The Specs: When EarthLink released a new version of its toolbar in 2005, they asked Video Professor to create a lesson on how to use the spamBlocker feature. The lesson needed to play as a Flash movie on the Earthlink website. This was a departure from all previous Video Professor Lessons which were built in Adobe Director and played from CD-ROM or from the Video Professor website. From a pool of 12 people in the Video Professor Production Department, I was chosen to develop this new lesson and manage all aspects of it's creation.
The Solution: Create a stand-alone Video Professor lesson on Earthlink's spamBlocker feature including custom graphics and sound.
Work with script writers to develop a script based on the Video Professor lesson on Using the Internet with Earthlink
Oversee voice-over recording
Build a spamBlocker tutorial using screens from the Earthlink Toolbar as it appears in Internet Explorer
Create custom graphics using the Earthlink branded colors
Edit the entire project in Flash and output a Flash SWF file
Technical Notes:
The software simulation was built and edited entirely in Adobe Flash.
The human figures are modeled in Smith Micro Poser.
The images are composited using Adobe Photoshop and each element exported as a separate graphic file.
Chip Hopkins, Production Manager at Video Professor, says
"Joe Schultz has worked directly for me for the last eight years. He is self-motivated to do any task needed to get the job done on time. He’s detailed oriented, professional, a team player, very creative, punctual, even-tempered, and courteous. Joe is very knowledgeable in all the software programs he uses and in all the processes needed to get projects done. I can’t say enough good about him. As Art Director, he managed all the graphic artists in the Production Department who were often doing several projects at the same time. He did a great job. Any company lucky enough to add him to their team will be happy they did."