual brief is essentially a contract between the client and the production company that they are going to for an advert. The brief outlines all the guidelines and parameters set by the client so that the production company can follow, they are legal documents and can have legal repercussions if not followed and there is a breach on both sides of the 'contract'. 

The advantages of a contractual brief is that they benefit both sides of the agreement, firstly there are guidelines and parameters for each side of the agreement to follow so there is a clear instruction and rules to be followed, which makes it more clear to understand and out into practice. There is also legal action that can be taken if there is a breach of contract, which will award the side that has made any losses. The production company however also benefits due to there being a clear list of things that the client wants, and so they can understand all the things required of them and can make the advert to the standard that the client wants, this is due to the brief being very detailed in what the client expects from the advert and production company. This then allows for the production company to create the advert with minimal interference and they will have no doubt that they are doing it right or wrong as it will state in the brief as to what needs to be done, this reduces production time and can allow for the production company to move onto new clients when they are finished.  

There are however disadvantages to this type of brief, these are usually disadvantages to the production company, since there are strict guidelines for the production company to follow it limits the company as to what they can do, and it stops the company from using their creativity and flair to the production that is asked from them, this then can lead the production company to just lack effort or emphasis on the production as they are very limited in what they can do, there is no incentive to make it the best possible, and so this leads to the quality of the production to decrease, and then this may cause the client to not like the standard of production created, and then there could be legal consequences as stated beforehand. Lastly these type of briefs take a long time to reach an agreement on both sides, the clients wants his production completed and the production company wants to work for multiple clients, so the time consuming aspect can be a disadvantage to both sides in this matter.

Negotiated

A negotiated brief is a brief that is discussed and negotiated between the client and the production company, this allows for both sides of the agreement to give their opinions and ideas about how the production should go, and how the final product should end up, this in essence allows for the production company to have some freedom in what they do, and the production possibilities laid out to the client, in which they can decide to go further with the company or find a different company. There will be several meetings to negotiate and discuss the details of the production, and then if both parties agree they will sign a contract and production will begin shortly after.

Negotiated briefs are beneficial to both the client and production company, firstly as stated before it allows for more creativity on behalf of the production compay, so they will be more willing to create the best production they can. The negotiations can also have a financial benefit, as the client will understand the cost of the production they are asking for, and the producers can prepare early on for the financial cost of the production if needed. Negotiated brief usually mean that there or no misunderstandings or conflict between the two parties on what will be done, as both parties have to agree on all details before signing the agreement.

There are however disadvantages as well, the main disadvantage being that it will take a long time to negotiate all details, find an agreement between the two parties, this means that the production time will be delayed and so both parties make a loss as they don't reach their objective in time. In addition to this after months of negotiating there can still be no agreement at the end which effectively means that both parties have wasted time, as they have not reached any final product, and even if they do agree, it will take time to sign a contract as well, which further delays the production time. 

Formal

A formal brief is where the production company is given a brief by the client with all the details of the production they want produced, The content of the brief is agreed beforehand, and so it a mixture of a negotiated and contractual brief. A formal brief however does not have any legal issues included in it and so therefore can be a risky step for the client to take, if the production company does not don't conform to the legal guidelines set. This type of brief can negotiated in larger groups and so is more appealing to large production companies. 

The advantage of a formal brief is that is is first easier to understand, read and follow, due to it being written in a formal style, so that both the client and company can fully understand what the content and expectations are. It also has the advantage that it is usually discussed in large groups, and so is more suitable to large production teams and companies who work with higher number of employees. It is the most straight forward type of brief, and once it has been agreed upon by the two parties it cannot be changed and no amendments can be made afterwards, this in results means that no party can be victimised as the brief would state everything that is required.

The disadvantage to this brief however is that it is not legally binding, which then means that it can be risky for either party, if there is a breach in the contract, especially for the client who would be the weaker party in a legal dispute. The major drawback is that due to the terms not being able to change, if there are unforeseen circumstances that occur, and the either the client or production team cannot meet their part of the brief this then will cause delays to filming etc. or it will effect the quality of the production that is being made for the client which will in turn lead to more conflict and arguments between the two parties.

Informal

An informal brief is a brief that is agreed upon by 'informal' discussions beetween the client and production company therefore there is no written evidence, this is a brief that is agreed upon through speech and it is up to each party to trust each other, they involve quick fast informal meetings to quickly decide what will be done, and what each party has to say in the agreement. there are no written documents and so there is a possibly a final meeting where the client and production team will meet and agree upon all aspects.

The advantage to this type of brief is that there is no written down contract, which means that there is complete freedom on behalf of the production team, and if either party cannot uphold their part of the agreement then there is no legal consequences, this then means that there are no funds or time wasted in legal disputes. The informal brief as stated have quick informal meetings and so it allows for more production time, and less time discussing and planning etc, and ideas or circumstances can change which allows the production team to alter their production according to the situation they are in, and allow for more creative freedom generally.

The disadvantage to this type of brief is that there is no contract formed beetween the two parties, os this in essence means that there is no written details of the production, be it production schedule, budget, personnel etc., this means that the production company may spend more then that are given or, may try to cut costs resulting in poorer production quality, there is no set guidelines and so both parties can try to cut corners. All agreements are made verbally so there is no evidence if either party wants to go to court, and they are deemed to be unprofessional and thus not really used, as important aspects may be missed as they are not written down.

Commission

A commission brief is when a client or a company hires an independent company to come up with ides for the production that the client wants. The client will give the independent company a vague idea of what they wish to be done, and the company have to generate ideas that suit the idea and then pitch the best idea they have to the client , the client can then add additional ideas or change a few parts to suit their needs. the client will then agree with the independent company on a budget on who they will outsource the production to with the budget given, they will have to find a willing producer to do the production for them with the given budget. 

This type of brief can have the advantage of again allowing for more creative freedom, this is because the independent company has come up with the idea themselves and do not have to follow what the client says, and then they can pitch the idea to the client in the best way possible, the company will receive a fee no matter what as they were hired to come up with an idea, another advantage is that it allows for multiple projects to be worked on at the same time, so the production company can do more project than just one and earn more money, and the client can can complete multiple projects at the same time using different independent producers.

This type of brief has multiple disadvantages such as the fact that the hired personnel will receive a lower wage since the wages are split beetween the production company and the independent company who came up with the idea. In addition to this, the producer usually has a small amount to contribute to the brief meaning their ideas will possibly won't be used in the final project, so this may mean that the final project may not be what the client expected or wanted since it came form the brief that was agreed upon the two companies, before being given to the producer to make the project who may not fully understand what was required in the brief.

Competition

In essence a competition brief involves the client proposing a  challenge for various different producers that will set out a description of what the client wants which is then sent to all potential production companies, so that they can come up with an idea or pitch their view on the client's idea. The idea that the client chooses/likes will then have the opportunity to create the product for the client. The different companies will create like a brief rough cut that would be entered into a 'competition' to see which style and aspect the client likes.

The advantage to competition brief is that it is used as a way to encourage producers to give their idea and pitch their production to the client, as they are in direct competition with other producing companies, so they will want to be picked to create the final product, another advantage is that the chosen proposal will be close to what the client wants or what the client actually wants. Competition briefs are also cheaper for the client, so if the client does not have a massive budget they can use this type of brief in order to see what is the most effective cost way of producing their production, and so the production companies will want to pitch the lowest possible cost to the client, in order to be chosen, the competition results in possible lower prices for the client. 

The disadvantage is only for the production companies in which their proposal and idea is not picked, as they will be wasting time and money, to be entered into the 'competition' and thus when they do not win, they lose out on the potential work they could of had from the client, and also the resources they spent in order to create a potential idea and pitch to the client, can be a disadvantage to production companies, and so they will put in more effort in order to try and win the client's 'competition'