UNIT1 FACT SHEET ALFIE DEAN
Production Process
Production Process refers to the process and the stages in the marketing of a media
product.
There are three key stages in production process and they are:
● Pre-production- Pre-Production is the planning stage for your product.
● Production- The production is the part where you produce the materials needed.
● Post production- This is where you do the editing part of the product and make any
finishing touches.
Magazine Production, Equipment and software
There are a few things that you need to produce a magazine which are:
● DSLR Camera.
● Photoshop.
● Desktop publishing software. E.g. In Design,
Quark.
● Computer.
DSLR Camera
This is an EOS 4000D DSLR camera which is owned by
and produced by Canon. It is used to take a variety of
photographs and it is used for magazine production
because of its high quality images it produces with the use
of its settings available. Such as its shutter speed,
Aperture, and its ISO. This DSLR camera costs £369.99
and is found on this link:
[Link]
5-6-is-iii-lens-kit
It has:
● 18-megapixel APS-C format Canon CMOS sensor.
● DIGIC 4+ digital image processor. (14 bit image processing).
● Standard ISO range of 100-6400.
● 12 shooting modes.
● Built in WI-FI function.
● Built in feature guide.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a subscription service which helps you
to edit and manipulate images in a variety of ways like
changing the contrast of images, cropping down images to a
specific size or removing the background in the image, which
is why Adobe Photoshop is used in magazine production.
There are a variety of subscriptions that you can buy ranging
from £9.98 a month to £65.49 a month depending on which
subscription you are going to purchase.
[Link]
Desktop publishing software- QuarkXPress
QuarkXPress is a Desktop publishing and page layout
software which helps people to edit pieces of text you have
written and can change multiple things about it such as its
layout which is why it is used in magazine production. For
QuarkXPress, it has an annual subscription of £279 and also
a Perpetual License which costs £594.
[Link]
Magazine Production Process
Pre-Production - Content
In this stage of the production process, the editorial team come together and share ideas
which could be included in the issue of the magazine, they plan the content for the
magazine issue and make important decisions for the magazine as well. In this stage of
the production process, they establish what articles are going to be included in the
magazine issue and assign the articles to one of the fellow editors. The editors would need
to do necessary research into the subject of the article they got allocated to make sure it’s
the best it can possibly be. This stage of the production process is important and essential
because it is where decisions are made and where the magazine's articles are decided.
↓
Pre Production - Flat Planning
During this stage, the editorial team create what is known as a Flat Plan which is a page
by page layout of what the magazine is going to look like, it helps to construct the order of
the articles and the adverts that are going to be included within the magazine and also
helps to create the structure of where the adverts and articles are going to be positioned
on a specific page. This stage of the Production Process is important because it helps to
plan the length of the magazine and how long the magazine is actually going to be and it
also helps to make sure that all members of the editorial team has an understanding of
what the magazine should be like and is a way help the editorial team adjust the order of
the adverts and articles if they need to make necessary changes to it. Another way in
which this stage is important is because it also helps to identify what images are needed
for the magazine as well.
↓
Production
At this stage, the writing team starts to plan their allocated articles given to them and
research the necessary information required for said article and then they start to write the
articles as well once they have got all the information they need. They also plan and
conduct various photoshoots to create the images that are going to be included within the
magazine and also identify if they require any archived images. Iif they do, then they will
arrange access to the archived images and also ask permission if they are allowed to use
them.
↓
Production - Writing and Sub-editing
At this stage of the production process, the sub-editor will check the articles that were
written and will check if there are any mistakes within the articles, these mistakes can
range from spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and mi use of any capital letter. They will
also check the length of the articles and if the length is too short they will tell the writer who
wrote the article to make it longer and if the articles are too long they will tell the writer to
shorten iit or they will shorten it themselves. This is also the stage in the Production
Process where Desktop Publishing Softwares are used, an example of one is Quark and
this is used to layout the articles and the contents of the magazine which also includes the
images from the photoshoot and any archived images as well. The Sub- editor might also
use a pre-made template for the magazine that follows the House Style of the magazine.
This stage of the Production Process is essential because this is where the magazine is
constructed.
↓
Post Production - Checking Printers Proof
During this stage, the final magazine pages are sent to the publishers where they then
create a mock up of what the magazine is going to be like. They will then send that
magazine mock up to the editors where they will check for any small mistakes and would
give approval for the magazine to be made.
↓
Post Production - Completion and Distribution
At this final stage once the editors gave their approval, the final copies of the magazine
issue are printed and assembled and then they are finally distributed to a variety of shops.
Magazine production roles
This is the Production role panel from Total Film Magazine:
Magazine Job roles
Photographer
In magazine production the photographer is responsible for capturing photographs for the
magazine, they also have to edit the photos using different editing softwares e.g. Quark and
They have to make sure that the photographs that are being taken have to fit in with the
theme of the magazine. For example, if the magazine is about sport then the photographer
would have to take photographs that would fit in with the sports theme.
Writers
In magazine production, the writers are the people who write the articles for the magazine
and have to do in-depth research online to make sure the articles they are writing are
detailed and meet the expectations of the magazine company, they have the responsibility of
making sure that the articles within the magazine captivates and entertains the reader’s of
the magazine.
Editors
In magazine production, the editor is responsible for coming up with ideas for the content
that is going to be included within the magazine issue. They have to make sure that the
content within the magazine fits with the theme of what the magazine is about and also
editors have the responsibility of checking for any mistakes the writers might have
accidentally put in the articles.