Matthew McMillan Fact Sheet Unit 1

Production Process

The production process is the stages/elements for the production of a media product.
In the process there are key stages which are:

● Pre Production - This is the planning and research stage of the making of the
product
● Production - This is where we gather the materials and begin creating the
product.
● Post Production - This final stage of the production process is where we finish
off the product and begin to edit and structure the product we are making.

Magazine Production Equipment and Software

DSLR Camera
A DSLR camera stands for Digital Single-Lens Reflex
camera and it is a high quality camera that is versatile
and offers professional quality photographs. The DSLR
camera enables the user to use different settings for
the photographs, it allows the user to easily upload
images onto the computer so that they can be edited
and it also provides high quality photographs which
capture everything in shot. The DSLR camera is
needed for magazine production because the
companies such as Bauer and Immediate Media company need to be able to use
high quality photos for their magazine so that the audience can see them and also
they need an efficient way to get these photos from their camera to the computer.

You can get the DSLR cameras from places like Currys and they will cost you
£348.00 to get one of these high quality cameras.

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Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a software on the computer that can
manipulate any image. Adobe Photoshop allows the user to
edit an image using filters and effects and it also allows you
to resize and rotate images any way you would like. You
could also add a text to the image that you are using and
also add other images to that image. This is needed for
magazine production because it allows people to edit things
for the front cover and the double page spreads of
magazines as there would need to be Photoshop used in
order to get stuff like the text to appear on the magazine.

You can buy Adobe Photoshop from the Adobe website and it will cost you £238.42
to be able to use it for up to 12 months.

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Desktop Publishing Software

The Desktop Publishing Software is a software that
people use to edit and format their text and also put them
into columns. Desktop Publishing software enables the
user to format their writing and also allows them to put it
into columns efficiently. Magazine production would use
the software as they would need it for the magazine
pages so that they format it correctly and use a column
layout in the magazine. It is also used for articles of a
magazine and also for interviews.

You can buy a Desktop Publishing Software such as QuarkXpress on the Quark
website and it will cost you £474 pounds for one user for a lifetime.

https://www.quark.com/

Magazine Production Process

Pre-Production- Content
This pre production stage is essential for the editorial team and also the writers
because the roles and articles are assigned to people for the content of the
magazine and also this is how the decisions of the content are made. It is
important to a magazine company that the editorial team come together so they
can discuss ideas for the issue and also they will discuss what will be on the
contents. It is important that the writers know what is in the magazine so they can
research and know what they are writing about.

Pre-Production- Flat Planning

The flat planning stage to a production process is important as it gives the
magazine company an idea of what images would be used or what order the
content will be structured.The flat layout of a magazine is the layout of the whole
magazine in a flat form. Having a flat plan will enable the editors to see the overall
layout of the magazine, make sure that it is easy to move around and make
changes to it, give an idea of the positioning and structure of the content, identify
the required length of the articles and it also establishes what photos are required
for the magazine. The flat formatting stage of the production is important as
without this stage it would impact the next stages of the process in terms of the
organisation and how easily it would run.

Pre-Production- Research and Planning

The research and planning stage of the production process gives the production
team and the writers a chance to plan their articles that will go on the magazine
and allows them to conduct any necessary research. If interviews or photographs
are needed for the pages of the magazine then the production team or writers will
have to arrange for that to happen. The research and planning is an important
stage as if this was incomplete then the other stages would not run as smoothly.

Production- Writing and Sub-editing

The writing and sub-editing stage of the production process makes sure that all the
articles for the magazine issue are written and then they get sent off to the
sub-editor where they will check that the spelling is correct, the grammer is correct
and that the length of the article is suitable for the magazine. If the sub-editor
thinks that the article is too short then they will ask if the writer will go back and
make it longer but if it's too long then they will ask if the writer can cut it down or
the sub-editor may do it themselves. Before finishing the articles, photos will be
taken and the sub-editor will need to identify if they need an archive image or not
because if they do the magazine company would have to get consent to use that
image. The layout staff would use a desktop publisher to layout the articles and
implement all the content for these articles. They may also use pre-made
templates that are in line with that house style.

Post-Production- Checking Printers’ Proof

This stage of the production process is where the magazine is sent off to the
printing team and then they will make a prototype of the magazine so that the
editors can do a final check before they get sent off.

Post-Production- Completion and Distribution

This stage of the production process is where once the editors have given
approval for the magazine then the copies are made and then they are sent to the
distribution companies so that they can be sold.

Magazine Production Roles

Magazine Job Roles

Photography Director
The photography director is someone who controls everything that will affect what the
camera will be able to capture and they are also at the heart of the photographic production.
For example: the lighting, filters and camera movement. The photography director is the
head of the camera and lighting crews that are on set that day and they also select what
cameras that will be used, what lenses will be used for the photograph and what filters would
be used in the photoshoot.

Sub-Editor
The sub-editor of a magazine company is someone who is needed to write, rewrite, edit and
proofread the magazine issues that are going to be released so that they are all in line and
do not cause harm to anybody. Their job is also to make sure the house style is correct to
the magazine and also is responsible for writing headlines, picture captions and story
summaries.

Photographer
A photographer of a magazine company is someone who is needed to take photographs to
record news, current events and lifestyle stories. The photographer is also responsible for
writing the picture captions and is also responsible for editing anything that needs to be done
for the photograph before it is used in a magazine.