Editor Samantha Zarzosa talks about what makes a good brief:

‘When I’m given a brief for a sizzle reel it is always reassuring when the client has a bit of vision or direction in mind. Many clients might not know exactly what they want and how the reel should be built, however, they will know who the piece is intended for and have some idea of what they would like to include or say.  It is essential for them to relate this information in the brief, however minimal the detail, it will help give me a clear direction.

I begin by looking through the material and content that I have to work with in a focused manner. As I start selecting relevant material I’ll also look as to how I can complement and link different ideas and programmes together. I always find that sync and sound bites tend to make messaging a lot stronger, and not just the usual ‘that’s brilliant’ sound bite which is too generic to be interesting. When selecting sync sound bites I find them more interesting when they relate to the programme whilst also conveying the overall message on the reel. Sometimes its the tone of the spoken sync, the way its delivered, that conveys more than the actual script itself.

Clients tend to focus on letting us know which programmes to include and an overarching message that they want to put across, however they often forget or intentionally decide not to include what sort of tone they would like for the piece. There are many ways of portraying content from the same programme. An example could be a horror film, it could be constructed as intense and mysterious or creepy and gory. Creativity flourishes when you have an indication of the preferred tone. 

The client has the choice of giving as little or as much information as they would like to share, this will result in the shape of the first draft they receive. When starting a reel I will will be inspired by the content and use the few or many bits of information that I receive in the brief to shape the piece.  If not much information is provided, the first draft could be completely different to what the client was expecting.

A reel can be creatively or tonally executed in a manner that was not previously anticipated. It is important to understand at brief stage how adventurous a client is willing to be and open-minded to being surprised. 

I once did a movie compilation spot for a regular client’s Valentine’s Day special. I was given very little information at brief so I based my choices on the selection of movies I was given. I delivered a sizzle with a quite romantic and tender tone as most of the films were unsurprisingly of this ilk. I also made sure to feature all the big actors and key memorable moments within each movie.  At first the client was happy but a couple of days passed and I was asked to make several revisions to the edit. After three days of revisions and graphic changes the client realised that they actually wanted a more fun promo, full of mishaps and comedy. I said that it would be difficult to do that with the films selected. At that point they changed the full line up of movies due to TX and I was able to deliver what they were looking for.

It does happen that sometimes a client only realise what they want when they have a look at a completed piece. A perfectly fine approach, it ok to define the way forward by what something shouldn’t be.

The Valentine’s sizzle was in contrast to a recent job where the client’s brief was incredibly detailed. It included information about which actors they wanted to feature, the tone of the piece, the event where it was showing, the people who would be viewing it and selected scenes and sync lines that they wanted me to include. This level of detail doesn’t restrict creativity in any way, it just makes it incredibly clear as to what is important to the client to convey. The brief was so thorough that the client couldn’t fail to be impressed with the first WIP. 

Lastly on a technical level, it is important to know where and how the piece will be shown or broadcast. This information is frequently omitted from a brief, but with it, we can better define how we prepare and deliver the material. In fact sometimes it makes a difference to the material we are able to select right at the beginning of the editing process. Low res files for example won’t be considered at the outset for a theatrical spot to be seen on a huge cinema screen – for obvious quality reasons.’

Samantha Zarzosa is a Creative and Editor for Thieves Kitchen.