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