BBC Bitesize Primary History: Key Stage 1 Famous People –

Video Brief BBC Learning

March 2018

BBC Bitesize: Primary History: KS1 Famous People Video Brief

March 2018

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Contents About BBC Bitesize ....................................................................................................................... 2

Who is our audience? ......................................................................................................................... 2

Style, tone and the Bitesize brand ...................................................................................................... 2

The commission .................................................................................................................................. 2

Requirements .............................................................................................................................. 4

Outline of work ................................................................................................................................... 4

The curriculum .................................................................................................................................... 4

Education consultant .......................................................................................................................... 5

General points ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Storyboards and scripts ...................................................................................................................... 5

Deliverables......................................................................................................................................... 6

Sustainable productions ..................................................................................................................... 6

Working together......................................................................................................................... 7

Who’s responsible for what? .............................................................................................................. 7

The BBC Learning team ....................................................................................................................... 7

Schedule/project management .......................................................................................................... 7

The process ......................................................................................................................................... 9

Proposal .............................................................................................................................................. 9

Proposal deliverable list .................................................................................................................. 9

Selection ............................................................................................................................................ 10

Pitch .................................................................................................................................................. 10

Key dates ........................................................................................................................................... 10

Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... I

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About BBC Bitesize

Who is our audience? Bitesize is the BBC’s study support service for students, helping 5-16+ year olds with their

coursework, homework and preparation for tests and exams. Bitesize covers core subjects at

primary, Scottish 1st and 2nd levels, and a much wider range of subjects at secondary, including KS3,

GCSE, Welsh TGAU, Scottish National 4 and 5 and Higher It also covers Functional Skills Maths and

English in England and equivalent Core Skills qualifications in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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 peaking at 3.5 million.

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 that is produced in a high quality and entertaining way.

Bitesize 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

• Inclusive

• Factually correct, high-quality and curriculum-relevant

• Simple, straightforward language

• Funny, quirky or irreverent tone where appropriate

• Accessible to every level of academic ability

An example of our current KS2 History content can be found here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z2dr4wx. As can be seen, this Explainer contains an animation along

with supporting text, a slideshow, some infographics and photographs. Other Explainers also contain

activities. This commission is for the production of the animation portion only.

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 £90,000.

For a commission of £90,000 we expect 40 minutes of animation (20 x 2 minute videos).

Delivery of all content is required by the 23rd November 2018.

The video content needs to 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.

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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.

Deadline for submissions is 5pm on Wednesday 4th April 2018.

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Requirements

Outline of work 20 animations of 2 minutes each, totalling 40 minutes. Within this total, there may be some

flexibility to make some animations shorter and others longer as the learning requires.

Note that information on some of the selected Famous People already exists on Bitesize 1

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/famouspeople/). Reuse of content will be

considered – to be agreed with BBC Bitesize.

Each film must work as a standalone covering a specific set of learning objectives in a way

that is easily comprehensible for our audience, covering the key points of the curriculum.

Note that the Bitesize team will make the Explainer itself, and will produce the associated

contextual content.

Videos will be published on bbc.com and other channels as appropriate.

Films should include voiceover, music, sound effects where appropriate.

A 20-30 second ‘teaser’ (short re-versions from the content already created for each film) for

selected films. Requirement is for 5 x teasers in total. Specific films to be agreed by BBC

Bitesize and the indie.

Hero image relating to each film, to feature on the learner guides that the films sit in.

Films should be linear - interactivity is out of scope for this commission.

Character sheets for each key character in a variety of different poses and with different

facial expressions, to be delivered before animation work commences.

Please note that although Bitesize currently incorporates video clips for use in class by

teachers, this commission is part of our student-facing content and will sit within our

Explainers.

The curriculum A new primary History curriculum was introduced in England in 2013. This commission should

support the contents of this curriculum as much as possible.

From the History programmes of study for England:

At key stage 1:

Pupils should know where the people and events they study fit within a chronological

framework and identify similarities and differences between ways of life in different periods

They should be taught about events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or

globally [for example, the Great Fire of London, the first aeroplane flight or events

commemorated through festivals or anniversaries]

They should be taught about the lives of significant individuals in the past who have

contributed to national and international achievements, some should be used to compare

aspects of life in different periods [for example, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, Christopher

Columbus and Neil Armstrong, William Caxton and Tim Berners-Lee, Pieter Bruegel the Elder

and LS Lowry, Rosa Parks and Emily Davison, Mary Seacole and/or Florence Nightingale and

Edith Cavell]

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Education consultant You will need to contract and work with an educational specialist/consultant who will be involved

throughout the process to ensure all learning objectives are covered and content is accurate and

relevant. All content (ie video concepts, storyboards, initial scripts, final scripts, animatics, final

versions, etc.) will need to be reviewed by the consultant before they are sent to us.

General points All videos should use the learning outcomes provided by Bitesize as the basis for their

scripts.

The videos should encourage multiple viewings.

The overall tone should be informal, chatty and appealing to the audience. Content should feel confident and assured, but not teacher-like. It should feel friendly and informal, but not like it is ‘trying too hard’.

The delivery should be quite pacey and natural, but not so quick that it loses learners. Clarity

is very important.

It is vital that the content feels part of the students’ world – the subject area can seem daunting so using easily-accessible examples should pique their interest.

Each video should stand alone in its own right as an engaging piece of content but also should feel part of a connected suite.

It is essential that, where applicable, the characters featured represent the diversity of the Bitesize audience in terms of gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, socio-economic status and regionality. For example, approximately 25% of school children today identify themselves as not being White British. BBC Bitesize celebrates diversity in all its forms: BBC Bitesize has produced a ‘Diversity and Inclusion Commissioning Guidelines’ document to support the attainment of the BBC and BBC Bitesize’s diversity targets. We have selected the famous people we’d like to cover (see Appendix), and have already considered diversity and inclusivity in this list. However, we request that any additional characters represented in the animations reflect relevant diversity for a given location and time in history.

Video content typically remains live on Bitesize for at least 4-5 years, so topical references should be avoided to ensure that the content does not date too quickly.

We are not necessarily looking for responses featuring established star names for the voice

overs or any on-screen talent – in fact, up and coming talent would be preferred.

Bitesize will require final sign-off on voice and on-screen talent and the opportunity to

attend voice over recording.

Where used, music should be production/mood music rather than commercial.

Storyboards and scripts The company awarded the contract will produce initial concepts, scripts, and storyboard and

animatic (if appropriate) for each of the videos above.

Bitesize requires full consultation during the production process, including the reviewing of drafts to

ensure the scripts hit the learning points, and full signoff on completed scripts, any storyboards and

animatics, and animations.

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Deliverables Final masters in electronic format (a technical specification will be provided), both

uncompressed and compressed. Uncompressed audio provided in multiple editable audio layers.

All animation and illustration project files and assets.

Post-production paperwork will be required (templates will be provided).

All content should be cleared for all rights in perpetuity. Any exceptions to this must be agreed with

BBC in advance of inclusion. This commission will be based on a framework 2 contract. This link

provides further information:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/online/articles/how-we-work#framework

Sustainable productions BBC Learning is working to ensure that all its projects are environmentally sustainable. As part of this,

we ask that any independent supplier we work with has an environmental sustainability policy,

carbon literacy aware staff (free training can be found here - http://wearealbert.org/help/get-

trained) and that all productions, where appropriate, complete an Albert carbon footprint

calculation.

A good way to demonstrate your environmental credentials is to undertake Albert certification.

Please see here for more details http://www.bbc.co.uk/responsibility/environment/albert-plus or

contact Nicholas.Leslie@bbc.co.uk for more information.

More details can be found at http://wearealbert.org/ and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/responsibility/environment/industry-collaboration.

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Working together

Who’s responsible for what? You will be responsible for:

project management and production of deliverables to agreed deadline and budget

chairing regular production meetings and communicating project plans and status

quality assurance of content (in cooperation with the educational consultant)

We will be responsible for:

sharing project documentation from the wider suite of Bitesize primary History content if

available

collaboration throughout the production and delivery

sign-off on the following: storylines/initial concepts, look and feel, scripts, storyboards,

essential cast members, voice-casting, music, sounds effects, animatics and final delivery –

within an agreed timeframe

We will be jointly responsible for:

ensuring the learning outcomes are met

ensuring that content is best-fit for the Bitesize audience

The BBC Learning team Oonagh Jaquest – Editor, Bitesize

Nicola Anderson – Producer, Bitesize

Delphine Desard – Assistant Producer, Bitesize

Erin MacTague – Production Manager

Schedule/project management Although key points such as casting, concepts, script, animatic and animation sign-off, etc

will be identified in the Editorial Specification, all Bitesize production follows an iterative

development process. We will require accommodation for feedback cycles (including, but

not limited to: initial outlines; scripts – versions 1 and 2; storyboard/animatic – versions 1

and 2; key talent; music/sound sign off; finished film – rough and fine) in the schedule. We

will feed back ASAP on all editorial decisions, in line with the schedule.

Final delivery for the project is 23rd November 2018.

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.

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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.

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The process

Proposal Proposals should be provided as either MS Word documents or PDFs. They should be a maximum of

15 pages long. Please submit proposals to Rhia MacKenzie (Production Management Assistant,

Bitesize) at rhia.mackenzie@bbc.co.uk. Proposals that are larger than 7 MB may not be accepted

by our email system. Please let us know, prior to the deadline, if your proposal is 7+ MB and we will

agree another delivery method.

The delivery date for the submission of proposals is 5pm Wednesday 4th April 2018. Please note

that submissions received after this deadline WILL NOT be considered.

Please use the following video to base your proposal on (highlighted in yellow in the appendix):

5: Ghandi

If there are any general questions about the project, rather than those specific to your own

approach, we will distribute responses to all companies pitching.

To allow you to work up your summary creative solutions in relation to this commission, we have

provided further information (see appendix) on the videos. For each video, we have provided a

potential title and a list of learning outcomes - what the students should know after they’ve watched

the videos.

Proposal deliverable list

Company overview

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.

Creative approach

Demonstrate what creative approach you would take for this commission in order to cover

learning points described. It would be helpful to include:

o design ideas or concepts

o an episode summary

Summary creative solutions to the video listed above

Resourcing

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.

Logistics

How do you intend to deliver the project? Please outline your technical approach, project

management approach and approach to risk management.

Budget

The maximum budget for this commission is £90,000. Please provide a detailed budget

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breakdown to show how you intend to cost the project. Payment schedule to be agreed

upon award of contract. Typical payment might be:

o 15% on signature

o 15% on script sign off

o 15% on first day of principle photography / prod

o 25% on sign off of rough cuts

o 15% on sign off of fine cuts

o 15% on acceptance of full delivery

Schedule

Please include an indication of key milestones and sign-off points for the BBC, as well as any

audience testing.

Selection The BBC will use the following standard criteria to evaluate the proposals submitted:

creative approach – originality / suitability for Bitesize audience

ability to meet editorial requirements, including appropriate consideration of diversity and

inclusion

pricing / value for money

project management / production plan (schedule and budget)

prior experience of company and core staff experience

presentation of response

Any queries on this commission should be emailed to Oonagh Jaquest (oonagh.jaquest@bbc.co.uk).

Pitch Shortlisted companies will be invited to a face-to-face pitch at MediaCityUK, Salford the week of 30th

April 2018.

Key dates

Brief published 7th March 2018

Deadline for questions 16th March 2018

Response to questions 21st March 2018

Deadline for proposal submission 5pm 4th April 2018

Invitation to pitch notification 26th April 2018

Face-to-face pitch w/c 7th May 2018

Notification of Contract Award 15th May 2018

Final delivery 23rd November 2018

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Appendix NOTE: All the learning outcomes stated below are recommendations for content to be considered. We expect collaboration between the chosen indie,

the BBC and the Educational Consultants to determine how the creative approach can best fit some, or all, of these outcomes.

Video type Potential video title Learning outcomes – what the student should know AFTER WATCHING each video

Primary (KS1) History: Famous People (20 x 2’)

1. Anne Frank 2. Boudicca 3. Charles Dickens 4. Christopher Columbus 5. Elizabeth Fry 6. Florence Nightingale 7. Ghandi 8. Henry VIII 9. Isambard Kingdom Brunel 10. Marie Curie 11. Martin Luther King 12. Mary Seacole 13. Nelson Mandela 14. Queen Elizabeth I 15. Queen Victoria 16. Rosa Parks 17. Samuel Pepys 18. Stephen Hawkins 19. William Shakespeare 20. Winston Churchill

Who was this person?

What is their background? If relevant: o Where are they from? o Where did they end up? o How did they get there? o What in their background led them to be who they are?

What’s important about this person? o What did they do? o When? o Who was involved?

Why is this important? o What impact did it have? o Is it still relevant today? How?

What happened to this person? o Were they well-known in their lifetime? How? Or, why not? o What legacy do they leave behind?