Unit 1 - Fact Sheet - Savannah Maketo-Baines
Production Process
The production process refers to the process/stages that go into making a
media product. There are three key stages these are:
1. Pre-production, this refers to the planning stage of the product where
ideas are formed and plans are drawn up.
2. Production, the production stage is where the production of materials for
the product takes place, the ideas come together to form the product and
construction is underway.
3. Post-production, after the completion of the initial product comes the
trial and error phase; essentially the post production stage is where all the
editing is done to the product in order to ensure readiness to be revealed
to the masses.
Magazine production equipment and software
There are a few components that go into making a magazine product:
● DSLR Camera
● Adobe Photoshop
● Desktop publishing Software
● Computer
DSLR Camera
A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital
SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera. A DSLR has
a variety of lenses, allowing more options
available for your shots, like customizable
depth of field, adjusting shutter speed, or
wide-angles. DSLR cameras are often
considered "better" for certain types of
photography due to their build quality,
excellent battery life. I would say that DSLR
cameras are preferably better to use for
magazines because:
● Interchangeable lenses: DSLRs can use a wide range of lenses,
from wide-angle to telephoto, allowing photographers to adapt to
different types of photography.
● Low light sensitivity: DSLRs are more sensitive in low light
conditions.
● Image quality: DSLRs produce higher quality images.
Here is an image of a DSLR camera. These cameras can range from around £500
to over £4000. Here, you can purchase a not-so-expensive one for £529.99,
https://www.currys.co.uk/products/canon-eos-2000d-dslr-camera-with-
efs-1855-mm-f3.55.6-iii-lens-10193817.html whereas if you was wanting a more
expensive one, thousands of pounds you are looking at, £3,000+
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a software program
that allows users to edit, create, and
retouch images. It's the most popular
image editing tool for professionals and
amateurs alike. As Well as this, it is a
critical tool for designers, web developers,
graphic artists, photographers, and
creative professionals. It is widely used for
image editing, retouching, and adding effects. Digital or scanned images can be
edited for use online or in-print. Adobe Photoshop is crucial for magazine
production because it provides the industry standard tools to edit and
manipulate images, allowing designers to enhance photographs, correct
imperfections, resize, crop, and create visually appealing layouts, ensuring that
every image in a magazine looks its best and aligns with the publication's
aesthetic, which is especially important for cover design and impactful visuals
throughout the magazine. Adobe Photoshop is only available through a Creative
Cloud subscription, which can be paid for monthly or annually. Adobe
automatically renews subscriptions each month until canceled. There is a link
below taking you directly to their website displaying all of their payment plans.
One of the most bought subscriptions from Adobe Photoshop is this one; Get
Photoshop for free for 7 days, then £9.98/mo £21.98/mo incl. VAT.
https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshop/plans.html
Desktop Publishing Software
QuarkXPress is a desktop publishing service that allows
users to create and edit page layouts, images and
illustrations. It is most commonly used for print and
digital design, and is much help to creating websites and
interactive experiences. It runs on macOS and Windows.
It was first released by Quark, Inc. in 1987 and is still
owned and published by them. Quark is very essential
when producing a magazine because it offers a range of
features that make it ideal for print and digital design.
Quark has many pricing options, as it is a subscription
based company. Ranging from an annual subscription being £279 yet also
offering a perpetual license usually costing £699 reduced to £594. Below you will
find a link taking you straight to Quark payment plans.
https://www.quark.com/shop?
utm_source=mainmenu&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=qxp_buy
Magazine Production Process
Pre-Production - Content
During pre-production, the editorial team meets so that they can share ideas,
plan the content of the magazine and make decisions about content for that
issue. Now, the writers will be assigned their own articles and decisions are
made about who's making what. The writers will then need to conduct any
necessary research into their assigned topics and subjects for the article. This is
an essential stage as it is where decisions are made and also roles and articles
are allocated and established.
↓
Pre Production - Flat Planning
At this stage , the editorial team creates a flat plan. A flat plan is essentially the
layout of the magazine. It is a page by page plan of an issue of a magazine to help
construct the order of the magazines and also how the articles and adverts are
layed out. Having a flat plan in the process of developing a magazine is really
important as it allows the editorial team to easily adjust the order of articles if
that needs to happen. The flat plan helps to provide structure for the content in
the magazine, it also helps to plan the length of each article and also helps the
team know and identify what images are needed where. I would say another
reason why having a flat plan is important is because it helps ensure that the
next stages in the magazine are organised so everybody has an understanding of
expectations of the content displayed.
↓
Production
At this stage, the editorial team including the writers will plan out the articles
and conduct research. Here, the articles will be written and photoshoots will be
arranged and conducted. As Well as that, the team and writers will also identify
if there is any need for archived images and gain access to them if they are
needed.
↓
Production - Writing and Sub-editing
In this stage, the sub-editor checks through all of the articles which have been
written. There are a couple things being checked which are spelling and
grammar, and also whether or not the length of the article is okay. If the article
is too short, the sub-editor will ask the writer to add more to the article,
whereas if the article is too long, they will either ask the writer to remove some
content or they will just do it themselves. Here is where a desktop publishing
service- like Quark- will be used to layout the articles and all of the contents in
the magazine including images. The sub-editors may even use pre-made
templates that are in line with the magazine's house style. This stage of the
article is essential because this is the stage where the magazine pages are
constructed.
↓
Post Production - Checking Printers Roof
In this stage, this is where the final constructed pages are sent to the publishers
which then they create a final mock up to give to the editors for their final
approval.
↓
Post-Production - Completion and Distribution
At this stage, it starts when the editors have given their approval for the
magazine to be published. All final copies are printed and assembled which then
get sent to distribution companies which send to retailers and customers from
there.
Magazine Production Roles
Usually, magazines have a panel included stating each job role, whereas Take a
Break magazine doesn't. Instead, they include the writer's name in each article,
as shown down below.
Writers
name
Here is an example of the job role panel taken
from another magazine;
Magazine Job Roles
Subeditor: As a sub editor in a magazine, you will check the written text of
newspapers and magazines before they are published. Main things they are
looking out for include grammar, tone, style and spelling just to double check it
is all correct before being published. Another important thing the sub editors
check is making sure the content in the articles suits and is the right match for
their specific target audience.
Photographer: As a photographer in a magazine, you will capture images to
record news, current events happening right now and also lifestyle stories too.
One of their main aims is to capture the best images to tell the audience about
an event, tell a story or explain a story to support the printed words. The images
which they take then are reproduced in magazines.
Graphic designer: As a graphic designer in a magazine, you will create visual
concepts using computer software or by hand, to communicate ideas that not
only inspire but also inform and capture consumers and the audience. I would
say that they develop the overall layout and production design for magazines
too.
