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Captain Disillusion | ||||||||||
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Melikdjanian in character as Captain Disillusion at The Amazing Meeting in 2011 | ||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | Alan Melikdjanian April 13, 1980 | |||||||||
Occupation(s) | Independent filmmaker, YouTuber | |||||||||
YouTube information | ||||||||||
Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2007–present | |||||||||
Genre(s) | Visual effects, comedy, education | |||||||||
Subscribers | 2.51 million [1] | |||||||||
Total views | 266.78 million [1] | |||||||||
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Last updated: October 26, 2024 |
Alan Melikdjanian ( /ˌmɛlɪkˈdʒeɪniən/ ; [2] Russian : Алан Меликджанян; born April 13, 1980), known by the alias Captain Disillusion, is a Latvian-born American independent filmmaker and YouTuber. Melikdjanian has been active in the founding of video-sharing sites Openfilm and Filmnet.com, and is the creator of the webseries Captain Disillusion, which focuses on critical analysis of visual effects and video editing while promoting critical thinking and skepticism.
Melikdjanian was born to Soviet-era circus performer parents of Armenian and Russian descent. [3] His father, Vilen, was a well-known performer. Alan toured the Soviet Union with his parents until he was six years old, after which he lived with his grandmother while attending school. During the summer, he would resume touring with his parents. [4] In his youth, Melikdjanian spent most of his free time trying to copy the styles of Disney animators. [4]
His parents defected to the United States in the late 1980s; he joined them two years later, [3] attending the William H. Turner Technical Arts High School in Miami, where he studied video production and 3D animation. He graduated from the International Fine Arts College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film production. [4] [5]
Melikdjanian was the co-founder and creative director of FilmNet.com, [6] and was the co-founder and chief creative officer of Openfilm. Both were intended as alternatives to popular video-sharing site YouTube, but for serious amateur filmmakers who "don't want to place their work alongside YouTube's mediocrities." [4] [7] [8] Openfilm closed in August 2015. [9]
Captain Disillusion | |
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Genre |
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Created by | Alan Melikdjanian |
Presented by | Alan Melikdjanian |
Voices of | Alan Melikdjanian |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Editor | Alan Melikdjanian |
Running time | Varies |
Original release | |
Network | YouTube |
Release | 2007 – present |
The "Captain Disillusion" channel has approximately 2.5 million subscribers and 265 million views (as of September 2024 [update] ). [10] [11] On the channel, he debunks viral and paranormal "hoax" videos, among others, with a heavy focus on visual effects. [12] He edits his videos using software such as Avid Media Composer, Adobe After Effects, Blender, and DaVinci Resolve. [13]
In his videos, Melikdjanian wears a vintage 1980s tracksuit, with the bottom half of his face being covered in metallic paint. [4] He uses a wristband gifted to him by James Randi. [14]
Melikdjanian described how he designed his superhero costume:
When it came time to visualize him I just thought what do I have at hand? What can grab people's attention? And really, because it's supposed to be a superhero, what haven't we seen before? What do I have at my disposal that I can actually pull off in terms of attire and make-up? And that's what I had. I got some of this chrome colored make-up at the local party store and I had all those clothes and I would've done my whole face but it's too much work. It works out in terms of illusion revealing reality, and... which one's the reality? [15]
He reviews videos which are "too good to be true," utilizing his expertise in digital editing to break down the video and show how the result was accomplished. He often recreates effects from the videos he debunks.[ citation needed ] His videos contain the motto "Love with your heart. Use your head for everything else." [4]
In 2011, Melikdjanian released a DVD of his Captain Disillusion series, entitled Captain Disillusion – Fame Curve Collection. It contains the first 16 episodes remastered with optional commentary and additional bonus features. He debuted it at TAM9, and later made it available for purchase online. [16]
Melikdjanian's work has gained recognition from The Huffington Post , [17] Kotaku, [18] Russian TV International, Phil Plait, [19] the James Randi Educational Foundation, [20] Fortean Times , [21] Home Media Magazine , [7] and Sun Sentinel , [22] among others. He has also received thanks from people for debunking videos they had shared. [14]
In 2008, during an interview for The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe , Melikdjanian describes Captain Disillusion as a YouTube web series that tackles paranormal and illusion videos uploaded by others on YouTube. [23] He started this effort as a blog entry on Myspace but later saw these items as ready made scripts for short videos. He notes that Penn & Teller were instrumental to his current interest and eventually found the skeptical movement involved in similar work. He finds that his followers like to learn about the illusions. It is not his intent to spoil legitimate entertainment or a current performer's work. His intent in showing how video illusions are created is to clear up misconceptions. Melikdjanian describes the basis for Openfilm briefly, saying it "was formed for film makers. The goal is to provide higher quality product and a group of serious content creators."
During an interview for The Skeptic Zone , in 2010, Melikdjanian describes Captain Disillusion as a superhero. [15] And in a following 2011 interview, he describes that his work as Captain Disillusion is done "in the maximum fun way possible". [24] He describes his work with James Randi, Randi calling him to participate in The Amaz!ng Meeting and his video work with Randi in a later project. During an interview by Susan Gerbic for Skeptical Inquirer , he states "I think it's best to focus on what you know—something you're already an expert on outside of skepticism—and explore the ways in which it's connected to skepticism. With Captain Disillusion, I connected a random thing—visual effects—to skepticism in a way that people seem to find engaging. I'm sure that can be done with many other fields in different ways." [25]
In a 2017 interview with Richard Saunders from The Skeptic Zone, Melikdjanian described the video effects editing process, saying: [26]
You know, the tools change but the methods really don't. It's all about making things look questionable and kinda crappy and low quality and then you can pretty much get away with anything." In replying to a follow-up question regarding believing what you see on the internet, he said, "When I started out, people just kinda believed everything. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, but these days, people are just really asking me 'is this fake?', 'is this fake?', 'is this fake?', and half the stuff they show me is just, you know, a juggler juggling a lot of balls. They can't conceive that that could be real. People just don't believe anything anymore. I guess that's good for me because I get to explain lots of stuff but I wish people could finally strike that balance where they're not too credulous but they also know not to just dismiss everything out of hand.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2001 | The Realm | Director, composer | |
The Monster Man | Editor | ||
Zelimo | Animator | Directed by Aleks Rosenberg. | |
2002 | Сын Неудачника (Son of a Loser) | Editor [27] | |
2006 | Citizen Mavzik | Director, writer, editor, composer | Produced by Vilalan Productions. |
2008 | Director | VFX artist | Directed by Aleks Rosenberg. |
2010 | Crimefighters | VFX artist, sound editor | |
2013 | Whoops! | Digital effects artist |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2007–present | Captain Disillusion |
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2012 | MSNBC's Caught on Camera | Himself |
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2019 | Could You Survive the Movies? | Captain Disillusion | Episode: "Could You Survive Ghostbusters??" [34] [ non-primary source needed ] |
2021 | Dynamo Dream | TERD (voice) | Episode: "Salad Mug" [35] [ non-primary source needed ] |
2024 | Dynamo Dream | TERD (voice) | Episode: "Prepare for Execution" [36] [ non-primary source needed ] |
Year | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
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2001 | BFA Film Award (IFAC) | Best Thesis Film | Won | [37] [ non-primary source needed ] |
2019 | 11th Shorty Awards | Best in Weird | Won | [38] [ non-primary source needed ] |
James Randi was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims. Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87.
The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) is an American grant-making institution founded in 1996 by magician and skeptic James Randi. As a nonprofit organization, the mission of JREF includes educating the public and the media on the dangers of accepting unproven claims, and to support research into paranormal claims in controlled scientific experimental conditions. The organization announced its change to a grant-making foundation in September 2015.
Skeptical Inquirer (S.I.) is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle "The Magazine for Science and Reason". The magazine initially focused on investigating claims of the paranormal, but evolved and expanded to address other pseudoscientific topics that are antithetical to critical thinking and science. Notable skeptics have credited the magazine in influencing their development of scientific skepticism. In the "Letters to the Editor", the most frequent letters of appreciation come from educators.
Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism, sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking scientific evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refers to the examination of claims and theories that appear to be unscientific, rather than the routine discussions and challenges among scientists. Scientific skepticism differs from philosophical skepticism, which questions humans' ability to claim any knowledge about the nature of the world and how they perceive it, and the similar but distinct methodological skepticism, which is a systematic process of being skeptical about the truth of one's beliefs.
A debunker is a person or organization that exposes or discredits claims believed to be false, exaggerated, or pretentious. The term is often associated with skeptical investigation of controversial topics such as UFOs, claimed paranormal phenomena, cryptids, conspiracy theories, alternative medicine, religion, exploratory or fringe areas of scientific, or pseudoscientific research.
Skepticality was the official podcast of The Skeptics Society's Skeptic magazine. Beginning in May 2005, the podcast explores rational thought, skeptical ideas, and famous myths from around the world and throughout history. Each episode is an audio magazine featuring regular segments by contributors who are specialized in specific areas of critical thought followed by featured content which is usually in the form of an interview with a researcher, author, or individual who is helping promote skeptical thought and/or science in an effective way. It has featured interviews with James Randi, and scientists, such as authors and astronomers Phil Plait and Neil deGrasse Tyson, Greg Graffin from Bad Religion, Adam Savage from the MythBusters, songwriter Jill Sobule, author Ann Druyan and science communicator Bill Nye.
The Amazing Meeting (TAM), stylized as The Amaz!ng Meeting, was an annual conference that focused on science, skepticism, and critical thinking; it was held for twelve years. The conference started in 2003 and was sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Perennial speakers included Penn & Teller, Phil Plait, Michael Shermer and James "The Amazing" Randi. Speakers at the four-day conference were selected from a variety of disciplines including scientific educators, magicians, and community activists. Outside the plenary sessions the conference included workshops, additional panel discussions, music and magic performances and live taping of podcasts including The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. The final Amazing Meeting was held in July 2015.
What's The Harm? is a website providing a catalog of stories where people have been injured, killed, or otherwise disadvantaged by believing in misinformation, especially but not limited to accounts of harm caused by pseudoscientific organizations or claims. The creator of the site, Tim Farley, states that in launching the site on January 22, 2008, he aimed to increase the use of critical thinking.
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Kylie Sturgess is a past President of the Atheist Foundation of Australia, an award-winning blogger, author and independent podcast host of The Token Skeptic Podcast. A Philosophy and Religious Education teacher with over ten years experience in education, Sturgess has lectured on teaching critical thinking, feminism, new media and anomalistic beliefs worldwide. She is a Member of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) Education Advisory Panel and regularly writes editorial for numerous publications, and has spoken at The Amazing Meeting Las Vegas, Dragon*Con (US), QED Con (UK). She was a presenter and Master of Ceremonies for the 2010 Global Atheist Convention and returned to the role in 2012. Her most recent book The Scope of Skepticism was released in 2012. She is a presenter at Perth's community radio station RTRFM, and a winner at the 2018 CBAA Community Radio Awards in the category of Talks, with the show Talk the Talk In 2020 she was in the final eight in the Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) Asia-Pacific virtual showcase.
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