With our time at Confetti coming to a close, it’s important
that whatever course or even job we’ve performed in, that we grasp hold of what
we’ve learnt, made and show an audience what we’re capable of doing. For this
assignment we must return back to briefs and how we can follow them for not
only our sake but for the clients as well whilst doing extensive research on
how we can create our own personal website from scratch.
Working to a Brief
To put it simply, a brief can be something from a simple set
of instructions to that of a full-blown fifty-page project. Both are
effectively the same subject where clients hand out directions to other people
in order for them to choose whether or not they should follow these obligations
which may be unattainable to follow because of certain circumstances or maybe
the employee refuses to do it. An example of this could well be a person is
given a brief for something like architecture which asks that person to maybe
design/ build this house in a very complex matter but only with a short amount
of money- hence why the client might ask to change circumstances for them to
achieve the client’s dream or just refuse it altogether. Throughout our time at Confetti, you could say
each assignment we’ve been given was another brief we had to follow and
complete in order to receive our grades. If we did not meet the requirements
for certain grades then we would have to negotiate with our tutors in order to
see what else needs to be done to reach that level, or basically walk away as
there may be too much work to take on at that moment.
Now as I’ve stated before briefs come in many different ways
and types which help us understand what we are working for/ towards and how to
keep our clients happy. The different types can be:
·
Formal-
These types are the most popular in any
industry, specifically the creative one. Formal briefs focus around an industry
sector involving mostly written work that describes what the client’s idea is,
what they want within the project, time, maximum budgets and deadlines. It can
also include the interactivity between the clients and the people taking on
this project such as having a meeting once a month, as well as they’re intended
deadlines. These kind of briefs are also written in Standard English with no
slang, no false pretences being basically straight to the point and cutting out
all parts of unnecessary information, on the other hand these documents may not
be legal and are usually offered to groups rather than a single person.
An example of this would be our team’s FMP
group. At the beginning we were all set a brief together writing what we’re
basing our game on, such as genres, target audience and who/want we want to
appear in the game like our characters. Milestones were set initially to give
the group an idea of how much work we should have done and when by which ties
in with the deadlines, obviously our expenses for programs like UDK, Autodesk,
Adobe packages and licenses are covered by the college. Then attempts at having
regular online meetings together with a homework check being done.
Another example of a formal brief could be
an equestrian company has taken on the thought of creating a saddle that not
only fits the horse perfectly, but requires aids to help people with disability
problems such as paralysed/ broken parts of the body, artificial limbs,
blindness or may require the horse to be more responsive to the rider keeping
in the mind the rider will want better grip and comfort from the object- which
is the complete opposite to a Treeless saddle which allows the rider to get
better response from the horse but loses grip and comfort.
Now with this in mind a lot of extensive
research would have to be taken into account starting from what’s already out
there for disabled riders, how the equipment is used and what effect does this
have on the horse (similar to our research when we’re looking to see what’s
already out there on the market and why a certain target audience may like that
product) Afterwards it would be case of bringing in top specialists and can
design this saddle to help with these problems, make the product and begin test
phases on both horses and riders separately then putting the two together and
seeing how their performance goes otherwise it’s back to testing.
·
Informal-
Informal briefs basically mean the opposite
of formal where the discussion between client and specialist, don’t necessarily
have to be written down in paper work as though it’s industry-standard
business. It could be simply where someone has discussed what they would like
to have done but haven’t got either all the details to supply the person taking
on the job or not entirely sure if they want this person to do the set task,
meaning the brief isn’t generalised or completed. It could be where you are
being asked to complete a favour for someone or as an example doing an art
trade.
On DeviantArt I usually get asked by other
members and friends to do an art trade with them or requests. This means
nothing has been set in stone and it’s up to me with the view of drawing
something for a member of the website (so the client) for free.
Similar to the example given above if you were to attend a
convention such as MCM Expo’s, Alcon or maybe even J-Con they usually have a
section at the venue where various well known artists are taking on commissions
on the spot from spectators who’ve come to the convention for various different
reasons. Now what will happen is once a client has seen what a certain artist
can do and like’s their style in which they create things, they’ll ask if that
person is free to draw what they want and if so the client would then have a
normal every day-to-day discussion with the artist on what they want to be
drawn, how they would like it done and then ask questions of how long will it
take to make this piece and how much.
·
Tendered-
This kind of brief follows suit of a Formal
because once the project has been given, everything within that brief is
written to a formal standard. With this in mind it could mean specialists may
have to bid for that contract in order to gain hold of the project for clients,
which means again tendered briefs appear more in industry and governmental
practices because you’re implying this project on a group of people, not a
specific person which then leads onto contractual briefs.
An example of this would be when Studio
Ghibli made Spirited Away they offered up a spot to work in partnership with
another company that would allow them to become more recognised throughout the
globe and their stories translated into different languages. As this was an
amazing opportunity many companies came forward with offers for the studio that
asked too much of them or seemed non-practical until Disney stepped in. Now
Disney offered that the movies Ghibli produced would be part of the Disney
movie collection and released under both Disney and Studio Ghibli’s name
meaning that people from across the world would feel better buying these movies
because Disney was a very well-renowned company and still is today, yet nothing
was taken away from Ghibli because Disney states that it was this company that
made these movies. From this Studio Ghibli would gain popularity from across
the globe and their movies translated into other languages and distributed
internationally- with this the company accepted their offer.
Similar to this may be the game: Pandora’s
Tower which was created by a Japanese team called Ganbarion. Now because this
team made an epic game it wasn’t very well known so in order to gain more
profit they offered well known distributers the chance to acquire this game and
publish it under their name as well as Ganbarion’s so that both parties will
make and share a profit. After many offers Nintendo pulled through and were
allowed to alter the game to fit the Wii and published for that console as an
exclusive.
·
Commissionable-
Now commissionable does still collaborate
with the formal part of a brief where a client has given you a necessary
description of what they want with along with times, budgets and an outline of
the plan but they tend to leave you more to your own devices. So a customer
requires you as an individual or a specific studio for example, to start and
finish this project for them without having to go through a set industry
practice meaning you’re left to your own devices because you’re good at the
specific thing. Similar to what I discussed earlier in informal briefs.
An example of this would be if you work as a
freelancer then usually you get commissioned by various people whether they’re
agencies, individuals or even working studios to create a particular thing for
them in order for a project to work meaning it’s up to you to take what the
client wants and create what the brief states along with the clients
requirements in mind. So when I was commissioned to draw somebody’s horses it
meant I had to take pictures of the horses as references, find out their breed
for further referencing as well as the horses characteristics and begin
drawing. With one of the horses I didn’t have a time limit, yet with the other
I had to have it finished and printed out before the client’s daughter’s
birthday. So I made the one with a deadline first and then finished the other
horse after so that if anything was wrong with the first, I could take my time
to fix that picture before the deadline. My budget was £15 for each picture to
cover cost of materials and personal time. Later on I was commissioned to draw
someone’s dogs with a winter- theme in mind.
·
Contractual-
Basically this means you are bound to an
agreement between yourself and the other party in order for you to start
working towards the brief. In the contract the client will discuss what he/she
wants as stated before yet if you were to break the set rules given to you it
could end up in a lawsuit case where you will lose rights to continue working
on the project and with the client, possibly losing a lot of money because the
other half has backed out the deal. Usually these types of briefs end in a
non-disclosure agreement.
A good way to look at this would be when
I’ve hopefully completed my time at university and have a job, where I’m
earning over 21,000 a year then by law I have to pay back what borrowed with 9%
interest on top. If I do not comply with these rules then I won’t get the loan
in the first place, but I will be fined and possibly sent to prison for my
actions.
·
Collaborative-
This means the brief has been shared out
amongst a group and mainly used in interactive media industries like Confetti.
This means all the roles created by the brief can be given out to individuals
in that group that are more specialised in that certain area which evens out
the pressure of the project, yet it could also cause more problems later down
the line because everyone will have a different approach to the project given
meaning ideas may clash with others so negotiations have to be made.
A fine example of this would again be our
FMP group. My role is artist and animator but if other sections of the game
desperately need doing then it’s my job to lend a hand. Currently I’m asking
the group to help me start script work so I can begin animating cut scenes,
which I believe if we all do it together as a group then we won’t clash later
on with how our characters are being portrayed through the story, which then
doesn’t waste my time animating unnecessary
scenes. The huge problem about how group however is the lack of
communication between individuals and the fact only a couple of us are only
pulling our weight, as well as not having instructions from either team leader
or vice-captain. To try and resolve this issue I keep having meetings with the
team leader about what should be done, request online meetings and personally
keeping a homework check on board so we know who is supposed to be doing what.
Now that we know what a brief looks like,
the different types and understanding them, we have to move on and decide
whether the project will be able to work or whether we feel the need to
negotiate with the client to change certain aspects that might help smoothen
the process in case things seem unrealistic.
o
Consultations-
Consultations clarify with the client about whether or not you feel the
brief was clear in what you are being asked to do. It’s also the time where if
you or your team mates have any issues within the brief like maybe the budget
isn’t enough, there’s not enough time to finish the project by or some wild
demands such as if the project isn’t completed the client now owns your
company/name, then you have the right to come clean about these troubles to the
client and try working something out between both parties.
For example when I’ve been to a dog walking job, I have a consultation
with the owner first so I understand what the dog is like in its own territory
and what the client wants. Within this meeting both parties arrange suitable
times for me to walk the dog with a reasonable price which is usually
negotiated to cover both time and expenses. I suppose another way would be when
I go and work for people with horses, I get shown what they want me to do such
as stable duties, how many they want doing, if there’s an special requirements
such as diets, behaviour, allergies or if certain horses need to stay in their
stable because of worming days or illness such as strangles and whether jobs
need to be done within certain time limits especially if it’s a riding school
and not a livery yard. With this in mind sometimes I have to negotiate the
times because of bus routes and request I will only work if I either get paid
or have a free riding lesson/hack on a safe horse.
o
Discretion-
If you feel the need that minor details need to be altered or as
explained before, more time/ money needs to be given then these are your
discretions about the brief in general. So in order to sort this out you have
to work closely with your clients and meet halfway so that you can both come to
agreeable terms, if the client refuses to hear your problems out then it could
be you’re making a ridiculous request or the brief is a lost cause that can’t
be done until the owner sees sense.
Again going back to working with horses, most places I worked at I would
do stable duties and care for the horses needs from 9am-6pm most weekends
without getting a ride. When I voiced my concerns to the owner they usually
promised I would get a ride next time, yet next time never came so I quit
because it was a lost cause. As this carried on for a couple of years I ended
up getting my own horse as an early birthday present.
Second
example could be in our FMP team my main job is to be the artist and animator,
now after creating the first cutscene that requires people to voice act three
characters I explained to my team members they’re welcome to voice the
characters themselves however whatever animations I’ve created they’ll be going
up on Youtube as that’s my video playground in a nutshell. After agreeing to
these terms and later on uploading the first cutscene onto Youtube, one of the
members insisted I take off the video because he does not wish his voice to be
up on the web and that the other team member may not want this either. So to
quickly resolve the matter I set the video’s settings to private. Now after a
few I went back to my team members and again explained to them that animation I
create will be on the web and if they do not want their voices up on Youtube to
tell me immediately so I can find someone else. Now one the team members who
didn’t dispute the fact I had put this
video up in the first place, agreed to my terms and said he will continue to
voice this character now the other who did dispute hasn’t come back with a yes
or no.
o
Constraints-
Constraints are pretty straightforward where problems may arise and hold
back your team or the project itself from getting on with what needs to be
done. Localisation could be maybe your team can’t all gather at certain places
at certain times because of other priorities and hobbies. Ethical restraints
would be where we have to take other people’s feelings and beliefs into
consideration, meaning this is probably one of the most difficult subjects to
approach in the creative media sector. How we can affect other people could be
by how we portray characters in situations. An example would be in Resident
Evil 4, the trailer clearly shows Chris Redfield being the only white guy and
going into Africa shooting most of the population because they’ve turned into
zombies, but they’re all coloured. This itself, created a huge controversy
between the general public and the creators, who didn’t intentionally mean to
offend anyone and basically didn’t do enough research first-hand to see this
was in fact a big issue.
I suppose how you could counter something
like this, would be to look at what Nintendo done with Legend of Zelda:
Twilight Princess. The only coloured woman there didn’t star in a huge
protagonist role and wore slightly revealing clothes, yet the creators made
sure she helped Link and his friends through the story and that if it wasn’t
for her, Link and Midna wouldn’t have been able to defeat Zant or Ganondorf.
Finally when
designing the game it’s important to understand that the initial thoughts on
when creating the brief for the designers is that it’s original and not a copy
of someone else’s work, this stands for everything from brief to the producing
of the game. Copyright protects people’s work from others who dares to commit
plagiarism, meaning that there are people who try to steal the original work of
someone else because they haven’t given credit to the original owner, or
proclaim the work is theirs when it isn’t.
A recent example of this is the plot behind
Assassin’s Creed III which is supposed to be released in North America on 30th
October 2012 under the PS3 and Xbox 360, later being released on 18th of
November as a Wii-U platform and the same for Europe but on the 30th of
November. John L.Beiswenger, who’s a research engineer and sci-fi author,
claims his book ‘Link’ shares various similarities as the game- insisting
Ubisoft are ‘allegedly ripping off his novel’ .
The book ‘Link’ explores an idea of memories
recorded by an ancestor that eventually get brought to life only by using a
special device known as: ‘Bio-synchronizer’. Another reason for the claim, made
by plaintiff, is the book talks about assassins and assassinations which at one
point in the novel, someone is trying to fit the pieces of the past together.
Finally spiritual and biblical tones with references of Jesus, God, the Garden
of Eden, forbidden fruit and a reliance on historical moments portrayed through
ancestor’s memories all lead identical occurrences in Assassin’s Creed series.
So now that we know what can be discussed with the client
about negotiating certain aspects for the project, it’s then that we can begin
to lay down amendments to the original brief. Now these can be made up from the
list above or pieces you feel that aren’t right but whatever changes you need
to make has to be shown to the customer first so that they can accept the new
terms and conditions or refuse them if they feel you’re being unreasonable like
wanting more money than you need, or maybe initial concepts of the foundations
aren’t what they have I mind. The best solution to tackle these problems would
be to tackle how much each piece is going to cost and write a good plan on how
you’re going to manage your/teams time through the entire project. Request
meetings with the client so that they may also see your progress or if you have
initial stages planned out explain your thoughts as to why you’ve done them and
how they’re linked to the brief. This way it keeps your client involved with
what you’re doing so that less problems may occur later down the line.
So with that underway do we actually believe you can still
learn new things from working on projects? Me personally I believe we can, when
working on a project we are honing our skills in that subject and experimenting
new things that can effectively make a project better but more defined from
what others are doing. For instance when
I started doing digital art I didn’t want to copy what other people were doing
to make their images look better, so during my spare time I was open for
requests meaning people could me to draw something for them and I would, as
well as entering drawing competitions on Youtube. In the beginning my art was
really poor but the more I worked on projects from simple things like requests
to digital pieces that were to be included in my GCSE Art portfolio, the more
my techniques were improved and defined to point where now people have said my
work looks realistic in some places.
By comparing the two I believe
both my art and digital skills have greatly improved because for the years I’ve
taught myself to draw, I come to develop new ways at obtaining different techniques that improve
my art style in general. With this in mind I do believe that whatever project
we take on, our skills will improve and along the way we learn new things that
may surpass our previous work or simply find an easier route to completing the
same task.
When I began Confetti I didn’t really think about the
processes of how a game is made and distributed as well as how vast the gaming
community is and that in there group there’s subject terminology that many
people who play games but not obsessively understand. To begin with I quite
understand the terms of DLC, real-time, FMP or even open world actually meant.
As far as my understanding was a game was a game that was defined by an age
rating and classified under similar genres that books go under. Now that my
time at Confetti is nearly over I’ve learnt the process in which a game has
been made and has ultimately opened various other career paths I can now take.
An example would be I never knew how to model a 3D program and to be honest I
was quite scared to have a go because myself and shapes don’t really get on,
since then I can effectively model, texture, animate and render something in 3D
which means that when I go to university for my animation course I feel
confident in not only 2D hand-drawn animation but 3D animation as well. Another
would be if animation didn’t work out for me I could try the concept and final
art paths for games, as I know understand the different gaming genres and what
selling points are aimed at different target audiences which means when I come
to create concepts for clients who’ve given me a set brief I won’t be going off
topic. Then there’s the gaming community itself who all share similar interests
such as anime, cosplay and crazy fan obsessions meaning I get to meet more
people, make new friends and acquire certain contacts which again could help me
in my career.
Finally my last example would be the equestrian world. Now
when you start becoming a fan of this adrenaline-rushing, cold, dangerous sport
you don’t actually realise how much there is to learn not only about your
riding, but the horse disciplines and the people around you. To begin with the
horse world is a very cold and cruel place that seems to be a playground for
the rich, when I started getting addicted to this sport I began helping a
nearby woman with her three competition horses which began my education on how
to handle and look after your horse, at the same time I went back into riding
lessons learning the basics and building my confidence in how to control the
horse using aids like your hands, legs and speech which is how most people
start out. When I finally got my first horse which was an ex-race horse, the
whole perspective on what I had learnt changed and life became a complete
different ball game. With looking after Paddy my Mum and I learnt how life on a
livery yard can be a real pain in the backside with many other people being
stuck-up because you didn’t have the right clothes or even the right horse for
that matter. We also learnt that Thoroughbreds are very costly horses after
many call-outs to the farrier and the vets, we discovered how to try and
retrain a horse that had been abused in his previous homes both on the ground
and in the saddle despite all bites I ended up getting and fact I had a real
bad fall where it shook my confidence.
However I think the best thing I ever got out of having
Paddy was the fact he taught me how it felt to feel free, whether that was in
the school or out in the fields. He took me away from whatever troubles I had
at school and put me in an entire situation completely- it was as though I had
a best friend where whatever I said he understood and that I understood him.
Sadly after the fall and the bullying I still got from school I lost my nerve
around Paddy and things began to turn sour where I couldn’t ride him because I
began to fear him, his nasty attitude returned and the livery yards just kept
getting worse. In the end I had to let him go and after trying a couple of
other horses after that and having bad experiences I honestly thought I
wouldn’t be back in the saddle again. After a long period I began lessons again
and went back to working for people where I found I as ok on the ground just
not the saddle, then I went to a certain riding school to find my old horse was
there and the person who we entrusted him with was keeping him in poor
condition. As we couldn’t get him back I decided to get over this fear of
riding and eventually got my second horse Cleo last year. Now Cleo was
completely different to Paddy, she was lazy and stubborn but looked after you
in the saddle and had a very fast trot because she had driven in the past. With
having spent time with her my confidence grew each day where I began to get
ready to start jumping again, then because of college commitments I had to give
her up- shortly after I sold her I found out by a friend Paddy had died and his
owner had broken his leg by racing him on the flat.
So what have I learnt from all this?
In the horse world you have two options, you either keep
your head afloat or you sink. You don’t listen to what other people say about
you or your horse and you don’t change for no one unless someone of importance
tells you and even then be sceptical. With horses themselves I know how to look
after them throughout the entire year, what to do when they’re ill, groundwork,
tack-up and clean the tack and bits of Parelli. In the saddle I can ride
English, Western and a tiny bit of Spanish, I know how to lunge, build muscles
and flexibility, begin to start jumping a horse and slow down a fast trot or
make help stop tranter. Above all I’ve learnt that horses are a big part of my
life, when I feel scared or unhappy about something and my family can’t help
fix it, I go and visit nearby horses and I feel at peace. I know that they
don’t care who or what you are so long as you look after them and treat them
with respect both on the ground and in saddle. Finally I know they can become
your best friend and part of the family, give you wings and the taste of
freedom when both parties know how to trust one another.
With all this in mind I do want to attend another college
that deals with horse care and riding, get a diploma there and take a degree in
equine rehabilitation so that I may be able to save other horses from the meat
factory, or from people like I had entrusted Paddy with. One day when I retire
I aspire to set up a rescue centre for horses of all ages and breeds,
especially ex-racers, trotters and competition horses.
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