In the world of video production, the brief is paramount. It's the roadmap that guides the entire project, conveying your vision, objectives, and expectations to the production team. A well-constructed brief ensures that everyone involved in the project has a clear understanding of what needs to be achieved, leading to successful outcomes.

So, whether you're gearing up for an explainer video, a video campaign, or looking to delegate an editing task, let's learn how to frame and structure your brief for optimum results!

Why do I need a brief? Can't I just explain what I want?

While it's certainly possible to verbally explain what you want from your video project, creating a written brief has several important advantages that can greatly impact the success of your project:

Clarity and Consistency

A written brief provides a clear and consistent reference point for everyone involved in the project. This ensures that everyone is on the same page about the project's goals, objectives, and expectations, minimizing the risk of miscommunication or misunderstandings.

Guides the Creative Process

The brief acts as a roadmap for the creative team, guiding their work from concept to execution. It provides essential context, like the target audience, the intended tone and style, and the key messages, all of which influence the creative decisions made during the production process.

Allows Efficient Use of Time and Resources

A comprehensive brief helps the production team understand the scope of the project, including timeline, budget, and resource requirements. This allows them to plan and allocate resources effectively, potentially saving time and money in the long run.

Provides a Basis for Evaluation

The brief outlines the objectives and desired outcomes for the project, which can be used to evaluate the success of the video once it's completed. Without a clear brief, it can be difficult to measure whether the video has achieved its intended goals.

Encourages Accountability

A brief acts as an agreement between you and the production team, outlining what is expected from both parties. This can help prevent disputes and ensure accountability, as it's clear what was agreed upon from the start.

Writing the perfect brief

Part 1: Understand the Purpose

Before you begin writing your brief, you need to understand the purpose of your video. Are you trying to explain a complex concept, promote a product, raise awareness, or maybe something entirely different? Your video’s purpose will inform its content, tone, style, and execution, so be crystal clear on this from the outset.

Part 2: Define Your Target Audience

Knowing your target audience is crucial. Define who you want to reach with your video. What are their interests? How do they consume content? The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor your video to engage them.

Part 3: Set Your Objectives

Clearly articulate what you want your video to achieve. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, boost sales, or perhaps educate your audience? Your objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Part 4: Outline the Scope

Provide a clear outline of the project's scope. This should include details like the video's duration, the number of scenes or shots, the locations, and any specific requirements for graphics, animation, or special effects. If there are non-negotiable aspects, make sure to highlight them.

Part 5: Specify the Budget and Timeline

Transparency about your budget and timeline is crucial for a production team to deliver the best possible product. By being upfront about your budget, the team can work within those confines to maximize your return on investment. Similarly, providing a clear timeline helps manage expectations and ensures that deadlines are met.

Part 6: Explain Your Brand

Include information about your brand - its personality, values, and visual style. If you have brand guidelines, share them. This will help the production team maintain brand consistency in the video.

Part 7: Define the Desired Tone and Style

Are you going for a humorous, serious, inspirational, or educational tone? Should the style be cinematic, animated, or documentary-like? Detailing the tone and style you envision will help the production team to bring your vision to life accurately.

Part 8: Share Inspirations

Sharing examples of videos that you admire can be extremely helpful. This gives the production team a better idea of what you're aiming for and can inspire creative choices for your project.

Part 9: Discuss Distribution

Finally, talk about where and how the video will be distributed. Will it be on social media, your website, at an event, or broadcasted on television? The distribution platform can significantly impact the video's format and style, so it's an essential aspect to discuss in your brief.

Get it right with Videohaus

You can download “The Perfect Brief” template right here and start using these to form your ideas and explain your requirements. Once you’re ready, you can send it to your hired local production team or Videohaus, and rest assured that you’ve provided everything a team could need.

Writing a killer brief may seem daunting, but it's an invaluable step in the video production process. By providing a thorough and clear brief, you're not only setting yourself up for success but also empowering the production team to create a video that aligns with your vision and meets your objectives. Remember, it's all about communication - the better the brief, the better the video!