Production Plan

Bethany Vaughan 4137


Production Plan

Monday: Research production process for ‘KERRANG’

Date of publication – the first thing to do is to set up a date of publication. The date of publication is simply the date that you want the magazine to be released as a finished product to the general public. Once this date has been established, you are now operating with a schedule. A schedule is your plan on how you are going to go about the production process and when each of the process will occur.

Managing the schedule – this is an extremely important step that you should not take for granted when it comes to the production of a magazine. If you want your magazine to be produced successfully then you must properly manage the schedule. Your schedule should be made in such a way that there are provisions for certain mishaps so that even when these mishaps occur, you can always meet the deadline. This is the reason why a proper management of the schedule is very vital.

Editorial and budgetary decision – the next step that is taken during the production process of a magazine is the editorial decision. The editorial decisions involve the magazine’s editorial team assembling and deciding what topics will be covered in the next issue of the magazine. Here, the editorial team basically talks about the various contents that will make up the magazine. After deciding which types of article ideas or topics, news stories, illustrations and photographs will be used in the magazine, the team now makes the budgetary decisions. Here,

Week beginning: Monday 10th November 2014 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Researching the production process for ‘KERRANG’

Researching how long it takes to release ‘KERRANG’

Researching the Editor and the job roles at the magazine.

Researching what the production company does in order to publish the magazine and the costs involved.

Researching key people involved in the production process

Statistics about the magazine in terms of circulation figures and frequency of the magazine.

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they look at the money that is available to them and how it will be spent towards the production of the magazine. Having done this, it is now time to move on to the next stage.

Content Acquisition – the content acquisition process is arguably the most important step because without content we simply cannot have the magazine in the first place. Content therefore is king. There are two major ways that content can be gathered for a magazine. The first is through in-house staff writers and the second way is through external writers that are commissioned to write on topics that are specialist in nature. It is at this stage that artwork and graphics are also worked on. The artwork is defined as illustrations and pictures that are going to be placed in the magazine. Graphics are the pictures or images that are designed with a computer program.

At this stage too, a lot of research is made by journalists or reporters into the topics and events being covered. The research can be done via the use of the internet and news databases. Meetings are also arranged with interviewees.

Sub-editing – this is the next step to be taken. Sub editing focuses on one major thing, which is quality control. If the media organization is big enough to have a sub-editor, then he is going to be responsible for this job; if there is no sub-editor, then the editor does this job. This step involves the following important things:

Checking of the accuracy of all facts in the articles Making sure that words are properly spelled Making sure that grammar and punctuation are used correctly Making sure that all articles follow the house-style Working on the page layout…..

Page Layout – in big publications, there is a special team responsible for page layouts called the layout staff. Their job is to typeset and layout the various pages that come together to make the magazine. In performing this task, they use very powerful Desktop Publishing (DTP) programs such as InDesign or Pagemaker to get the job done. It is at this stage that adverts from advertisers are placed into the content.

Proofreading – once the above stage has been completed, the next stage is the proofreading. The editorial department will print out a hardcopy of the magazine for the sole purpose of reading through to find and correct any mistakes in it. It is easier to proofread a hardcopy than it is to proofread a softcopy. Any mistake that is spotted is quickly corrected on the DTP file. The editorial team keeps proofreading until every member is satisfied that all mistakes have been corrected.

File emailed to printer – After the proofreading stage, the DTP file of the entire magazine is sent to the printer whose job will be to print the magazine. It is at this point the popular term ‘pre-press’ comes in. Pre-press is defined as the process of checking to make sure that you are sending all the fonts and images needed for the magazine with your file. Once this stage is over, the printing company takes over. But before the printing company prints the hundreds or thousands of copies requested by the publication, the company first prints a few copies and sends them to the publication’s editor for checking once again. This is called the printer’s proofs. If the editor and his team are satisfied with the printer’s proofs, then the green light is given to the printer for mass printing to commence. Each copy the printer prints is the final finished product – the magazine that readers are going to have in their hands to read.



Distribution – this is the last stage of the entire process. The printing company, having finished with the printing of the magazines will package them neatly and send them to a warehouse. From the warehouse, the magazines are then distributed and then sold to the public.

From: http://hosbeg.com/the-magazine-production-process/ Tuesday: Researching how long it takes to release ‘KERRANG’ ‘KERRANG’ is released on a weekly basis, therefore therefore they produce their magazine very early in advance so that they have enough time to produce it. Producing a weekly magazine means that the producers have to guess what will be popular on the date of release to appeal to their audience. Wednesday: Researching the Editor A magazine features editor is responsible for the content and quality of their publication and ensures that stories are engaging and informative. Most opportunities are in large publishing companies that produce a wide range of titles. These include weekly and monthly consumer or lifestyle titles, which are commonly referred to as 'glossy' magazines. However, features editors are also employed by trade magazines, specialist publishers, online media and in-house magazines. Magazine features editors do not always need specialist knowledge of the subject they cover, unless the content is highly technical, although an interest in the subject is usually expected. Typical work activities The role will vary according to the size of the publication and the nature of its content, but responsibilities will typically include:

overseeing the layout, appearance and content of feature articles;

generating ideas for features with writing staff;

commissioning articles from freelance and in-house writers;

managing writing staff and freelance feature writers;

editing and re-writing articles, some of which may be rejected or returned to the writer for

revision;

overseeing artwork, design and photography for the features section of the magazine;

attending photo shoots;

organising meetings with writers and artists to discuss ideas for artwork, layout and

features;

negotiating payments with freelance writers;

understanding and complying with media law and industry ethical guidelines;

selecting feature articles for each issue;

sending out briefs to writers, which can include word count, deadline, fee and writing style;

proofreading all pages before going to press;

raising the profile of the magazine;

networking with others at industry events;

Assisting other staff to meet their deadlines.

From: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/magazine_features_editor_job_description.htm

http://hosbeg.com/the-magazine-production-process/

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/magazine_features_editor_job_description.htm



Thursday: Researching what the production company does

Bauer media produces ‘KERRANG’. Bauer Media is an owned subsidiary of Bauer Media

Group; it is a multi-platform UK-based media Group which offers over 300 magazine brands over 15 countries as well as online TV and Radio stations engaging over 19 million

consumers every week. Bauer media produces print and digital media for multiple target audiences including men,

women and teenagers. Their women’s portfolio comprises of interests such as celebrities, fashion ,and lifestyle including brands such as Heat, Closer and GRAZIA. They also produce

men’s lifestyle magazines for example FHM and Zoo. Bauer Media’s magazine portfolio also includes a 35 magazine portfolio of specialist magazines including Golf World, MATCH! ,and Car. Bauer Media produces the world’s biggest selling weekly and monthly music magazines 1953 launch of Angling Times (the first magazine produced by Bauer Media in the UK) 1956 acquisition of Motor Cycle News 1958 Heinz Heinrich Bauer joins the family business. The company expands, taking its first major step towards the fashion segment by acquiring Neuer Schnitt, Elsa Moden and Wäsche from Schwabe. 1994 The company bought a small magazine called For Him Magazine which is now the core of the best-selling international multi-platform brand FHM.

2001 Bauer Media KG is available online. 2002 Closer was launched.

2005 Britain’s first weekly glossy, GRAZIA launched 2008 Bauer Media joined the Bauer Media Group following acquisition of Emap plc’s

consumer and specialist magazines, radio, TV, online and digital businesses. Collectively, the Group employs some 6,400 people.

Friday: Researching key people involved in the production process Journalist: Magazine journalists research and write news articles and features for a wide variety of publications, usually periodicals, including: • consumer titles which cover both general interest and specialist areas; • customer magazines from shops, supermarkets, etc; • trade publications, also know as business-to-business (B2B) magazines. Magazine journalism can cover a range of disciplines, such as writing, interviewing, sub-editing, and designing. Increasingly, magazines are also being produced for other media, especially the web. Knowledge of the concise writing style needed for the internet and search engine optimisation are very useful skills. There are thousands of magazine titles in the UK and, while there are plenty of opportunities, competition can be fierce when trying to get a job. Typical work activities The nature of a journalist's work varies considerably depending on the size of the employing organisation and the subject matter covered by the publication. It may also be affected by the medium through which the magazine is produced. Typical responsibilities can include: • researching a subject and story; • writing and editing news stories and features in the publication's house style;



• ensuring work is well written, accurate and submitted to deadline; • conducting interviews, either in person or remotely; • attending seminars, conferences and fairs (some magazine publishers hold exhibitions and

events to allow advertisers to meet their readership); • generating ideas for stories; • sourcing images to accompany written pieces; • meeting with colleagues to plan the content of the issue and the character of the publication Production Manager A production manager is involved with the planning, coordination and control of manufacturing processes. They ensure that goods and services are produced efficiently and that the correct amount is produced at the right cost and level of quality. The scope of the job depends on the nature of the production system: • jobbing; • mass; • process; • batch production. Many companies are involved in several types of production, adding to the complexity of the job. Most production managers are responsible for both human and material resources. The job role is also referred to as operations manager. Typical work activities The exact nature of the work will depend on the size of the employing organisation. However, tasks typically involve: • overseeing the production process, drawing up a production schedule; • ensuring that the production is cost effective; • making sure that products are produced on time and are of good quality; • working out the human and material resources needed; • drafting a timescale for the job; • estimating costs and setting the quality standards; • monitoring the production processes and adjusting schedules as needed; • being responsible for the selection and maintenance of equipment; • monitoring product standards and implementing quality-control programs; • liaising among different departments, e.g. suppliers, managers; • working with managers to implement the company's policies and goals; • ensuring that health and safety guidelines are followed; • supervising and motivating a team of workers; • reviewing worker performance; • identifying training needs. Saturday: Statistics about the magazine

Title Total Male Female 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ ABC 1

KERRANG! 345000 54.7% 45.3% 56.1% 21.5% 13.4% 7.1% 1.8% 0.1% 51%

Date of Publication

Saturday 6TH December, by releasing this on a Saturday it allows people to buy it on the

weekend of release as they are more likely to be free especially considering the young target

audience as they are likely to be free on the weekend. Furthermore by releasing it on the first

Saturday of the month it means that the magazine can update the audience on the previous



month in music. It also means that the next issue is release mid-month and these issue could be

less of an update and more informative. From this publication date I have devised a schedule to

follows.

Week beginning: Monday 10th November 2014 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Decide the content of the magazine including any photos that need to be taken.

Acquire the content needed by taking pictures, getting interviews etc.

Acquire the content needed by taking pictures, getting interviews etc.

Sub editing Page layout.

Proof reading and sending to the printer.

Distribution

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Production Plan

Education

Transcript of Production Plan