Dream Image Club
Videographer
Commissioning a video for a government agency: what should the TOR include?
Short answer
A terms of reference (TOR) for video production works well when the deliverables are measurable: length and number of episodes, file format and resolution, subtitles or language, distribution channels, the script proposal and approval steps, rounds of revisions, music and image rights, and delivery dates. Write the content as objectives and points to communicate rather than a list of scenes. That lets the producer propose a good approach, and makes acceptance easy for the inspection committee.
Agency briefs usually have two layers
The first layer is the project points that must all be covered. The second is that viewers must feel something for the real people and places. A TOR that only states the first layer tends to produce a video that ticks every box but nobody watches to the end. Add the second — for instance, that the story should be told through real beneficiaries — and the producer will build both layers together.
For the Provincial Electricity Authority, the client gave me only an overview of the project and I shaped it into a story. For the Community Development Department, the job meant interviewing communities in several provinces, and for the Queen Sirikit Department of Sericulture I produced two clips for television broadcast.
Headings a video production TOR should contain
- Objective and audience — who watches, and what they should know or do afterwards.
- Points to communicate — as a list, not prescribed scenes.
- Episodes and length — e.g. a maximum number of minutes each, and whether separate short or vertical clips are needed.
- Filming locations — how many sites and provinces, and how many interviewees.
- File format and resolution — and for TV broadcast, attach the station's technical specifications.
- Language and subtitles — English or other subtitles, narration, sign language if required.
- Approval steps — outline and script before filming, review of the edit, number of revision rounds.
- Usage rights — music, sound effects, fonts and images cleared for the distribution channels.
- Deliverables — master files, social media files, stills and delivery media.
- Timeline and instalments — a deadline for each stage, with payments tied to what is delivered.
What makes a video TOR hard for everyone
- Over-specifying equipment, such as camera brands, instead of the file quality required.
- More points than the length allows — ten topics in a three-minute video means each is only touched on.
- No named approver for the script, leading to many revisions at the edit stage, which is slower and costlier than fixing a script.
- Deadlines with no allowance for field days when several provinces are involved or real community events must be waited for.
If you already have a TOR, here is how I can help
Send the TOR or the project outline. I read it and break it into a story structure, shooting days and the areas to visit, then quote on the real scope. I issue quotations and documents in the format your agency requires, and all music and sound effects are licensed for the agreed channels.
If you are still drafting the TOR and want to know how many shooting days or episodes a scope like yours needs, talk to me first — I can share what real jobs have taken. The procurement method and budget ceiling are set by your agency under its own regulations.
Planning work that has to happen in the field
Community and field work depends on real people and events — the harvest, a community activity day, the day an interviewee is home. I go to every location myself and plan the schedule around the rhythm of the place. On one job that had to close by a fixed date, I stayed overnight in a villager's house so both the shoot and the edit would make it in time.
If the video will be screened abroad, I can add English subtitles. I made a community documentary about hammered flower-print fabric with English subtitles that was used in France.
