Video Brief Template: How to Brief a Videographer

To brief a videographer, write a one-page brief that covers the video's goal, audience, tone, must-have shots, things to avoid, deliverables, deadline and budget, and put it in a single shared folder with a few captioned reference stills and a list of source links. Send one link to that folder instead of scattering references across chat. The template below covers everything a videographer needs to quote, plan and shoot.

Video brief template

Copy this into a document and fill it in. Keep it to one page; anything longer is turning into a treatment or a script, which are separate documents.

PROJECT NAME: Video brief, version 1, [date]

GOAL
One sentence: what should the viewer do or feel after watching?

AUDIENCE
Who they are, what they already know, where they will watch.

KEY MESSAGE
The one thing the viewer must remember.

TONE
Three adjectives, for example: warm, unhurried, confident.

MUST-HAVE SHOTS
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...

MUST AVOID
Anything that would look off-brand, plus legal or safety limits.

PEOPLE AND LOCATIONS
Who appears on camera, release forms needed, where you are filming,
access times.

DELIVERABLES
Master: 16:9, [length], [file format and codec]
Cutdowns: 9:16 and 1:1 or 4:5, [lengths], for [channels]
Captions: burned-in, separate file, or both
Raw footage: included or not

MUSIC AND SOUND
Licensed track supplied by us / chosen by you / none. Voiceover?

SCHEDULE
Shoot date(s), rough cut, feedback rounds, final delivery.

BUDGET
Amount and what it covers (shoot, edit, colour, sound, music licence).

REFERENCES
See the references folder. The three that define the look:
1. warm-window-light.png: lighting direction and warmth
2. handheld-follow.png: camera movement
3. cool-shadow-grade.png: colour grade

APPROVALS
Who signs off, and how many rounds of changes are included.

How to fill in each section

• Goal and key message: if you can't write them in one sentence each, the video isn't ready to brief yet.
• Tone: three adjectives give a clearer direction than a paragraph. Back them up with the reference stills.
• Must-have shots: list the shots the video fails without, such as the product in use or the founder's line to camera. Leave the rest to the videographer.
• Deliverables: be specific about aspect ratios, lengths, captions and file format. A social team that needs H.264 files for upload and an editor who delivers a ProRes master are both right; your brief should say which you want.
• Approvals: say who gives feedback and how many revision rounds the budget covers. Unplanned rounds are a common cause of overruns.

How to set up the reference folder

Use one shared folder with a predictable structure:

project-name-video-brief/
  00-brief.pdf
  01-references/
  02-links.txt
  03-brand/
  04-deliverables-spec.pdf

• 01-references: still frames from films, ads or earlier shoots, named by what they show (warm-window-light.png, not screenshot-3.png). Caption each one in your brief document with what matters about it: lighting, lens, movement, grade or framing.
• 02-links.txt: one line per video reference, with the URL, the timestamp that matters and a sentence on why. Videos get made private or taken down, so the description keeps the reference useful if the link stops working. YouTube's Share dialog has a Start at option for linking to an exact moment.
• 03-brand: logos as vector and PNG files, brand colours, fonts or font names, and any on-screen text style.
• 04-deliverables-spec: detailed channel specs, if they're too long for page one.

Pick three references that define the look and say so. A videographer can work towards three clear examples; twenty mixed ones pull in different directions.

How to collect reference stills

1. Pause the video on the frame you want.
2. Press Win+Shift+S and drag around the frame. The snip goes to the clipboard, and Snipping Tool also saves it to your Screenshots folder by default.
3. Save or move it into 01-references with a descriptive name.
4. Add the source URL and timestamp to 02-links.txt straight away, before you lose track of where it came from.

If you're pulling stills from your own footage in Premiere Pro or After Effects, export frames instead of screenshotting the player; getting Premiere stills onto the clipboard covers the options. Putting a screenshot on the clipboard compares the Windows capture tools, and building a mood board from copied images helps if you want a visual board as well as a folder.

Reference stills from other people's work are for direction only. Don't put them in the finished video, and be careful about publishing them; collecting inspiration screenshots legally covers the basics.

How to share a video brief

Share the folder as a single link from whichever cloud drive your team already uses, and set access so the videographer can view and download. If the work is confidential, use your organisation's approved sharing method and ask the videographer to sign an NDA before you send it.

Keep creative decisions in your brief document, not in chat. When something changes, update that document, bump the version number and date, and tell the videographer what changed. Chat is fine for logistics like call times and parking.

For reviewing cuts later, video review tools such as Frame.io let reviewers leave frame-accurate notes on the cut itself, which is clearer than a list of notes in an email.

Common briefing mistakes

• Only sending a competitor's video. You'll get a copy of it. Say what you like about it and what you don't.
• Uncaptioned mood boards. Forty images with no notes leave the videographer guessing which detail mattered.
• Leaving out deliverables. Vertical cutdowns and captions take extra time; they belong in the quote, not a late request.
• Adding must-have shots late. New shots after the quote may change the budget. Update your brief and agree on the cost first.

FAQ

How long should a video brief be?

One page for most short videos such as ads, product demos and social clips. Longer projects add a separate treatment or script.

What's the difference between a brief and a treatment?

A brief says what you want and why. A treatment is the videographer's or director's proposal for how to achieve it, often written in response to your brief.

Should I include a budget?

Yes. It lets the videographer suggest an approach that fits, instead of quoting for something you can't afford.

Related reading

• How to Copy a Frame in Premiere Pro and After Effects
• How to Build a Mood Board From Copied Images
• How to Copy a Screenshot to the Clipboard in Windows 11
• Is It Legal to Collect UI Screenshots for Inspiration?

Sources

• Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots (Microsoft Support) — Win+Shift+S and automatic saving to the Screenshots folder.
• Share videos and channels (YouTube Help) — the Start at option for sharing from a set time.
• Frame.io — video review with frame-accurate notes.

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