Captain Disillusion

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Captain Disillusion
Melikdjanian.JPG
Melikdjanian in character as Captain Disillusion at The Amazing Meeting in 2011
Personal information
Born
Alan Melikdjanian

(1980-04-13) April 13, 1980 (age 44)
Occupation(s)Independent filmmaker, YouTuber
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2007–present
Genre(s)Visual effects, comedy, education
Subscribers2.51 million [1]
Total views266.78 million [1]
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers

Last updated: October 26, 2024

Alan Melikdjanian ( /ˌmɛlɪkˈniən/ ; [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.

Contents

Early life

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]

Career

FilmNet.com and Openfilm

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]

YouTube channel

Captain Disillusion
Genre
  • Education
  • comedy
Created byAlan Melikdjanian
Presented byAlan Melikdjanian
Voices ofAlan Melikdjanian
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
EditorAlan Melikdjanian
Running timeVaries
Original release
Network YouTube
Release2007 (2007) 
present

The "Captain Disillusion" channel has approximately 2.5 million subscribers and 265 million views (as of September 2024). [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]

DVD

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]

Recognition

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]

Interviews

Melikdjanian performing as Captain Disillusion's unpaid intern "Alan" at QED 2016 QED 20161015 057.jpg
Melikdjanian performing as Captain Disillusion's unpaid intern "Alan" at QED 2016

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.

Credits

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001The RealmDirector, composer
The Monster ManEditor
ZelimoAnimatorDirected by Aleks Rosenberg.
2002Сын Неудачника (Son of a Loser)Editor [27]
2006Citizen MavzikDirector, writer, editor, composerProduced by Vilalan Productions.
2008 Director VFX artistDirected by Aleks Rosenberg.
2010CrimefightersVFX artist, sound editor
2013Whoops!Digital effects artist

Additional work

  • Still Life (2009) (short), steadicam operator
  • The Shift (2013) (thanks), starring Danny Glover

Television and web series

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007–presentCaptain Disillusion
  • Captain Disillusion
  • Mr Flare (voice)
  • Himself (as Alan) [28]
2012MSNBC's Caught on CameraHimself
2019Could You Survive the Movies?Captain DisillusionEpisode: "Could You Survive Ghostbusters??" [34] [ non-primary source needed ]
2021Dynamo DreamTERD (voice)Episode: "Salad Mug" [35] [ non-primary source needed ]
2024Dynamo DreamTERD (voice)Episode: "Prepare for Execution" [36] [ non-primary source needed ]

Awards

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
2001BFA Film Award (IFAC)Best Thesis FilmWon [37] [ non-primary source needed ]
2019 11th Shorty Awards Best in WeirdWon [38] [ non-primary source needed ]

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