Contracted brief - A contracted brief is a contract created by a client and given to a production company. The production company will have no say over the project and must follow the specific guidelines given that are written within the contract. With this contract there are both advantages and disadvantages, an advantage of a contracted brief is that the chosen company to manage the project are given clear cut instructions, they know what the finished project will look like and have detailed explanations of how to manage it.
A disadvantage is that if a company has an issue with the brief for any reason such as they don't believe some of it is right or they physically cannot complete a part of the contract then they may not be qualified for managing the project and could essentially lose out on money. If the company had chosen to accept the contract but, choose instead to not follow the guidelines and do not come out with the original project plan then the client has the right to sue or pull any legal action.
Example
An example of this would be like Microsoft (as the client) and epic games (as the production company), Microsoft could have wanted a good third person shooter to show off the Xbox 360 for release and so hired Epic games to create such a game. While the company will have some creativity over the game Microsoft would be the ones to say what they want to see in the game as to make sure they gain sales.
Negotiated brief - A negotiated brief is a contract that will usually be discussed between a client and a production company. It will usually be discussed at a client meeting where both the client and people (most likely the higher ups) of the company will discuss and negotiate the ideas, principles and how the product will be produced. An advantage of this negotiated brief is that the company can decide on whether any techniques or part of a product is appropriate enough to produce or not.
A disadvantage of a negotiated brief is that due to the negotiation part there will be disagreements between the client and production company, if too many disagreements occur between the two parties then the contract can be called off . In other circumstances the quarrelling over the disagreement can go on for too long leading to a less qualitatively produced product.
Example
The contract that will most likely be used in the video games industry is a negotiated brief, this is because say if Epic games were to have a negotiated contract with Microsoft it would allow them to be more free and open to what the game will be like from their perspective as well as Microsofts. They would be able to add more creative flair to the game whether it works or not and wouldn't get as much blame due to how they negotiated it.
Formal brief - A formal brief is contract that lays down the rules and regulations for the company to follow. Like a contracted brief it is created by a client and contains all information needed for the intended project. The contract doesn't always cover the legal operations which can make it a risky signing for a company to proceed with. Formal briefings can also be told to a large group of people as they are usually large projects to complete.
An advantage of this brief is that it can be read very easily, it is quite relaxed and is easily readable allowing for the job to be completed quickly and sufficiently. Another advantage is the contract cannot be changed, this means that no new ideas have to be read and completed, this leads to less distractions and adds to the sufficiently and quickness of the completing the project.
A disadvantage is that is the project needs more resources to get to the agreed final version then the company will have to pay for the resources themselves due to the agreement in the contract, this could lead to less profit and even more severe to losing out on money by the time the finished product is created.
Example
An example of a formal brief in industry use would be if Activision (the client) hired Treyarch (the production company) to create a call of duty, since this is a triple A game it would be a large project and considering Treyarch is a large company it would be a good choice to develop the game for them. The downside could be that because the legal operations are not covered then Treyarch could end up in some trouble far into the project which could lead to the company becoming bankrupt in an extreme case.
Informal brief - An informal brief is usually discussed between the client and the production company within a quick meeting to cover most topics about a project. The brief won't include a contract or any documents and is very limited on its detail. It is usually created for a small scale project and team to work on. An advantage of an informal brief is that as the project progresses then some ideas can be changed or improved allowing for a better outcome for the end of the project.
A disadvantage of a informal brief is that due to there being no contract then the chances of being paid are very sceptical since there is no written agreement between the two parties. This can cause multiple setbacks for the company especially wasting their time and money.
Example
An example of an informal brief would be like the game grow up. Ubisoft (the client) would come to Ubisoft reflections (the production company if they were separate companies) and task them with the job of creating grow up, this is because the game is a small project and so can be developed easy by a small production company such as Ubisoft reflection.
Commission brief - A commission brief is where a larger company will hire another separate independent company to create and produce the project for them. The large company will then give an external client the produced project and the contract between those two parties will be complete. Once the large company has been paid they will create a split sum of money to pay the independent company or give them rights to a portion of the royalties. This brief does not involve and is not negotiated with the client but between the two companies instead.
An advantage of this brief is that the large company do not have to work fully on the project meaning that they can have the second company use split up the work time allowing for more projects to be worked on within the larger company within a smaller time period, they will also earn money even for when the independent company work on the project too meaning both companies get paid for the job.
A disadvantage is because the commission brief is not consulted with the client it could lead to low quality finished project compared to if the large company put full time work into the project, there may also be conflict between both media companies about either the project at hand or the brief.
Example
An example of a commission brief is say if a big company like Activision hired a production company such as infinity ward to make modern warfare 3. Infinity ward could use a commission brief to hire a smaller company such as sledgehammer games to help them work on the project, this creates less work for infinity ward and once the project is complete and handed to Activision, infinity ward will split the sum of money with sledgehammer games
Tender brief - A tender brief is where a client can create a brief and send their idea to multiple companies, the companies will pitch their offers to the client about the project if they are interested. Once the client chooses the best proposal for their needs and suits their brief they will offer the job to the chosen production company.
An advantage of this brief is that the client can be freely choose a production company that they feel will produce their product at the highest quality, it will also allow them to see which companies would be best for future endeavours in areas of other projects.
A disadvantage of this brief is aimed more towards the production company, since there are multiple companies involved with this process the clients choice could potentially waste a rejected companies time. A rejected company could also have had an opportunity presented to them from a different client but may have rejected that project due to trying to get a deal with a tender brief client.
Example
An example of a tender brief in the industry would be like if a company such as Sony wanted to create a game like Bloodbourne they could send out a brief of the game to multiple companies such as Bungie, Treyarch, Naughty dog etc. The company who presents Sony with the best proposal that looks closer to there image of the game will be hired to develop the full game for release.
Co-operative brief - A co-operative brief is kind of like a commission brief but instead of a larger company employing an independent one, the client will employ two companies to work on the project. After both companies have received the brief they will decide on how to create the project and split the work between each other. If there is any quarrelling between the two companies about ideas then a negotiated brief can be used to resolve the issue.
An advantage of this brief can be that there are more people involved in the project allowing for more creative inclusion on the project and a higher quality version as long as both companies communicate and work together.
A disadvantage is like one said before where the two companies could be quarrelling with one another due to conflicts over creative ideas, this could halt the production of the project and waste time and money either resulting in the need for a negotiated brief or in severe cases the disbandment of a project.
Example
An example of a Co-operative brief would be like Activision employing Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer games to develop modern warfare 3 instead of infinity Ward asking Sledgehammer for help. This is more beneficial for Activision in regards that they know both the companies that they are asking for help and so hand over the brief to both companies for them to decide what the best way to create the game is.
Competition brief - A competition brief is where a client puts their brief out for multiple companies to participate in. It can be seen as a free competition of sorts, once the companies have finished on the project the client will decide which they believe is the best product and will publish it. An advantage of this is is that the client can get a range of products and thus get a higher chance of a better quality product.
The disadvantage of this links to the tender brief's as the companies who were not chosen will have wasted their time and money.
Example
An example of a competition brief is say that Sony did another competition where they advertise an idea for a game, multiple companies can participate but instead of developing a demo or creating a smaller version of the project, each production company will make the full game. Dependant on which company has the best version of the game will depend on who's game gets published, this could go either way for any company at hand and is completely down to hard work and luck.
Reading a brief - When a company or producer receives any brief they must read through it very carefully and is crucial that the content and context of the brief is fully understood. The product has to be fully understood because the producer needs to understand what the idea is and if the company has the resources to manage the project. Secondly, they need to make sure the factors that relate to the idea are researched properly and if not add their own input to them to make sure the product is produced to its highest quality. The factors included in this are:
- Demographics
- Geographic’s
- Market Competition
- Use of the product (marketing/advertising etc.)
- Style of the product.
- Technical Specifications (FPS, Aspect Ratio, overall quality of final product).
It is crucial for someone such as a creator of a game product (such as myself) to understand these factors because if they are not understood then the final product may not be as effective for the clients use which could lead to things such as financial loss. Another important reason to read the brief carefully and understand the above factors is because then it allows for the producer to plan out several key factors of their own for the company to follow such as:
- Timescales
- Resources
- Locations
- Crew and Post Production/Production/Programming/Animating Time.
Legal, Ethical and regulatory constraints
With every brief there comes legal, ethical and regulatory constraints that the company have to think about and happens with every form of media. The things companies have to look out for when keeping these in mind are things like not trying to upset groups of people both physically or emotionally, this can involve things such as race, religion, sex etc. These problems would come under mainly ethical constraints but can become legal issues depending on how severe the harm to a individual or group is caused. To avoid legal constraints as much as possible the government created laws and regulations for companies to abide by.
An example of a law created is the data protection act which is a law that protects personal data stored on computers or in an organised paper filing system. Another example would be the copyright law which protects any originally created content produced so other people cannot steal your original ideas/creations and claim them as their own. Legal constraints are the hardest constraints to avoid as there is a huge amount of laws and regulations to understand with some being quite open to what their description says. Ethical issues are a lot easier to avoid as it is based more upon the logical thoughts of what will be upsetting for the public, while some products created can still go against ethics such as GTA which has huge controversial and ethical topics surrounding it, major companies will tend to try and avoid these at all costs and can have different ethnic groups working on a project to make sure that it stays very professional and has very little ethical backlash for the final product.
Amendments
As stated previously, such as during the explanation of the negotiated brief, some clients can have a change in idea of their products and if a severe case were to happen where the client wanted a projects final idea changing completely while half way through production could cost the company creating the product highly. To stop this companies will use sign off sheets to combat this from happening, these sheets are a form of security because once they are signed it means that the client cannot go back upon the idea and change anything about it, it creates a from of security for the company to finish the project without worry of wasting resources and time.
During production the budget that the company and client initially agreed to use can also change, this can happen if the project prices were underestimated, new costs have arisen or prices have changed to certain resources. If this happens then the company will have to discuss with the client about whether they are happy or not to pay for any extra amounts of funding for the project. This will lead to an updated of the pre-production that will have to state the price change, whether it has increased or decreased.
Just as the previous two amendments, conditions can also be changed which will once again lead to another change in the final product. An example of a condition change could be if the client wants to change the target demographic from being open to a certain group of people to now being less appealing to them, this will put the company at a disadvantage as they have to put extra work hours in to work around the change. The only solution is to have a detailed consultation that can be evidenced via meeting minutes (an instant written record or a meeting) or sign off sheets to conclude that a part of the product is complete and cannot be changed.
Negotiated currency
A main part of a negotiated brief (and one that can only be done in this type of brief) is the negotiated currency between the client and the production company. The negotiated currency is vital to be discussed to ensure the product is created accordingly and so will be discussed to a high and professional standard. It will start with the client running through all the costs that they are paying for and then the production company receiving a detailed list of all the costs involved.
Opportunities
As clients and production companies work with briefs they will pick up different skills that are involved getting used to them and improving upon them with each project. These skills can range from communication techniques, development skills in producing the product, time management skills including chunks of split schedules like multiple deadlines the company have to work towards and more. There can also come about opportunity for building up skills by multi-tasking, this will allow creators to get more skills and experience by working on two projects within a same time frame, it will also allow producers to get used to and compare things such as how negotiated and contracted briefs work, this could allow him to see which their company is best at working with to produce higher quality content for future endeavours. The producer will also be able to switch between two different projects effectively which is a very crucial skill in ay media industry.
Advantage of contributions
When a company is allowed to have creative input on a project it can both benefit the company and the client, it can benefit the client because there can be more creative thought put into the project as multiple creative minds are better than one. It can also solve any flaws within the product and produce one of much higher quality than the estimated version from the start. It is beneficial to the company because it could allow for them to be recommended by the client leading to more collaborations with known client or other clients who pay more money for their projects, it also allows the employees of the company to develop their creative skills more which could lead to even higher quality products in the future.
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