Unit 4 & 5 – Creative Media Production Management Project & Working to a brief in Media
There are many different types of briefs the most famous of which would be the contractual, this is due to how often it is used in TV shows and movies. The reason it is a contractual brief is simply because the recipient will have to sign it. It is very similar to a formal brief as it will include very structured detail of everything that is required of you. I personally had to sign a contractual brief when starting my apprenticeship, it had outlined things like the length of time i would be working for, what my roles at the company would be, the pay i would be receiving and the amount of holiday I would be able to take per year. When signing one of these briefs you are locked into the terms and breaking any of them could land you with serious legal issues.
A negotiated brief is almost always changing up until the start date. Every aspect of this brief can be discussed until both parties are happy with the end result however most of the time things are left up to the employee whom is probably happy to be able to use more creativity and own initiative. The detail will most likely be very general for example "I'd like you to make me a cool website, use whatever you think best.". As you can see it is left very open to different ideas.
A competition brief is one that anybody can view and work to. All of the finished products are then normally judged and one will win with perhaps a few being runners up. All of the competition will strive to out do each other and then you will hopefully be left with the best piece of work possible. The possibility of a prize for winning will entice many people and therefore have many different ideas to choose from.
A formal brief is clear, concise and well set out. It will tell the recipient exactly what they need to do, normally in different sections. It will contain headings, sub headings, dates, addresses and quite often the companies logo in the header. An informal brief is often not even a official document, it could just be sent through a text or an email. It can even be agreed in a conversation, however this can be incredibly risky as it has no standing in court if the client doesn't give you what was agreed upon.
A commission brief is one where a large company hires an independent company to create there product for them. This type of brief is negotiable between both parties as opposed to an external party who would receive the product after its done. An advantage is that the independent company will receive the pay for creating the product and then might even get some profit that is generated by the product once it is out.
Similar to a competition brief, a tender is open to clients who will then have to compete for the work. The best will then be selected and then their ideas developed, and due to the competition the parties will be more motivated to create a better product however my be disheartened if they do not get the work. It can be very hard for people to earn a living this way.
A co-operative brief is, like the name suggests, a brief in which multiple parties work on the same thing. One of the main reasons this is done is because different people are better at different aspects of the work. Over the course of the work hopefully the companies will learn to communicate and work together which creates a lasting bond for the companies in the future. However if any of the employees disagree it may cause the project to collapse.
We have also been given a brief, and the first step when receiving one is to identify what kind of brief it is from the ones we have listed above. The main objectives we have to achieve are to plan and develop a story for a video game, which will be based on the game Big Trouble in Little China. After developing the story we will have to adapt it into a video game for a Windows PC. We will have to start off with 4 original game ideas and then use them to create one final game design document. This will have to be pitched before production will begin. I would say that this brief is informal due to the nature of how it is presented. It is in a PowerPoint as opposed to being on paper and set out neatly with a header, address date and title. Also in a formal brief the employer will set out exactly what they want the work to include where in this one a lot is left up to your imagination.
When following a brief there are many different skills we can develop on for example in the games industry, for example you may learn different 3D design tools and develop your skills on them from different people. There many self development and communication skills you can pick up, if the brief requires that you work in a group it will help improve things like leadership and teamwork. The good thing about working from briefs is that you will work for many different companies meaning you have a lot of chances to gain contacts in the industry. It may also require you to travel to different places to work which only adds to your experience and gives you several good aspects to add to your CV.
A commission brief is one where a large company hires an independent company to create there product for them. This type of brief is negotiable between both parties as opposed to an external party who would receive the product after its done. An advantage is that the independent company will receive the pay for creating the product and then might even get some profit that is generated by the product once it is out.
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| A co-operative Brief |
A co-operative brief is, like the name suggests, a brief in which multiple parties work on the same thing. One of the main reasons this is done is because different people are better at different aspects of the work. Over the course of the work hopefully the companies will learn to communicate and work together which creates a lasting bond for the companies in the future. However if any of the employees disagree it may cause the project to collapse.
We have also been given a brief, and the first step when receiving one is to identify what kind of brief it is from the ones we have listed above. The main objectives we have to achieve are to plan and develop a story for a video game, which will be based on the game Big Trouble in Little China. After developing the story we will have to adapt it into a video game for a Windows PC. We will have to start off with 4 original game ideas and then use them to create one final game design document. This will have to be pitched before production will begin. I would say that this brief is informal due to the nature of how it is presented. It is in a PowerPoint as opposed to being on paper and set out neatly with a header, address date and title. Also in a formal brief the employer will set out exactly what they want the work to include where in this one a lot is left up to your imagination.
When following a brief there are many different skills we can develop on for example in the games industry, for example you may learn different 3D design tools and develop your skills on them from different people. There many self development and communication skills you can pick up, if the brief requires that you work in a group it will help improve things like leadership and teamwork. The good thing about working from briefs is that you will work for many different companies meaning you have a lot of chances to gain contacts in the industry. It may also require you to travel to different places to work which only adds to your experience and gives you several good aspects to add to your CV.
