Production
The production will be an international students’ guide for living in the United Kingdom. It will consist of three media products that include a magazine, CD, and online blog. Newly-arriving learners will find practical information about living in the UK. This information will be delivered in their native language so as to address language barriers. They will read about accommodation, travel/ transport information, medical treatment, visa extension, British food experiences, Home office updates, weather changes, shopping locations, British social life, financial management, and several other aspects of daily life (Pearson 2011). Those who intend to support themselves financially will also find job-seeking information and details about the legal hours of work (The British Council 1999). If readers have more questions, they will find the editors’ contact information in the magazine. They can use the email address to send their inquiries.
Aside from the magazine, the information will also be available online through a blog. It will highlight some of the content in the magazine and will also address some of the queries that readers have. This platform will also allow students to post problems that can be viewed by a large audience. For instance, if a person needs to get back to their home country and needs someone to look after their pet, then they can post the information on the blog. Speedy responses and follow-throughs are some of the advantages of this platform. Finally, the production will also consist of a CD that will be attached to the magazine. It will contain tips on living in the UK from older, more experienced students. The product will be like a mini-documentary about their experiences and will also show the audience how their fellow countrymen live.
Justification for the production
As an international student, and after conducting random interviews, it was evident that this category of learners requires such a service. Many of them have language difficulties because English is not their first language. Sometimes, their accents may obscure the meaning of their statements, or the same may be true about UK natives (Brown 2007). Therefore, these students may refrain from going out, asking questions, or looking for things. It will be helpful to have a magazine that can facilitate their transition in the country. Culture shock is a common problem among new international students even when they can speak English fluently (Ward et al. 2001). The food, style of living, and environment may be strange and overwhelming (Equality Challenge Unit 2013). Persons from conservative cultures may feel lost in liberal societies like Britain. Furthermore, some of them may not have relatives or other contacts that can furnish them with day to day information about student life in the country.
This magazine, blog, and CD will be tackling a genuine orientation issue in a new market. There is a gap in the market as international students do not have magazines that target them. Currently, one can only find closely-related information from the internet. Most of the information stems from UK universities themselves (University of Oxford 2013). Regrettably, international students may have difficulties understanding or relating to them. Furthermore, they require a perspective from someone who has been in their shoes.
The magazine was selected as the primary media outlet because it is highly portable and accessible. International students will also find it quite useful because magazines are easier to read than online versions. They will simply need to flip through to areas that will be helpful to them. It will be a handbook that can be carried anywhere, shown to friends, or even used as an informal map. Conversely, the blog will be part of the project portfolio because it allows frequent updates.
Information travels fast on the internet; consequently, students who require immediate responses to their problems will find this outlet invaluable. Perhaps the most crucial advantage of this platform is its ability to facilitate one on one communication between different members of the international community. It takes one month to circulate a magazine; however, the blog will be available to readers twenty-four hours a day (Webster 2011). Finally, the CD will add a personal touch to the service. The video in the CD will stimulate the minds of the students and cause them to see why the magazine is relevant to their lives.
A group of people will work on these media products. The magazine will require writers, photographers, and graphic designers. The blog and CD will require video editors, web designers, and writers, as well. They will work together to synchronise content, update and exchange information. At first, the magazine will start with international students from within the city. They will serve as the pilot that will fund further expansion of the handbook nationwide. Persons who sell newspapers and magazines in the city will sell the product. However, when the magazine is rolled out nationwide, then the editor will try to secure deals with supermarket and drug store owners such that the magazine can be visible. It is relatively inexpensive to start with individuals in the city than to try and expand throughout the entire country. Furthermore, fewer copies will be required in the city than nationwide.
Evaluation of existing media texts
As stated earlier, the media texts that met a similar need are university websites and online articles on the same. These websites can be analysed under three stages: audience, production and text. The audience of the websites are individuals who either plan on attending or those who belong to the particular UK institutions. Communication theory teaches that audiences have the capacity to create their own meaning with texts. These interpretations do not always echo the author’s intentions. For the case of the university websites, most of the targets may be subjected to the biases of the authors; therefore, messages put in those platforms do not mirror their reality. Furthermore, a number of them may simply interpret the online columns as yet another university requirement, which lacks the personal touch.
Production in media text analysis entails the ownership, legal, technical and technological issues needed to create the text (McKee 2003). Most of the production processes for such university websites are centred on online design and authorship. The products do not have direct commercial value because they are only used to ease student transition into the institution (Smith 2006). This reduces the incentive to work on the content of the websites, and will be an advantage for this proposed project. Finally, media texts also have texts. The product under analysis is the text, and it often elicits its own responses from people concerned. Online websites differ from magazines or other printable media because they are not portable. Furthermore, it is non interactive and somewhat impersonal. These are all aspects that will be incorporated into the proposed media production.
Production stages and funding
The production stage will involve creation of a media blog in which the magazine will be published and potential audiences identified. A small proportion of the production team will be responsible for those aspects. It will give them an opportunity to know how to manage content, and will also create a list of subscribers to the magazine.
Creation of product content for the magazine will be the next aspect of production. This will occur after agreeing on the production schedule. The proposed production schedule is on a bi-monthly basis. If the product expands to the rest of the nation, then a monthly schedule may be plausible. At the beginning of the production, it may be unlikely to find fully committed writers for the magazine. Therefore, the magazine will negotiate with some freelance writers on submitting articles to them in exchange for free advertisement on the magazine. However, as the magazine begins to generate its own revenue, then writers will be paid for their content. The pictures in the magazine will be a critical aspect of production. In order to have them done professionally, the magazine team will consist of a photographer. This person will keep in mind the quality of images that are needed to make a magazine product (Whittaker 2008).
The next component is the graphic layout of the magazine. This will involve blending aspects of images and text together. Technology will be a significant factor in this area as computer software is imperative in managing a magazine layout. The graphic designer will work alongside the editor of the magazine in order to determine the best areas to place pictures, stories, interviews or even advertisements. He will decide on the colour scheme as well as the overall feel of the product.
After working on the layout of the magazine and its content, then the editor will need to work out a plan on distribution. There will already be an online blog in which some visitors may express interest in reading the magazine. Therefore, these individuals will subscribe to the magazine. However, the best distribution channel will be newspaper and magazine sellers. The editor will liaise with several magazine vendors in the city to sell the magazine. They will get a small percentage of sales per magazine sold.
Once direct sales have been made, then the product will need to be printed. In the city, several professional printers can do the job well. The editor will select the most competitively – priced but proficient printer. At the beginning of production, only a small proportion of magazines will be printed. However, the revenue that streams from the first magazine will then be invested back in the magazine in order to increase the number of copies (Whittaker 2008).
Aside from production of the magazine, a small aspect of the production processes will also be dedicated to the creation of a CD. This part will be carried out by video editors and a video photographer. Subjects will come from a range of universities in the UK, and they will talk about their experiences. All editing will be done by the video editor who must liaise with the magazine editor, as well.
Funding will mostly emanate from paid advertisements. The locations and facilities that will be shown on the magazine will pay a small commission for being featured on the paper. Initially, this may not receive a lot of enthusiasm from the targeted companies. Therefore, in order to win their support, it will be essential to bring them one copy of a completed magazine, with their business in it. The practical aspect is likely to change their minds. Paid subscriptions will also facilitate the production process as customers will pay upfront before they receive the money. Income from the online blog will be critical in provision of revenue for the initial production stages.
My role in the project
I will be responsible for the graphical layout of the magazine. This area will involve a lot of technical and theoretical components of media production. First, the graphic designer must convey his expectations to the photographer on the quality of the image he expects and the size that the image should be conveyed. If the image comes in the right format, then publication will be much easier. I plan on doing this by providing the photographer with a document on good and bad imaging. I will go through the document with the professional personally (Whittaker 2008).
Using the software that will be available in the computers, the images will then go into print where the colour scheme and other aspects of the layout will be worked on. After producing the images as desired, then the page layouts and well as the text place will need to be altered. These are areas that will be improved on by the rest of the production team. Layouts that match with photographs will be appropriate and proper balancing of texts and images will also be critical. This role will require a lot of creativity and knowledge of audience expectations of magazines. It will also involve team work and plenty of research on how to do graphic layouts.
References
Brown, L 2007, A consideration of the challenges involved in supervising international masters students. Web.
Equality Challenge Unit 2013, Joining up agendas: internationalisation and equality and diversity in Higher Education. Web.
McKee, A 2003, Textual analysis, Sage, New York.
Pearson, K 2011, ‘Enhancing the international advisory service at the University of Edinburgh’, Enhancing Learner Experience in Higher Education, vol. 3 no. 1, pp. 85-94.
Smith, A 2006, ‘Improve student experience, Rammell warns’, The Guardian, p. 7.
The British Council 1999, Studying and living in the UK: A guide for international students and visitors, The British Council, Plymouth.
University of Oxford 2013, Before you arrive. Web.
Ward, C, Bochner, S & Furnham, A 2001, The psychology of culture shock, Routlege, Hove.
Webster, S 2011, ‘Improving the provision of pre-arrival information and support to international students via the use of online resources’, Enhancing Learner Experience in Higher Education, vol. 3 no. 1, pp. 5-19.
Whittaker, J 2008, Magazine production (media skills), Routledge, London.