Jared Zook– Production Assistant

When I was invited to join the FiveCore team, I was ecstatic. Not only would I get plenty of experience working for a professional video production company, I’d also get to work some pretty cool people. So far, my time at FiveCore has lived up to my excitement. Within my first month here, I began work on an animated video for the Informatics Department here at Goshen College.

My co-worker Daniel Penner took the lead in this project. Penner organized the script and screenplay, while I worked with the motion graphics.Once we got the overall vision and details of the video hammered out, we began production. This video was unique in the way that no cameras, tripods or lights were needed. The Informatics video was 100% original design and animation, so all of the work was done from the computer.

We wanted to go for a quirky, fun, yet informative video. We decided to introduce three current informatics students, Philip, Caleb, and Ezra, and show what each of them were doing in informatics and how they were getting involved on campus. To keep the mood light and friendly, we made sure to throw in some funny moments throughout the video. That was probably the most enjoyable part for me; Penner and I had a blast throwing in some comical elements.

We used Adobe Illustrator to create graphics and Adobe After Effects to animate everything.  After a week or two of work, we were ready to add music, sound effects, and the voice over. Rather than using prerecorded sound effects, we ended up recording our own! Daniel provided nearly all the swishes, scrolls and pops that you’ll hear. We also used his voice for the main voice over.

In the end, my first project was a great way for me to get started here at FiveCore Media. I learned a lot in the process and I’m very proud of the work we accomplished.