Forge Press - Screen Section

https://issuu.com/forgepress / https://forgepress.org/

Prior to applying for an editorial position at Forge, I had a number of reviews published on Film, Theatre, and Live Music; and had taken a significant interest in Student Media which I wished to pursue further. My first year working on the paper was as Lifestyle Editor, a position I undertook to gain experience in regularly producing copy and working as part of the Newspaper Committee. The following year I made use of my prior experience alongside a longstanding interest in Cinema as Screen Editor.

For this I produced a double page spread every fortnight, alternating with my co-editor between organising the preview/review section and producing the feature for the issue.

I also spearheaded a recurring section centred on independent and art-house cinema. To achieve this, I built connections with Independent cinemas within Sheffield to negotiate press passes for regular showings as well as exclusive screenings and Q&As. For a demographic where word-of-mouth marketing is often crucial, I was able to use my skill of critical analysis allied to a growing understanding of writing style to present ideas in a succinct and engaging manner, backed with reasoned argument.

Despite different content specialisations for each section, my roles & responsibilities remained largely the same :

- Consistent and effective communication with section co-editors to generate engrossing ideas for content to distribute to contributors both online and through regular meetings, maintaining thematic and design consistency, and establishing deadlines.

- Retaining structural integrity and voice when copy editing contributor-submitted pieces, overseeing an original, polished and informative end-product in accordance with a style guide and media law.

- Regularly presenting ideas in fortnightly committee EGM meetings, effectively making decisions as a team and compiling ideas in an environment open to constructive critique, influence, and collaboration. Through feeding ideas of my own and developing the ideas of others, a strong editorial lead with section support was established.

- Using my working knowledge of the Adobe InDesign and the newspaper design at large from a technical, creative and accessible standpoint to aid in a successful redesign.

Issue 111 - UK & US Films Feature (Design) / Issue 112 - Stephen King Feature (Design)

Issue 114 - Death of Originality Feature (Design and Content) / Issue 115 - Review Section (Design)

Issue 118 - Review Section (Design) / Issue 119 - Video Game Film Adaptations Feature (Design and Content)

Issue 120 - Review Section (Design) / Issue 121 (Final Issue) - 'Afters' Feature (Content and Design)