Wednesday, 6 February 2013

The brief: Evaluating success

The show was a complete success. The actors all turned up on time and performed excellently. Anytime the actors or musicians could not attend rehearsal or were late, they would contact me usually about an hour before hand to let me know of their whereabouts. The actors didn't learn everything until about a week and a half before hand, but it was only minor lines and blocking. The musicians were fantastic, without them the show wouldn't have even been half of what it was, they knew half the songs before we even began rehearsing and helped the whole cast with singing and timing. Nothing to do with the cast, more the producer, was that we didn't get the props and plants until a week before the show, so we had very little time for the puppeteers to get the lip syncing right, due to this I had to call people in every night that week.

If I were to do another brief for a show I would have more detail in it so everyone knew exactly what they were doing and when they were doing it. The show itself might have been better if I was older with more experience and control, because of this I don't think I will direct a project this big for a few years. If I did, I would make sure I had a full cast and band months before rehearsing, and generally be more organised and prepared, that was my biggest downfall, organisation.

The Brief: Contract

"The Director, Sebastian White, is looking for enthusiastic actors/musicians to be lead players in

"LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS" and create an enjoyable show worthy of ticket prices. "


The contract below stipulates the expectations of Sebastian White while working on the fore-planned musical.  You are expected to show, at the very least, promptness and flexibility. Lateness and inability to attend rehearsals will not be tolerated. 
Please review the following - 


  • Actors must be able to learn script and song(s) within six weeks.
  •  Musicians must be able to read and play sheet music for rehearsals, and if needs be, help coach actors with singing.
  • Trust the director and adhere to directors requests (within reason). 
  •  Actors and musicians must be free for rehearsals at least twice a week between 20th of January to 3rd March and 4 evenings a week from 5th March untill opening night 15th March.
  • Any unfair treatment towards co-workers WILL NOT be tolerated.
Failure to meet these demands will result in termination of contract.

As the director (Sebastian White) I will do my utmost to guide you through the rehearsal process and I will take on any ideas that you may have regarding the show to help create the best show possible. This is an AMATEUR production and you will not be paid for it. The show will be filmed on several performance nights and DVD's will be distributed to cast and crew, they will also be up for sale after show week.

By signing this contract you agree to all the terms and demands and also give permission to be filmed and showed for non profit, any money made by the show goes straight to Joseph Weinberg co. for use of rights anything extra goes to TFT for upkeep of the theatre.


Please sign, date and print if you agree to the terms.

-------------------/ ---------/ ----------------

------------------ Sebastian White

Thursday, 10 January 2013

working to a brief

The brief

What is a brief?
A brief is a written document. In a learning environment it is a written document issued to learners at the start of the assessment process for any given unit so that they know what they are working towards and what to do. In the media industry a brief is a set of wants or needs a client would approach you with in the form of a contract in order to fulfil a work load, i.e. if you were free lance and a company approached you asking you to create an advert for them, they would ask for it to have certain key elements in which you would need to include.

Why is it important?
A brief is important because it guides us, without a brief before work we probably wouldn’t really know what our employer wants from us. It is a clear outline of what needs to be done and is a very useful thing to have to look back on. Without it there could be mixed messages between yourself and the employer of what they want from you and what you think they want from you.

What are the legal and ethical issues regarding a brief?
As there is often a contract that comes with the brief, you are legally obligated to finish it by the given deadline and to a certain level of professionalism, if you fail either or both of these, you could not be paid, the company won’t use you again and your reputation will be ruined and it will be extremely difficult to find work.

What key opportunities are present when you respond to a brief?
Most likely the opposite of the last question, you will be paid, the company will more than likely use you again if you do a good job your reputation will either stay the same or rise to say you have a standard of good quality work. It could open up other business opportunities for you, if the companies happy they will more than likely tell others about you, therefore expanding your business.