Music Animation Brief BBC Learning
Contents About this brief... 2 Who is the BBC Bitesize audience?... 2 The commission... 2 Style, tone and the Bitesize brand... 3 Requirements... 4 Outline of delivery... 4 Creative approach... 4 The curriculum... 5 General points... 6 Deliverables... 6 Contracting... 6 Your pitch... 7 1. About your company... 7 2. Creative approach... 7 3. Resourcing... 7 4. Logistics... 7 5. Budget... 7 Pitch deliverable list... 7 Selection... 7 How we work together... 8 Responsibilities... 8 The BBC Learning team... 8 Schedule/project management and key dates.... 9 Payment... 9 Key dates... 10 Contact... 10 1
About this brief Who is the BBC Bitesize audience? Bitesize is the BBC s curriculum- focused study support service for students aged 4 to 16. It aims to help children across the UK achieve their full potential learning every day in their own way. Bitesize is used by approximately three- quarters of secondary school students in the UK. It received an average of 2.5 million unique UK users per week with weekly traffic has peaking at 3.5 million earlier this year. The commission This commission is for animation content only The BBC reserves the right to award this contract in the way that provides the best service and value for money. The budget for this project is up to 50,000. For a commission of 50,000 we expect 18 minutes of animation. Delivery of all content is required by the 15 th of December 2017. The video content needs appeal to KS1/2 students but should not alienate or patronise a wider audience. Videos should be concise, lively, imaginative and accurate. Subject specialism is not a prerequisite (although clearly would be useful) what we re looking for are creative and engaging solutions. Likewise, learning experience is not a prerequisite. However, a thorough understanding of the needs of the Bitesize audience and a clear approach to addressing those needs is expected. Companies should have experience delivering engaging content for young audiences, ideally including short form content. Please submit questions and proposals to Kirsty Morrissey. All questions and answers will available for anyone to view in this Box folder. Deadline for submissions is 23:59 on 26/07/2017. 2
Style, tone and the Bitesize brand BBC Bitesize is a highly trusted brand that students know they can turn to for reliable and trustworthy information produced in a high quality and entertaining way. Bitesize brand values Quality learning resources with high production values, tailored to the needs of our audience Clear, concise delivery of the key educational points - bite- sized chunks Accessible to every level of academic ability Factually correct, high- quality and curriculum- relevant Simple, straightforward language Funny, quirky or irreverent tone where appropriate Our recent content can be found on the Bitesize Primary highlights page. This is not necessarily representative of the style we re looking for from this specific commission but gives an indication of the variety of Bitesize videos currently available. 3
Requirements Outline of delivery We are asking for 10 animations of roughly equal length that total 18 minutes. Within this total, there may be some flexibility to make some animations shorter and others longer as the learning requires. Creative approach We have an initial creative approach and are looking to work with an indie who can bring their own creativity to the project to develop and deliver this idea. The premise is that a group of school children have formed a band and are practising for an end of year performance. They are given access to the old music room in the school, which hasn t been used for years. They are trying to compose their song but it s not going well. However, during rehearsals they are shocked to find the pictures and posters on the wall suddenly come alive. These famous musicians step out of their pictures and interrupt the practice to help the group understand a key musical concept which is holding back their composition. The group incorporate this into their practice and composition and are able to move forward. Nine of the animations will deal specifically with a musical concept, musical figure and piece of composition. For example Beethoven might play a few lines of his Fifth Symphony to help explain duration. The tenth animation will be the performance. It will feature the group performing their song and the lyrics will explain some of the techniques they ve learned. It will serve as a summary song of the key musical concepts. Each animation must work as a standalone covering a specific learning point (e.g. discover Pitch with Mozart) but will also fit together as a suite of content with built- in progression. The musicians chosen to feature in the animations can feature some living composers. They should represent a range of genres (not exclusively classical) and reflect the BBC s commitment to diversity. With living artists, we need their consent and it would be preferable to have these artists record their own VO. Although it will feature famous composers, the suite will promote the ethos that you don t need to be an expert or have lots of fancy equipment to make music. The project is being delivered in collaboration with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. The BBC will be responsible for composing the song which the students are working on. Work in progress extracts of this will be used through the episodes and used in full in the final episode. The BBC will also be responsible for arranging the small extracts of the famous pieces which the composers use to demonstrate a point. These excerpts will be played by members of the BBC Philharmonic. The indie will be responsible for the recording and editing of this music. 4
The music concepts we intend to cover in the animations are: 1. Beat & Rhythm 2. Duration 3. Tempo 4. Pitch 5. Melody 6. Texture & harmony 7. Dynamics 8. Feel & Emotion 9. Notation 10. Performance The curriculum A new primary music curriculum was introduced in England in 2014. This commission should support the contents of this curriculum as much as possible. From the Music programmes of study for England: Aims The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils: perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter- related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations. Subject content Key stage 1 Pupils should be taught to: use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes play tuned and untuned instruments musically listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high- quality live and recorded music experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter- related dimensions of music. Key stage 2 Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory. 5
Pupils should be taught to: play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter- related dimensions of music listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory use and understand staff and other musical notations appreciate and understand a wide range of high- quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians develop an understanding of the history of music. General points All video content should use the learning outcomes that will be provided by Bitesize as the basis for the videos. It s essential that the characters and musicians/composers featured represent a diverse mixture in terms of ethnicity, gender and disability. You will be expected to recruit and work with an educational specialist/consultant who will be involved throughout the process (from initial concept to fine cut) to ensure all learning objectives are covered. All content should be reviewed by the consultant and changes made before it is sent to us. Each video should stand alone in its own right as an engaging piece of content. Video content typically remains live on Bitesize for at least five years, so topical references should be avoided to ensure that the content does not date quickly. We are not necessarily looking for responses featuring established star names for the voice- overs or on screen talent - up and coming talent should also be considered. Bitesize will require final sign- off on voices and on screen talent. Bitesize requires full consultation during the scripting process, including the viewing of drafts to ensure the scripts hit the learning points, and full signoff on completed scripts. Deliverables Final masters in electronic format (a technical specification will be provided), both uncompressed and compressed. Uncompressed audio provided in multiple editable audio layers. Project files and assets. Time- coded scripts and XML transcripts for subtitles (template will be provided). Post- production paperwork will be required (template will be provided). Contracting This is a stand- alone new media commission and the BBC will require all rights in the content, and on all platforms, in perpetuity. The commission will be contracted using the BBC s New Media Rights Framework 2 agreement. Further information on the BBC New Media Frameworks can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/technology- online/how- we- work/new- media- rights- framework.shtml 6
Your pitch To ensure that responses are succinct, we d like you to outline: 1. About your company What relevant experience does your company have to deliver this project? We re interested in hearing about relevant previous projects, your experience in creating content for young audiences and your understanding of the challenges of this commission. 2. Creative approach Demonstrate what creative approach you would take to realise the premise and cover learning points described above. It might be helpful to include: design ideas or concepts an episode summary a draft script excerpt 3. Resourcing We need to know who will be actively working on the project, should you be successful. Please define your project team within your response including an indication of core staff members and freelance support. Please outline any talent, including writer, director, subject matter experts etc. 4. Logistics How do you intend to deliver the project? Please outline your technical approach, project management approach, outline delivery schedule and approach to risk management. Please include an indication of key milestones and sign- off points for the BBC, as well as any audience testing. 5. Budget The budget for this commission is up to 50,000. Please provide a detailed budget breakdown. Pitch deliverable list 1. Company overview (up to 1 side of A4) 2. Creative approach (up to 3 sides of A4) 3. Resourcing (up to 1 side of A4) 4. Technical / project management approach / delivery schedule (up to 2 sides of A4) 5. Budget (up to 1 side of A4) Selection The BBC will use the following criteria to evaluate the pitches submitted: 1. Prior experience of company and core staff experience 2. Creative approach originality / suitability for Bitesize audience 3. Technical approach / project management / delivery schedule 4. Pricing / value for money 5. Presentation of response 7
How we work together Responsibilities You will be responsible for: delivering 18 minutes of animation as described above recording and editing the live music performed by the Philharmonic. However if companies are not confident recording and editing live music, we can consider alternative arrangements where that element is separated and completed by another company. recording of voice overs project management and production of deliverables to agreed deadline and budget chairing regular production meetings and communicating project plans and status including a weekly status report quality assurance of content post - production paperwork to be completed in format supplied by BBC (WebasC) subtitling of all animations BBC Bitesize will be responsible for: arrangement and clearing rights for the existing music compositions arranging of the original composition sourcing Philharmonic musicians to perform the pieces sharing project documentation from the wider suite of Bitesize content if available collaboration throughout the production and delivery sign- off on outlines, look and feel, scripts, voice- casting, rough- cuts and final delivery within an agreed timeframe We will be jointly responsible for: selecting and sourcing talent to appear ensuring the learning outcomes are met and consultants used ensuring that content is best- fit for the Bitesize audience The BBC Learning team Rebekka Campbell Editor, Bitesize Johann Le Calvez Producer, Bitesize Sandra Budin Production Manager, Bitesize Stuart Fyfe Assistant Producer, Bitesize Kirsty Morrissey Researcher, Bitesize 8
Schedule/project management and key dates. Although key points such as casting, script sign- off points etc will be identified on the Editorial Specification, all Bitesize production follows an iterative development process and we will feed back ASAP on all editorial decisions. This project is highly dependent on specific delivery dates that will be defined in the contract. As such we would like you to give particular attention to clause 9 in our standard terms which states the following: If you fail or are due to fail to deliver a Deliverable (or any part thereof) due at any stage specified in Schedule 2 for any reason not directly and solely attributable to the BBC, the BBC shall (without prejudice to any other rights or remedies available to the BBC under this Agreement or at law) be entitled to terminate this Agreement Should this situation arise and the BBC is forced to terminate, the BBC would only be liable to you for anything delivered prior to termination. For this reason we would ask that you give timeframes and delivery the highest priority. Payment Payment schedule to be agreed upon award of contract. Typical payment might be: 25% on signature of contract 15% on script sign- off 40% on sign- off of all rough cuts 20% upon final delivery 9
Key dates Brief published 12/07/2017 Deadline for questions 20/07/2017, 23:59 Response to questions 24/07/2017, 17:00 Deadline for submissions 26/07/2017, 23:59 Notification of Contract Award 31/07/2017 Delivery and final sign off of scripts 11/09/2017 Delivery of animatics 25/09/2017 Recording with BBC Philharmonic 30/09/2017 & 1/10/2017 Final delivery 15/12/2017 We are hoping to award on the basis of written submissions but reserve the right to invite companies in for face to face pitches if necessary. Contact Any queries on this commission should be emailed to Kirsty Morrissey kirsty.morrissey@bbc.co.uk 10