What Should You Include in a Video Brief?
Have you checked everything off the list below before submitting your video brief?
When putting together a brief for quotation, it’s important to remember that there are many variables in video production, both from technical and creative perspectives. In order for us video folk to provide accurate estimates, if we don’t have certain information to begin with then we’re just plucking numbers out of thin air and making a LOT of assumptions about you and your organisation’s requirements. Any good freelancer or production company you approach should be finding out as much about your video project as possible, in order to tailor their quote accordingly. If they aren’t doing this in the first instance, then alarm bells should be ringing!
I’ve put together a list of what I would consider the most essential information any video professional will need in order for them to provide you an accurate quote. To save you time, it’s really important that you provide as much information about your requirements as possible from the outset. You don’t have to know absolutely everything at the initial inquiry stage, and suggestions can be made to guide you in the right direction, however, the more of the following details you can provide, the quicker we can help you!
Before you submit your video brief for quotation, have you checked everything off this list?
Psst!…If you know the answers to these questions already then you can skip straight to the form!
Brief background of your brand
This information helps us to learn about who you are, the market you operate in and who your customers are. We would be working with you, not for you, so it helps us to get to know you better!
Filming internal product demonstration videos for a major designer brand
What kind of video(s) are you making?
Promo?
Training?
Talking heads?
Social media content?
Product demos?
Entertainment?
(Be as descriptive as you like!)
Why are you making video?
I can’t understate the importance of this one! Knowing why you are making a piece of content helps us to align our methods with your organisation’s goals. Is it to be used internally or outward facing? Is it part of a wider marketing strategy? Even if as freelancers we may only be small cogs in a larger machine, it still pays to know how we fit in with the bigger picture.
With a better understanding of your target audience we can tailor shooting and editing styles accordingly. In this case, it was health and social care professionals.
Who is it being made for?
This is also very important - who is your target audience? Bear in mind that we might not be familiar with your sector, so the more information you can provide here, the better (but we might still need to ask some questions about your audience so we understand them better).
Where is it being shown?
This ties in with the above, because we need to consider where your audience are most likely to watch your video content. Are they being embedded on your website or used on social media? Or do they need to be fit for broadcast or shown on a big screen? Are viewers likely to be watching on their phones?
This project was quite high-end and utilised actors as well as several crew members. From Why SAP, produced by Clockhouse Productions
Who is going to be in it?
Will we be interviewing people from your company? Or featuring the general public? Or do you need to hire actors or presenters?
How long would your video(s) ideally be?
This is important because the overall length will affect how much editing time is required. If you’re unsure, please specify a rough time. Recommendations can always be made from previous experience if needed.
You may need an autocue to deliver your dialogue, especially if you’re directly addressing your audience
Is any scripting required?
You may need someone to deliver a piece to camera (rather than an interview) with an autocue or a voiceover, both of which require scripting. You may either be happy providing your own script, want us to help you refine your script or need something created from scratch! All of these approaches have different time constraints attached, so it’s important to establish early on whether you need assistance here or not.
How many edits do you need?
As with the above, the number of edits will affect the overall editing time. Included in this might be variations of edits, i.e. shorter edits of the main video for social media, formatting in different aspect ratios or versions with subtitles.
Capturing a 2 camera discussion in a London studio for Don’t Forget the Bubbles)
Location of filming
Where does the filming need to take place? Can it take place at yours or a client’s premises or are you considering hiring a studio?
*(we’re always happy to provide recommendations for whether locations are suitable for a project. If in doubt, just ask)
Do you need it to be delivered in High Definition or a higher resolution?
For most web uses HD is usually fine for video content. But if you’re going high end you might want to consider delivering in 4K. Editing time can be affected due to extended rendering times, so consider how important this is for you.
What’s your deadline?
In order for us to meet your deadline, we might have to assign you a deadline to give feedback to us. This reduces the chance of us having to rush to complete your video and avoids any accidental clashes of availability with other projects we may have on.
Really important, this. Do you have one? If so, we need to know if we can realistically meet it! There is no point wasting everyone’s time if we can’t do it. If you do have a deadline, bear in mind that editing feedback will need to be considered in the run up to it, so have a think about whether the relevant stakeholders will be available BEFORE this date. Also, if your project is part of a wider marketing strategy you’ll need to make sure the video deadline aligns with any other deadlines you may have elsewhere.
If you don’t have a deadline, then please note we will treat this as such. Although it’s nice to get projects out the door as quickly as possible, other projects with firm deadlines will take priority, but at the end of the day, if both parties communicate effectively then all will be well!
Not essential (but nice to have):
Example videos (good and bad)
As no two videos are the same and in order for us to understand your preferred style, anything you can provide that shows what you do or don’t like is incredibly useful! It doesn’t even have to be a whole video; there may be a very small particular thing you like about a piece of content that you’d like to replicate. No matter how big or small, please share with us! Of course, we can guide you with ideas of our own if you like.
Have you made videos for your brand before? (and if so, how did it go?)
It’s good for us to know if we need to replicate a particular style from previous content, as consistency can be so important to brand identity. You may also have had some content made that didn’t deliver as well as you’d hoped for. In this case, we would ask why it didn’t go to plan and how we could learn from it to avoid any repeat issues.
More specific deliverables, where appropriate
Not everyone is a techie, but knowing some basics about the deliverables is useful, otherwise we might have to make a guess (which could be costly if we get it wrong). Things like what file type and aspect ratio you might need, is there a limited file size required if you’re uploading to a website, or specific video formats and codecs that you need.
Do you have a budget in mind?
If you know what you’re happy to spend then we can see how that budget can be spent in the most impactful and efficient way. If it’s realistic then we’ll say straight away and if it’s not, we’ll explain why, along with what we think the budget would need to be to meet your particular deliverables.
Once you have the answers to the above, or as much of it as possible, it’s time to submit your brief!
Depending on the answers you provide we may still have a question or two for you, but for the most part we should have enough information to tailor a quote to you.
To obtain a quote from myself, please use the video brief form or get in touch here.
Thanks for reading.
Other posts that may interest you
If you’re looking to improve your talking head videos, here are some ways that this can be done, using a combination of filming and editing techniques.
And more specifically with post-production - here are 5 modern editing techniques that I like to use in my projects. Could any of these methods suit your projects?