Mitya Ambartsumyan, creative producer
I create videos for business, branded content and advise international corporations on visual communications
Contact me: hi@nice2mitya.com
Brief with me!
Let's say you have the task of making a video. For a company, brand, or a project you are working on, for his cafe, or even about a children's matinee at school. Where do you start? It doesn't matter if you're going to make it yourself, or book a producer you know. First you need to decide what you want to get, and what the movie will be about. How do you do this fast? The answer is the right questions.
As meditation begins with a breath, a video begins with a production brief.
I have been in video production for 19 years. Thousands of videos made, and each one was born with a production brief. For a video to work, I need detailed, free-form answers from you. The more thoughtful you are, the more I will hit your expectations in the result.
What is the video about?
Describe the content, what the content will be. Links, PDF presentations, and anything in-depth about the topic will help me.
Who is the main character?
Tell in detail about the key figure or the subject of the video, its features, advantages. If it is a person - his biography, career development. All that is important for an interesting storytelling.
What do you want to say with this clip?
Describe the key message, what is the essence and meaning. What the viewer should understand when he/she watches it. What new / useful / interesting you can tell?
Why do you need this video?
Think about the objectives of the video, what should happen after its distribution. As well as how to assess the benefits and impact on the audience.
Who is the customer, what do we need to know about you?
Tell us about yourself, your company, brand, values, mission. Everything you think we need to know, as your partner, and the audience who will watch the video.
Who is it aimed at?
Describe the target audience in as much detail as possible, than gender-age. What they are into, where they spend their time, what sites they visit, what they watch, what brands they like.
What should the viewer feel?
Describe the emotion the video should evoke. And the feelings that the person will experience, watching the video to the end.
What should audience do after watching?
Tell about the target action and the call to action at the end, what the viewer must do.
Where do you want to show it?
Specify the media for which you want to make a video (site / social networks / offline). It's important to understand the specifics of the formats right away. This affects whether the video will be horizontal, vertical, long, short, with or without text, with or without sound.
What is the tone of voice?
Calm / assertive / funny / subtle / pathos / mystical. Describe how you would like to have a dialogue with the viewer.
Are there any restrictions?
No children allowed, industry taboos, slippery topics – list all the things we should avoid.
What format?
Shooting, montage of stock footages, 3D graphics, character animation, screencast, or neuro-art using artificial intelligence. How do you envision the future of video?
Examples of what's needed?
If you have references or examples of your competitors' videos, this will help you understand what you want right away.
Expectations and budget constraints?
You may not know what or how much it costs, but you should still have an internal sense of how much you're willing to spend. I ask about financial expectations so I can offer realistic options right away.
Describe the content, what the content will be. Links, PDF presentations, and anything in-depth about the topic will help me.
Who is the main character?
Tell in detail about the key figure or the subject of the video, its features, advantages. If it is a person - his biography, career development. All that is important for an interesting storytelling.
What do you want to say with this clip?
Describe the key message, what is the essence and meaning. What the viewer should understand when he/she watches it. What new / useful / interesting you can tell?
Why do you need this video?
Think about the objectives of the video, what should happen after its distribution. As well as how to assess the benefits and impact on the audience.
Who is the customer, what do we need to know about you?
Tell us about yourself, your company, brand, values, mission. Everything you think we need to know, as your partner, and the audience who will watch the video.
Who is it aimed at?
Describe the target audience in as much detail as possible, than gender-age. What they are into, where they spend their time, what sites they visit, what they watch, what brands they like.
What should the viewer feel?
Describe the emotion the video should evoke. And the feelings that the person will experience, watching the video to the end.
What should audience do after watching?
Tell about the target action and the call to action at the end, what the viewer must do.
Where do you want to show it?
Specify the media for which you want to make a video (site / social networks / offline). It's important to understand the specifics of the formats right away. This affects whether the video will be horizontal, vertical, long, short, with or without text, with or without sound.
What is the tone of voice?
Calm / assertive / funny / subtle / pathos / mystical. Describe how you would like to have a dialogue with the viewer.
Are there any restrictions?
No children allowed, industry taboos, slippery topics – list all the things we should avoid.
What format?
Shooting, montage of stock footages, 3D graphics, character animation, screencast, or neuro-art using artificial intelligence. How do you envision the future of video?
Examples of what's needed?
If you have references or examples of your competitors' videos, this will help you understand what you want right away.
Expectations and budget constraints?
You may not know what or how much it costs, but you should still have an internal sense of how much you're willing to spend. I ask about financial expectations so I can offer realistic options right away.
Sometimes customers ask me to send a file to fill out. Sometimes I pull out the details on messenger. Sometimes they gather a conference call with several participants to discuss in detail what to do. And as a result, it all comes down to these 14 questions.
Of course, knowing the answers to all the questions is not at all necessary, moreover, my job as a producer is to offer options. I'm all for live communication. And believe that a complete brief is born in a dialogue between the client, who knows what he wants, and the producer, who knows how to make it happen.
Take these questions and use them when creating or ordering new videos at your pleasure. If you want to fill out a brief and make a video under my guidance – contact me!
Take these questions and use them when creating or ordering new videos at your pleasure. If you want to fill out a brief and make a video under my guidance – contact me!
