6 Steps to the live action video brief of your dreams
By?Dana Marie Newell, Live-Action Director, and Creative Strategist
Writing a brief for your live action video can be daunting – especially if you have not written one before. There are plenty of different things to consider, so it’s normal to be unsure how to start.
I’m Dana Marie Newell , and I’m the Creative Strategist here at Creativa. I’ve worked in post-production and production since 2005 – so you’re in good hands.
In this post, I’ll ask the important questions to help you understand what to include in your brief. I've written this post to be interactive, so grab a piece of paper and get ready to jot down your answers.
I’m going to take you through six steps to create a video brief that is:
Let’s set you up for success!
A quick disclaimer. Don’t worry if you don’t immediately know all the answers to these questions. But, no matter how long it takes, it is important you work through them before the cameras start rolling.
Once you have worked through these questions, you’ll have a clear brief for your video. This will help the production company you work with feel more informed and aligned to your goals. This will then help your video achieve the goals you’ve set.
Because why create a video in the first place if it’s not going to do what you need it to do?
What is a live action brief, and what does it do?
Every project should start with a brief.
A brief gives an overview of the project, what its goals are, the audience and the deliverables. It also helps you to define what a successful video looks like. And by extension of that, how you will measure its success. Your brief becomes the guide for everyone involved, from pre-production to post-production. It’s like a map. And it stands to reason – without a map, you can get lost.
Your answers will help?whomever you work with get an overview of your project. If you’re working with a production team, they’ll be able to create a plan of action based on your brief. From big-picture distribution, to what genre your video would suit best.
I know this behind-the-scenes work is time-consuming. But, your video brief sets you and your production partner up for success.
Step one: Start with why
As Simon Sinek recommends:?start with why. Why do you need to make a video in the first place?
Here are some questions to ask yourself to get the ball rolling:
Some possible reasons you could come up with:
There’s no wrong answer here.
For example, if you were looking to recruit more employees, your why would reflect that. ‘We want prospective employees to see our healthy company culture’. Great!
Over to you:
Write down why you’re wanting to make this video.
Once you’ve brainstormed a couple of reasons, pick the one that stands out to you. This ‘why’ will act as a guiding light for the video brief. It will help you stay on track during the pre-production process. It will also help give you clarity when you are making decisions with your team.
It will influence decisions like:
Having a clear why means you can make decisions and move forward in the project with confidence.
Step two: Decide where it will live
What platform will your video live on? Will it end up on a webpage, a social media platform, a cinema screening, or a digital billboard?
Knowing where your video will live will influence the project from start to finish. Make sure you include this in your brief.
For example, your producer will need to know if you are planning on releasing your video in cinemas, as that will determine your video’s output specification as landscape (so that it suits its final screen!).
But, if it will go on a social media platform, it could be portrait, landscape or all the above. Its final landing space will dictate how we film your video.
Consider distribution strategy
This is the step where you would consider what your distribution strategy is. Your distribution strategy is how you will get your video in front of your audience – and it goes a bit deeper than just where you’ll release it. If you’re not clear on this yet, make a note of this so you can discuss it with your production team.
Over to you:
Write down where this video will be published.?If you’re working with a production company, you don’t have to know the exact specifications of each platform. They’ll give you a hand there.
Step three: Decide who the video is for
Who is your target audience for this video??This is an important question.
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The content you create has to attract your target audience. If you release a video intended for over 60’s on Tiktok, chances are they won’t see it.?Most people on Tiktok land in the 18-24 age range.
Once you know your audience, you’ll be able to cross check other aspects of the brief.?For example, if your audience doesn’t match where you’re going to release the video, rethink your platform.?This is also true for the creative aspect of the production – it’s important that the script, the actors and more appeal to your audience.
Over to you:
Write down who this video is for.
Step four: Decide what you want them to do next
Now that you know where it will go and your audience, have a think about what you want them to do after watching the video.
Maybe you have a specific call to action, like asking them to sign up for a new deal. Perhaps it’s to call your business. Maybe it’s that you want your audience to have renewed confidence or positive affinity with your business.
Your intended audience action – also known as the ‘call to action’ – will help you or your production company define the feel of the video.
For example, whether it is a jovial or a somber call to action. A ‘call us now for 50% off’ will need a different treatment to a ‘contact us now to organise your will’.
Over to you:
Write down what action you want your audience to take after watching your video. To define it even further, include some emotions you want your audience to feel when watching your video.
Step five: Define your video's goals
Let’s imagine that your video went viral. You got millions of views, and tons of people shared it. Yet, your goal was to get 100 new sign ups for your newsletter.
But no one clicked through to your website to sign up.
Was your video successful? Well, even with those millions of views, if no one signed up to your newsletter, I would say your video was a bust. It didn’t meet your goal. So to avoid situations like this, you need to be clear on your goal for the video, and let it guide the entire production process.
Your goal v Your call to action
Steps 4 and 5 are closely linked. You need to know your goal so you can create an appropriate call to action.
Your call to action is for your audience. Your goal is the intended outcome, with reference to what metrics you are going to use - these are what you’re going to look to when measuring success at the end of your campaign.
Identifying your goal
It could be marketing-related, sales, event-specific, or otherwise.
For example, a marketing goal could be to get 50 sign ups for an online webinar. So, you produce an exciting, punchy 30 second promo video for the online event that you release on your Facebook page. And your video has a clear call to action to sign up via the link in the post. Maybe it has a limited time offer that the first 50 sign ups get 10% their tickets.
This is an example of making sure that your goal influences each aspect of your video. Your goal = your video's intended outcome. I recommend that you make it?SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely.
Identify what metrics you are going to measure
Once you know your goal, identify what the metrics are that you’ll use to measure its success. This is where it’s helpful to know what action you want your audience to take, as you can use that as a measurement.
For example, if your goal is event sign ups, then you could measure the amount of attendees that signed up because of your video. Let your producer know what success looks like and they’ll make sure you have a strong call to action that will help your video reach its goals.
Over to you:
Identify your goal and the metrics you are going to measure.
Step six: Consider your video's budget and logistics
This step is all about logistics and budget – both important to include in a brief so that your producer can know whether you’re working towards any particular dates or costs.
?Include important dates and timelines
Does your producer need to know about any dates you’re working towards? These could be a specific date you need the project delivered by, or maybe a general time frame that you need to produce the video in (because of your availability or you’re wanting to film at a certain location etc.).
Don't be shy about your budget
You’re working towards a budget. You know it – we know it – your producer knows it!
So don’t be shy about including it in your brief. Even if you’ve just got a ballpark estimate (e.g. We’re budgeting somewhere between $15,000 – $35,000), it’s worth putting it on the table so that your producer knows your budget.
To give you an idea of what this could mean – a smaller budget means you will need to sacrifice or make compromises on the final deliverable (we find that clients can often underestimate the cost of live action), so be prepared to negotiate your deliverable. When you’re working with an experienced production company, doing this doesn’t mean you’re going to get a ‘bad’ video – not at all! On my projects, I match the creative (aka your final deliverable) around the budget – rather than trying to recreate the film Titanic with a budget of $2,000.
When you’re not trying to overachieve with limited resources, your creative (and your producer) will thank you.
Over to you:
Note down what dates are important to the timeline of your project, and include a project budget, even if it is a ballpark figure.
Congratulations!
Now that you have the basics of your live action video brief written up, you’re on your way to a successful project and measurable video.
While some of the specifics of the brief may change during the course and execution of the project, the work you have done has set you up for success in the project. From here, you start to work with the production team you have hired for this project. If you don’t have one organised and need some help with that side of things, feel free to?book a free 15 minute consultation with me to talk about your live action video production adventure.