Unit 1 FACT SHEET Peter Allen
Production Process
The production process refers to the process/stages that go into making a media product. There
are three key stages these are:
- Pre-production, this refers to the planning stage of the product where ideas are formed
and plans are drawn up.
- Production, the production stage is where the production of materials for the product
takes places the ideas come together to form the product and construction is underway
- Post-production, after the completion of the initial product comes the trial and error
phase essential 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 DSLR Camera stands for Digital single-lens reflex camera. It is a type of digital camera that
combines the mechanics of film cameras with digital
photography. DSLR’s are popular with professional and amateur
photographers alike due to their image quality, versatility and
autofocus capabilities. What distinguishes DSLR cameras from
ordinary point and shoot cameras is their great number of
lenses, which allows more options available for your shots, like
customizable depth of field, adjusting shutter speed, or wide-
angles. It also has great adaptability as the photos can be
transferred directly to the computer, this is perfect for
photography enthusiasts and professional photographers that
need their photos for work.
It is needed simply for images as without a camera no images
can be used.
A DSLR Camera is worth about, on an average, of £560 with highest prices reaching over £6000
https://store.canon.co.uk/dslr-cameras/ This is where you can purchase this camera.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is an image manipulation software that allows the user tk and illustrations to
the user's preference. It is used by professionals and amateurs alike and is considered the
industry standard for image editing. It is normally used by
photographers and creative professionals in order to edit
points on images making them ready for their media
products. It is necessary for the development of a media
product as a rough idea normally needs editing and this
software allows for more freedom in that area.
These days adobe photoshop is sold in a subscription
along with other adobe products. This normally sells for
£64.95 a month or if you want the software by itself it
only costs £27.99 a month.
You can purchase this product using the link below
https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/business-
plans.html?plan=team step=2
Desktop Publishing Software - QuarkXpress
QuarkXpress is essentially the same as photoshop but
instead of images it is used for written work.
QuarkXpress is a publishing software that allows users
to create and edit documents to their liking. The
programme QuarkXpress has many features for
example it can file formats supporting direct PDF
output and file formats and it also has a quick access
side tab, this allows for better manoeuvrability and
overall efficiency for any editing task.this is perfect for
editing a product as most media products
conventionally have written phrases or expression
which appeal to the audience.
QuarkXpress works on a subscription similar to photoshop. You can choose five different pay
plans each with different values but the standard plan costs £279 the first year and the following
years will then cost you £259. There is also the perpetual deal which includes one year of
software and maintenance support, this costs £699 normally and will renew itself each year at a
price of £339.
You can purchase this deal in the link below
https://www.quark.com/shop
Magazine Production Process
Pre-Production - Content
During the stage of pre-production the editorial team will meet and begin to
share ideas and plan the content for the upcoming issue of the magazine. They
will also make a decision on what makes the cut.
Next the writers will be assigned by the chief editor to different articles and
they decide who writes what. Then necessary planning and research will go
into the subject matter. Finally, this stage is essential as it is where the
preliminary decisions are made and roles and articles are allocated to different
writers.
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Pre-Production - Flat Planning
Now in this stage the editorial team come together to create what is called a
“Flat Plan”. A flat plan is a page-by-page plan of an issue of a magazine
This plan helps construct order on how to layout articles. This essential format
allows the editorial team to easily adjust the order, structure of content, help to
plan the length of the article and allows to identify what images are needed.
This scheme is essential as it gives everyone an understanding of what needs
to be done for the upcoming issue, as well as having everything organised to
maximise efficiency.
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Production
During this process the teams including the writers will conduct extensive
research and necessary planning for their articles. These articles will initially
be written. The first photo shoots will begin by being arranged and then later
conducted and the teams will identify if there is any need for archive images
and if they are then they will arrange access to them.
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Production - Writing and sub-editing
In this stage of production the sub-editor will take a look at each written article
one by one, he will then look for mistakes in spelling, grammar and length. If
the length is too short he will ask the writer to do more. If it is too long then he
will either ask the writer to shorten it or the sub-editor will do it himself. This
is also where the desktop publishing software Quark comes into play as it
helps to layout all of the contents of articles including images. This stage is
essential to the process as it is this stage where magazine pages are
constructed.
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Post Production - checking and printers proof
It is in this stage where the final pieces of the magazine come together and sent
out to print from there they are then sent on to the publishers, the publishers
will provide a mark up and then sent on to be given final approval by the
editors.
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Post-Production - completion and distribution
Once the editors have given their final approval for the magazine to be
published. The final copies are then sent to be printed and assembled. They are
then to be distributed to all different companies.
Magazine Production Roles
Here is the production role panel from classic rock magazine
Magazine Job Roles
Sub-editor
Sub-Editors are conventionally journalists or designers responsible for the overseeing of all of
the content that goes into the magazine. This ranges from articles and stories to content layout
and image design of the magazine. It is their job to ensure that all of the standards of the
magazine are met and editing that which does not comply with what is needed be that spelling
mistakes, grammatical errors, length and overall accuracy of the article.
Head of design
The Head of Design, also known as a Chief Design Officer (CDO) is a senior executive for the
magazine; they will often supervise a specific section of the magazine design process or
sometimes the whole magazine. They manage the company's creative vision and direction of
products and services. Their responsibilities include client communication, budget management
and innovation.
Writer
The writer's job is to write an article on whatever the heads of office ask them to, as well as
making their content interesting and engrossing to the audience. They conduct research in order
to gather ideas for the article and then plan on what they are going to write about. Some writers
may cooperate with others to create a joint project all the while they fact check and edit so that
their work is the best it can be.
