Many companies in the creative media industry will hire outside freelance media content creators to create a media product for them, sometimes to promote a product. This can range from poster design, to short films. In almost all cases you will be required to work to a specific brief given to you by your client. There are several types of briefs that may be issued to you by a client;
Structure Of Briefs;
Contractual
A contractual brief is a brief that is written after yourself and the client have negotiated and come to some agreement as to the terms of your brief. These agreed upon terms will then be wrote down into a contract which you will be required to sign as well as your client. Once the document is signed it becomes legally binding, meaning that any violation fo the contract can result in legal proceedings and having to go to court. agreed upon terms for a contract could be anything, for example a deadline for the completion of the intended product. Should the product not be completed by the agreed upon date then you will be in violation of the contract.
Negotiated
A negotiated brief is when a client is open to negotiating with you regarding the intended project. Sometimes a clients ideas or expectations may be unrealistic or unattainable, in which case you should go into negotiations with them to come up with a more realistically achievable brief. This usually means both parties making compromises on their own ideas to come to some kind of agreement that suits both yourself and the client. Negotiations can differ drastically depending on the product and your client, they may be able to change their current idea to incorporate the new aspects you desire or you may both have to originate a new idea for the brief instead.
Formal
If the meeting is in a formal setting you are likely working for a professional company. Meetings like this will usually take place in a conference or meeting room and be set up for the meeting. This means you must also arrive dressed appropriately, ideas would be expected to be presented in a manner usual for a meeting, usually with a slifeshow or visual presentation to illustrate your ideas with a level of professionalism. IF this is the nature of your meeting it is liekly to assume there is much more at stake than if you were working for a small client. In these situations your very reputation in the industry could be at stake so presenting yourself well is essential, this puts a lot more pressure on you to come up with good original ideas and have spent time developing these ideas.
Informal
An informal meeting may seem much more like a casual conversation as opposed to a formal meeting and may not necessarily take place in person. In these situations the client likely just wants you to feel at ease and wants to hear your ideas and discuss the brief. As such this kind of meeting may not feel like an actual itnerview and you should dress causally, or smart casual.
Commission
In the case of a commission the client is most likely a large company that hires freelance workers to produce media products for them. these clients may then pass the work on to other external clients who will then also pay the content creator for the work they have produced and the rights to utilise it. In these cases the commissioner will often remain in constant contact with the creator to see how the product is coming along and make suggestions, he will ensure the creator works within the allotted budget and to the timeframe specified. It is possible that the brief may be flexible in terms of making some changes to make it more achievable or realistic , this will be worked out with commissioner before production begins.
Tender
Tender means that there is money involved and that you as a creator will be working against other creators to create the best product so that the client chooses your final product, these meetings will almost always be in an interview like setting.
Cooperative Brief
A cooperative brief is a situation in which two or more companies or contenct creators work together to achieve a single brief. This means that more than one perspective is available tow ork on the project an thus they can work together to come to an appropriate conclusion. There is more than one perspective on how the outcome will turn out. Both parties can bring their own skills to the project and improve the quality of what they produce. It is important that the two creators settle any disagreements quickly as they arise however as if they both get annoyed at each other and come to a disagreement the product will suffer.
Competition
In a competition situation the brief for the product is distributed publicly or a group of people. Usually these types of brief will involve a prize to encourage people to produce better content, this leads to competition between the creators. Anyone can submit their work as long as it meets the brief. The prize could be an actual prize or the chance to work with the company which would be benficial to a creator for their portfolio and industry contacts.
Reading A Brief
This is a vital process whenever you work to a brief, you must thoroughly read the brief to analyse any key information they they require from the finished product so that you can try your best to meet the brief. If you do not complete the brief to their standards they may not pay you for the work produced since you didn't actually provide the content they required from you.
Negotiating The Brief
Negotiating the brief is just as important as reading it.When you meet your client you need to discuss the brief with them to talk about what is achievable and what might not be so achievable and even suggest how the product could be better. This is not only better for them but also you. By negotiating your clients brief you make sure that you are only agreeing to produce content you are actually capable of producing and that it will look good as part of your portfolio of work and they will want to work with you again.
Opportunities
You can have many opportunities when working freelance for clients.You have the opportunities to make profit, develop your skills as a content creator and further develop and add to your portfolio of work which in turn raises awareness of your work and capabilities. You should always ask for feedback after completing products for clients as this can be used to for improvement or even as a quote to back up your skills with previous client feedback on your portfolio. As you work on different products it helps if you develop a tradmark, this can be done through your film style and helps set you apart from the rest of the content creators and gives you your own identity int he industry. This can help to get more clients as they may enjoy your particular style and come to you instead of someone else. You can also earn the trust with certain clients, this makes them more liekly to pick you over other creators when they need content producing. They will also help to grow your reputation in the industry and establish you as an creator. they may recommend you to other potential clients who, if you impress may do the same. Working with client may make them more trusting of you and recpetive to your input. They may let you have more creative input during negotiations if they're trusting of your judgement. This allows you more creative options to improve your work. Working with clients multiple times is a good way to make a reputation for yourself in the industry.
