its thanksgiving

how im spending my thanksgiving while my family and i are watching terrible/awesome films

little asian boy with a vulture on the moon...?

im trying to teach myself the interface of flash. bleh.

i dont want to do home work. looking forward to thanksgiving.

this is what i did instead.
im practicing to draw in photoshop using just the default brush.

after effects in 1993

i just came across this at aetuts and i had to post it.
this is the official after effect 1.1 showreel. the best of the best motion graphics in 93. its awesome!

i hope it leaves you inspired.

things THAT I REALLY LIKED THIS WEEK! VOL 6!

I'm feeling a little too burnt out right now to do real work. here we go!

VIDEO!

TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB - I CAN TALK - Directed by MEGAFORCE

this is a music video is, overall, nothing groundbreaking, no interesting story, and gets a bit tedious halfway through. but i cant help but be impressed by some of the craaararazy transitions that take place within the first 30 seconds of the film. i have always been a fan of visual tricks that can be pulled off in camera without any digital effects, and i think these are some of the coolest ive seen in awhile. i hope that final cut pro comes out with a preset exactly like these transitions one day. hah.

The Office of Eden - Directed by Terri Timely

i have been a big fan of terri timely studios ever since coming across synethesia over the summer. i think their videos are almost perfect marriage between high production commercial values and daring, subversive idiosyncrasy that you ususally dont see in higher end productions. all of their films and commercials have the look and sound of any professional commercial, only there is always a subtle undertone of wtf. this commercial is for an underwear clothing company (i guessing). and its just awesome. it looks beautiful and its kind of absurd. and its trying to sell you something. enjoy.

ANiMATION!

el empleo - by santiago Bou grasso

this animation has such a deliberate pacing, that most will probably feel is too slow, but i think the downplayed ending makes the pacing worth it, and even in some ways justifies it. its every action is so understated, leaving ridiculous images to speak for themselves between the long gaps in action. an extremely vivid and completely understood world, considering how little the animation is actually doing.

Git Gob - by Philip Enddolis

i think this animation was one of the more inspired things ive seen this week. hahaha. the characters are completely endearing and stupid. some how the animation is able to make you feel excited about one of the dumbest endings ever. whatever, i loved it.

a new reel!

so here it is.

(click on the link to view it in HD)

this is a compilation of the the stuff i've made while teaching myself photoshop, illustrator, after effects, etc since i first started this "makingg mediaaiaia" thing two and a half years ago. i feel so much has changed since then. its absurd.

when i first applied to transfer to emerson college, i didnt know the difference between film and video, i think one of my favorite movies was "that thing you do", and some of my best work at the time consisted of me and my friends recording ourselves running around topless in my basement at 3 in the morning pretending to do karate with our hair gelled straight up using the built in webcam on my laptop. i dont even know how i got into the film program. hah. i felt like it was a fluke and i was scared to death that in the end i would just fail miserably.

thats probably why i tried so dern hard.

i remember the first thing i ever did in after effects (haha what a lame thing to get sentimental about) was making a cut out purple crayon walk across the desk. a very simple maneuver, but it took me hours. when i showed the final video to my professor of my intro to media productions class he told me i should become an animator. i laughed at him.

and now i want to be an animator... sigh. not a great one yet, but i am so excited to learn.

i feel like its unfortunate that it took me until my last year to really get a grasp of what i want to do and what i want to learn, and now im graduating and going into the real world. but then i also realize that emerson college is notttt the place for an animator. i learned 90% of what i know about animation and software out of class on my own from the internet (i dont get out much) and then i look at other schools like gobelins and supinfocom and i cry.

but then i realize... i knew nothing at all about what i wanted to do before i came to this school. and even if i have a lot of issues with the administration, and the school no longer really fits my needs, it was a great ground for me to explore what was out there and meet other people i can geek out with... and i guess thats what college is for right? i guess i could always go to one of those awesome animations schools later (except they both conduct classes completely in french :[ ).

haah. im sorry, instead of just writing about my reel im getting all contemplative and junk. anyways, i dont even know if this is all i want to do. i mean i love doing this and its a ton of fun. but i also want to play music. and write childrens stories. and dabble in live-action filmmaking (that is, afterall, technically what i am majoring in plllllttllttt). but ill stop now and write more of this stuff when i actually do graduate in the spring. see you theeennnn.

by the way, thank you for anyone who actually visits this thing on a regular basis. it means a lot to me. truly.

- dan kwan

swingers!

something daniel scheinert and i did when we were bored after work during the summer.

some might consider it genius.

where have i been?

hey friends!

sorry its been a little bit since ive posted. ive been busy trying to finish a bunch of projects for emerson channel, and class and what not. but more importantly, ive been trying to work on my reel before i begin applying for internships in LA.... exciting, ya?

for my reel I really wanted to work on a short intro that would be fun and show off my style or whatever you want to call it. honestly... i am more proud of this intro than anything else ive ever done hahhahah. so maybe this is a bad idea because itll just make the rest of my reel look lame.

but seriously, i will be posting the reel up soon, hope you like it.

for now, i will leave you with some screen grabs while i wait for this sucker to render.