Mostmusicvideobriefslandinadirector'sinboxinoneoftwoforms.

ThefirstisaSpotifylinkandasentence:"Wanttodosomethingcoolwiththis—kindofTameImpalavibes."Thesecondisasix-pagedocumentthatdescribeseverylyricasashot."During'shewalkedawayintherain,'shewalksawayintherain."

Bothproducemediocretreatmentsforthesamereason:neithertellsthedirectorwhattheyactuallyneedtoknowtomakesomethinggood.

Amusicvideobriefisnotadescriptionofwhathappensonscreen.It'sthestrategicandemotionalcontextthatletsadirectorwriteatreatmentthey'regenuinelyexcitedaboutandthenmakeavideothatpaysbackthebudget,therollout,andtheartist'scareertrajectoryallatonce.Thedifferencebetweengettingbackfivegenerictreatmentsandthreeyoucan'tchoosebetweenisalmostentirelyupstreamofthepitchprocess.It'sinthebrief.

Here'swhatthegoodonesdo.

TheSongistheSeed,NottheBrief

Mostartistsandmanagerssendthesongandassumethatisthebrief.Itisn't.Thesongistheartifactyou'repromoting.Thebriefiseverythingaroundit.

Nodirectorworthhiringwantstowriteatreatmentbasedonlyricalliteralism.Theworstpossiblereadingof"shewalkedawayintherain"isashotofsomeonewalkingawayintherain.Thebestdirectorsarelookingforwhatthesongisaboutunderneathwhatitsays.

Soinyourbrief,saywhatthesongisaboutunderneath.Oneparagraph.

Thissongsoundslikeaheartbreaksongbutit'snot.It'saboutthemomentyourealizetherelationshipwasalreadyoversixmonthsbeforeyoubrokeup.There'snoangerinit.There'srelief,andalittleembarrassmentthatyoudidn'tseeitsooner.

Thatparagraphisworthmorethantheentirelyricsheet.Ittellsadirectorwhatemotionalregistertowriteinto.Withoutit,they'reguessing.

StatetheRolloutContext

Amusicvideodoesn'texistalone.Itlivesinsideacampaign,anddirectorsneedtounderstandthearchitectureofthatcampaignbeforetheycanpitchintoit.

Tellthem:Isthisthefirstsingle,thethird,thevisualalbumopener,thedeepcutgettingalatevideoasacampaignextension?What'salreadybeenshown—coverart,pressphotos,priorvisuals?Sendthemall.What'scomingafter?Iftherearethreemorevideosplanned,thisvideoisonepanelinalargerworkandshouldknowaboutitssiblings.

Abriefwithoutrolloutcontextproducesorphanedvideos.Theylookfineinisolation,buttheydon'tcompound.Theydon'tbuildtheartist.Thedirectorswhoknowthecampaignarchitecturepitchideasthatearntheirkeepacrosstherollout,notjustforoneweekendofrelease-dayviews.

DefinetheVisualLineage

Everyartisthasavisualpast,evenifit'sjustanInstagramaestheticandonepriorvideo.Articulateit.Thenarticulatewhereyou'regoing.

Lastrecord,weleanedintowarm35mm,suburban,slightlynostalgic—Lana-coded.Forthisalbumwewanttobreakthat.Coolerpalette,lessAmerican,moreEuropeanarthouse.ClosertoYorgosLanthimosthanSofiaCoppola.

That'sausefulsentence.Ittellsthedirectorwhatrealestateisalreadytaken,whatgestureswillfeellikeretreating,andwherethenewterritoryis.Withoutit,you'llgettreatmentsthateitherrepeatwhatyou'vealreadydoneorwanderintoaestheticsthatquietlycontradictyourexistingidentityinwaysnobodyflaggeduntiledit.

Iftheartistisnewandhasnovisuallineageyet,saythatexplicitly."Thisisthefirstpieceofvisualidentity.There'snopasttohonororbreakfrom.Whateverwemakebecomesthelineage."That'salsoausefulsentence—andamoreexcitingbriefthanmostdirectorsget.

ThePerformancetoNarrativeAxis

Almosteverymusicvideobriefneedstoansweronequestionearly:howmuchperformance,howmuchnarrative,howmuchabstraction?

There'saspectrum.Pureperformancevideo—artistonastage,inaroom,againstabackdrop—ononeend.Purenarrative—astoryunfolds,artistmaynotevenappear—ontheother.Mostvideossitsomewhereinbetween,withhybridweights.

Tellthedirectorwhereonthataxisyouwanttolive,andwhy.

Wewant60%narrative,40%performance.Buttheperformanceshouldn'tfeellikecutaways.Theartistshouldfeellikeshe'sinsidetheworldofthestory,notvisitingfromasoundstage.

Thissingledecisionshapeseverythingdownstream:budgetallocation,casting,locations,shootdays,howtheeditgetscut,howthelabelmarketsit.Getitonthepageinthebrief,notinweekthreeoftreatmentrevisions.

References,donecorrectly

Referencesarewheremostbriefscollapse.ThestandardmoveistodroptenYouTubelinksandaPinterestboardlabeled"vibe."Thatdoesn'thelp.Thedirectorlooksatitandhasnoideawhatyouactuallyrespondedto.Wasitthecolor?Theframing?Thepacing?Thecasting?Thewholeworldthevideobuilt?

Betterapproach:pickthreetofivereferences.Foreach,writeasentenceexplainingwhatspecificallyyouwanttoborrow.

FrankOcean,"Pyramids"(dir.Nabil)—theslowzoom-outsthatfeellikethecameraisdiscoveringsomethingratherthanchasingit.Notthestrip-clubsetting,notthestoryline.Thepacing.

AnythingbyHiroMuraipre-2018—thesuburbansurrealism.Somethingiswrongbutnooneintheframementionsit.Wewantthemenaceofhisearlierwork,notthecomedyofhisDonaldGloverstuff.

ThetrailerforBeauTravail(ClaireDenis)—bodiesinformation,heat,restraint,theimplicationthatviolenceissomewhereoffscreenbutcoming.

Abriefwithfivewell-annotatedreferencesisworthmorethanonewiththirtyunannotatedones.Referenceswithoutexplanationaredecoration.Referenceswithexplanationaredirection.

Includeanti-references,too."Wedon'twantittolooklikea2024major-labelmusicvideo—noLED-wallworlds,noover-saturateddancestudioshoots,nofashion-weekstyling."Tellingadirectorwherenottogoisoftenmoreclarifyingthantellingthemwheretogo.Iteliminatesanentirevisualquadranttheywouldhaveotherwiseconsideredsafe.

Puttheconstraintsupfront

Thefastestwaytowasteeveryone'stimeistotakepitcheswithoutrevealingyourconstraints.Directorswillspendaweekbuildingtreatmentsaroundbudgetsyoudon'thave,locationsyoucan'tget,andtimelinesyoucan'tmake.State,plainly:

Budget

Arealnumberorarealrange."Wehavebetween$40Kand$55Kdependingonidea."Ifyoucan'torwon'tshareanumber,you'llgettreatmentsbuiltforfantasyeconomics,andsomeonewillhavetodeliverbadnewsinweektwo.

Shootwindow

"WeneedtoshootbeforeMarch14becausetheartistisontourafterthat."Or:"Wehaveaweek,anywhereinFebruary."

Deliverydate

Whenthevideohastobelive.Buildbackwardsfromthere—andrememberthatcolor,sounddesign,andrevisionstakelongerthanpeoplethink.

Talent

Istheartistavailableforonedayorthree?Dotheywanttobeineveryframe,orbarelyappear?Aretherefeatureswhohavetobeinthevideo,andwhat'stheiravailability?

Locations

Areyoulockedtoacity?Doyouhaveaccesstospecificspaces—avenue,atourbus,aparticularhouse—thatthedirectorshouldconsiderusingoravoiding?

Rightsandclearance

Anythingsensitiveworthflaggingearly:depictionsthelabelwon'tapprove,syncissues,talentlikenessconcerns,placesyoucan'tfilm.

Adirectorwouldratherknowupfrontthatyouhave$30Kthanspendaweekpitchinga$90Kidea.Withholdingthebudgetdoesn'tgetyoubetterideas.Itgetsyouideasyou'llhavetorejectforreasonsthathavenothingtodowiththeirquality.

Non-negotiablesvs.negotiables

Separatethetwo,explicitly.

Non-negotiablesmightbe:"TheartistdrivesthecarinthefinalscenebecausethealbumiscalledDrive."Or:"Wemustendontheartistalone—noothercharactersinthefinalshot."Or:"Noon-screendrugreferences—labelpolicy."

Negotiablesareeverythingelse.Statethat,too."Beyondthenon-negotiablesabove,wewanttobemovedbywhatyoubring.Thestoryisn'tlocked.Wedon'tknowiftheartistshouldbeacharacterinitorapresenceoutsideofit.We'reopen."

Thecombinationofclearnon-negotiablesandexplicitcreativeopennessiswhatproducesambitioustreatments.Withoutthenon-negotiables,directorshedge—theydon'tknowwhat'ssafetoquestion.Withouttheopenness,theyplayitsafeeverywhere.

Thenorthstarsentence

Everygreatmusicvideobriefhasonesentencethedirectorwillreturntoseventeentimeswhilewritingthetreatment.It'stheemotionalthesis.Itusuallystartswith"wewantittofeellike"or"theviewershouldwalkawayfeeling…"

Wewantittofeellikethecameraisamemory—present,butslightlywrong,thewaymemoriesare.

Thisvideoshouldleavetheviewerfeelingliketheywalkedintoaroomtheyweren'tsupposedtobein.

Wewantittofeellikethenightbeforesomethingbadhappens,butnooneinitknowsyet.

Thatsentenceisworthmorethanhalftherestofthebrief.It'satuningfork.Everychoicethedirectormakes—casting,location,lens,editpace—canbetestedagainstit.Doesthisservethesentence?Ifyes,keepgoing.Ifno,cutit.

Mostbriefsdon'thaveone.Theonesthatdoareimmediatelylegibletodirectorsashavingbeenwrittenbysomeonewhoknowswhattheywant.

Whattoleaveout

Abriefcanbetoolong.Pastabouttwopages,itstartstoconstraininsteadofliberate.Directorsreadtightbriefscarefullyandlongbriefsdiagonally.

Cutthese:

Shot-by-shotideas

Unlessashotisnon-negotiable,everyshotyoudescribeisonethedirectorhastoeitherhonorordesignaround.You'repayingthemtocomeupwithshots.Letthem.

Mood-boardoverload

Curateruthlessly.Fivestrongreferencesbeatthirtyweakones.

Hedgelanguage

"Maybesomethinglike,sortof,ifitmakessense,possibly,we'renotsurebut…"Pickaposition.Directorscanarguewithaposition.Theycan'targuewithvapor.

Committeevoice

Iffourpeoplewrotethebriefinashareddoc,itwillreadthatway.Haveonepersondoafinalpassinasinglevoice.Thebriefisapieceofwriting.Treatitlikeone.

Whatyou'llgetbackwhenthebriefisright

You'llknowthebriefwasgoodbywhatcomesback.Thetreatmentswillsurpriseyouintherightdirection.They'llrespectyournon-negotiables,buildonyourreferenceswithoutcopyingthem,andansweryournorthstarsentenceinwaysyoucouldn'thavepredictedyourself.

You'llknowthebriefwaswrongbythesamesignal.Ifeverytreatmentfeelsgeneric,thebriefwastoovague.Ifeverytreatmentfeelslikethesameideawearingadifferentcoat,thebriefwastooprescriptive—youwrotethevideoforthem,andtheyallturnedinversionsofyourvideo.

Thebriefisthefirstcreativeactoftheproject.Casting,budget,schedule,edit—everythingdownstreamsitsontopofit.Askilleddirectorcanrescueaweakbriefwiththeirtreatment,butbythenyou'vealreadylostweeksofmomentumandusuallysomemoney.Agreatbriefturnsthetreatmentprocessintoarealcompetitionbetweenvisionsyou'reexcitedabout,insteadofanexerciseinreadingyourmind.

Spendadayonthebriefbeforeyouspendamonthonthevideo.Themathalwaysworksout.

TriptychStudiosworkswithartists,managers,andlabelsonmusicvideoandvisualcampaigns.Ifyou'rescopingaprojectandwantasecondpairofeyesonabrief—oradirector'sperspectiveonwhat'spitchable—getintouch.