A good brief fits on one page, and it is written for the person who has to price it. They need to know what you want to walk away with, who will be on camera, what it should look like, when, roughly what you can spend and who says yes. Everything else can wait for a phone call.
If you haven't yet made the three decisions in how to plan a studio shoot, start there. This is what you send once you have.
The page itself
Copy these eleven headings into a document and write a line or two under each. Blank answers are fine. A studio would rather know you haven't decided than guess.
- What we need made
- Who it is for and where it will run
- Who is on camera
- The shot list
- The look
- The room or the location
- The dates
- The budget band
- Who signs off
- Usage and licensing
- Subtitles and access
What to write, and what it changes
What you need made
Count, length and shape. "Six 45-second vertical clips and one three-minute film in 16:9" can be priced. "Some social content" can't. The shape matters more than people expect, because a film that also has to exist as 9:16 verticals is framed differently from the first shot. Shooting for vertical and horizontal in one day explains why.
Who it is for and where it will run
A staff briefing played on a screen in a canteen and a paid ad on Instagram want different pacing, sound and captions. One sentence on the audience and a list of the channels is enough.
Who is on camera
Names, roles and an honest word on confidence. A presenter who does this every week and a managing director doing it for the first time need different days. The second may want autocue, a rehearsal, a director, or all three, and it is far cheaper to plan for that than to discover it at ten in the morning. Reading an autocue and helping a nervous boss relax on camera are worth passing on to whoever is presenting.
The shot list
Even a rough one. It is the single line on this page that decides whether you need four hours or two days, and it is how we work out how many videos fit in a day. If you can't write one yet, say so, and budget for a director who can. Directors on our crew list start from £750+VAT a day.
The look
Three references and a sentence on what you like in each: the clean white background, the hard light on the face, the pace of the cutting. At the barn that usually resolves into one of four starting points. The cove lit clean white. The same cove drawn to a black box with the curtain track, about twenty minutes' work. Colour washes from the LED fixtures on the grid. Or a set built on the floor.
The room or the location
The White Space for anything with a background that has to be real, the Green Space for a presenter with graphics behind, the Podcast Studio for conversation. If you don't know which, describe the deliverable and let the studio recommend. Crew also go out to your location if the building is part of the story.
The dates
A range, not a single day. Two weeks with three possible days lets a studio match a gaffer and a camera operator who already know the building. Some things need lead time you can't see from outside. A cove painted a colour needs a day to cure before anyone shoots on it. The cottage interior our construction team built for a Channel 4 drama took five days before the first shot.
The budget band
A band is not an opening bid. It tells the studio whether to plan a crew of two or six. For a sense of scale, a full day in the White Space is £395+VAT, a camera operator is from £450+VAT and an editor from £395+VAT, so a studio day with one operator and a day of editing starts around £1,240+VAT before anything else is added. If you'd rather buy a fixed result, Content in a Day is £1,395+VAT for a produced podcast episode, ten headshots and six social cuts.
Who signs off
Who approves on the day, who approves the edit, and how many rounds of changes you expect. If the person who has the final word won't be at the shoot, say so. It changes how many alternative takes are worth recording. If they can come, there is a client viewing area that overlooks the floor.
Usage and licensing
Where it will appear, for how long and in which countries, and whether it is editorial or paid. Our own licensing page is blunt about this: if a project needs specific usage rights, raise them before the shoot so they can be written into the quote. The same goes for anyone you are booking on camera.
Subtitles and access
Burnt-in captions, a separate subtitle file, or both. If the work is heading for a streaming service, Ofcom's streaming access code is worth reading before you decide. Audio description is something we record here too.
What a good studio sends back
You should get three things. A schedule with times, so you can see where the hours go. A crew list with call times, so you know who is on the floor and when. And a quote that says plainly what is included and what is extra.
On ours, the house lighting, grip, the dressing room, fibre internet and fifteen parking spaces are in the hire; crew, set builds and specialist kit are on top. We come back with availability and a firm quote, usually the same day. Set builds take a little longer: within two working days you get a build quote, a build schedule and the stage hire as one number.
Send the page to studio@granary.digital or ring 01243 884993, and we will tell you what we would change before we tell you what it costs. The contact page has the form if you prefer it.
More from the Journal
- How many videos can you film in a day?
- How to read an autocue without looking like you're reading
- Ofcom's streaming access code: what 80% subtitles, 10% audio description and 5% signing mean for producers
- All Journal articles
The picture at the top of this article is an illustration generated to show the set-up. It is not a photograph of a client or of a real job.
Ready when you are
Availability and a firm quote, usually same day. No pressure, no hard sell.
Questions we get asked
What should a video shoot brief include?
What you need made, who it is for and where it will run, who is on camera, a shot list, references for the look, the room or location, a range of dates, a budget band, who signs off, how it will be used, and subtitles.
How long should a video brief be?
One page. Enough for a studio to price the job and ask sensible questions; the detail comes on the call afterwards.
How quickly will a studio reply to a brief?
We come back with availability and a firm quote, usually the same day. Set builds are quoted within two working days.
granary.digital · 01243 884993 · studio@granary.digital · The Old Grainstore, Adsdean, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 9DN · Prices exclude VAT unless marked inc VAT