Multimedia Project Studios - Staff Profiles

Multimedia Specialist and Lab Manager

Michael Faber - (maf13@duke.edu)

Michael is a 2005 Duke grad and a longtime patron and staff member of the Multimedia Project Studio. After working as a consultant for the MPS for two years as a student and producing a multitude of multimedia related projects for his visual arts degree, Michael graduated with a B.S. in Math and no idea what to do with his life. So he spent the next year continuing to work as a Senior Consultant at the MPS and refine his design skills. In July 2006, he assumed the post as Multimedia Computing Specialist for OIT and took over control of the Multimedia Project Studio (among many other fun projects). He's got big plans for the lab, and is always looking for suggestions. Michael thinks Macs are sexy, but not in a creepy kinda way.
Expertise: Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, iMovie, Digital Photography

Multimedia Lab Consultants

Nini Zhang (wz5@duke.edu) - MA in East Asian Studies, Asia Pacific Studies Institute, May 2008

Nini enjoys using overly complicated multimedia applications for simple projects, just to see what could break. Her areas of expertise include Photoshop (since version 2.0), HTML, iMovie (with a slow assault on Final Cut), and making people less afraid of their computers. In her spare time, she enjoys projecting and fixing films at Griffith Theater for Freewater Presentations, and can occasionally be found wasting air on video codecs. Macs are cool because they are stress-free to use, and especially useful when everything else decides to break.
Expertise: Photoshop, iMovie, Final Cut Pro

Danny Fenjves (daniel.fenjves@duke.edu) - Public Policy, 2008

The last time he was seen, Danny Fenjves was living underneath the Mini DV deck in MPS West, working on a film for Sabrosura, Duke's latin dance troupe. He is known to have worked with Final Cut Pro, iMovie, GarageBand and Photoshop, and there are rumors that he is attempting to learn web design using Dreamweaver. Danny is a Public Policy Major graduating in 2008 hailing from the beautiful city of Caracas in the even-more-beautiful nation of Venezuela. Aside from his love of technology, Danny likes tennis, salsa, books by Kurt Vonnegut, and air-conditioning. Please contact the MPS if you have any information regarding his whereabouts.
Expertise: Final Cut Pro, iMovie, Dreamweaver, Garageband, Photoshop

Eric Holljes (erh5@duke.edu) - Markets & Management, Film/Video/Digital, 2009

Eric Holljes is an audio guru and is actively involved in music and production. His areas of expertise are Logic, Audacity, Garageband, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and iMovie. Eric thinks Macs are much more conducive to creativity.
Expertise: Garageband, Dreamweaver, Audacity, iMovie, Photoshop

Muyan Jin (muyan.jin@duke.edu) - Political Science, Chinese, 2009

Muyan is temporarily working at MPS to feed his family, before he gets his big break in Hollywood. Because he is a starving artist he uses technology only because he has to, and he is obviously too cool for anything except for a Mac. He prefers Macs because apples that have one bite in them in real life are worthless, but in the world of computers they cost twice as much as a regular one. Irony is artistic. As a starving artist, he is proficient in Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and chipping away the dull, hardened refuse of everyday life to uncover the rare, minuscule gems of beauty. Only the first two proficiencies pay--the gems are metaphorical. Muyan is a bitter starving artist. He is also proficient at cooking things on his George Foreman grill. And metaphors. He is probably going to law school if things don't work out, and, face it, when do they ever work out, man!?
Expertise: Photoshop, iMovie, Final Cut Pro

Lawrence Chen (lawrence.chen@duke.edu) - Economics, Film, and MMS, 2009

Lawrence loves film. He has been doing film for a couple years now and aspires to become a director. Lawrence got his start in film at Duke at the MPS and has done many film projects since in the studio. Macs are great for graphic design and video editing, he has recently switched over from a PC to a MacBook Pro. It is sweet.
Expertise: Final Cut Pro, Garageband, iMovie, Photoshop, InDesign, iDVD

Shang Gao (sg57@duke.edu) - Economics, Film, 2009

Shang began doing film in high school with his friends as a hobby. After coming to Duke, he never considered pursuing it as a career, but winning Froshlife (My Only One '06) made him think otherwise. He did a film internship in Hollywood last summer and now hopes to one day do film professionally. Shang's latest work was the Orientation Trailers shown at freshman orientation this year, and he is currently working on a large-scale project in conjunction with members from DUI, Defmo, Running Lights, Cable 13, and Freewater. His work can be seen at www.sweetandsourproductions.com. He loves Macs because everyone in Hollywood loves Macs, and so that means he has to love Macs if he wants to get anywhere in Hollywood.
Expertise: Final Cut Pro, iMovie, AfterEffects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Audacity

Jannessa Det (jwd11@duke.edu) - Biomedical and Computer & Electrical Engineering, 2009

Janessa seems to be suffering from an identity crisis as half of her life is devoted to engineering problem sets and programming while the other is in love with everything art and design. Her areas of expertise are Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator as well as web/graphic design in general. She's also had some experience with Dreamweaver and InDesign. Although she is very fond of her PC, she thinks Macs are intensely pretty and very yummy as well.
Expertise: Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, InDesign

Isaac Cha (iec@duke.edu) - Religion, 2009

Isaac is a jack-of-all-trades who has been working with computers since the Tandy 1000. Isaac's foray into the multimedia world began when he started making websites with Notepad in 1997. These days he prefers using Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and/or Flash to get the job done. His main focus is on web design and photo editing, but he has some experience with audio/video editing as well. Isaac likes Macs because their great aesthetics just seems to carry over to the work done on them.
Expertise: Dreamweaver, Photoshop

Addison Nuding (amn8@duke.edu) - International Comparative Studies, 2009

Addison grew up working with PCs and video, but just recently made the switch to Macs. He enjoys working on the creative side of video production and iMovie and is learning to work with Photoshop and Final Cut Pro. His time in the lab is limited due to an intense wrestling schedule, so consider yourself lucky if you get the chance to work with him. He likes Macs because they are sexy both inside and out and they have very intuitive software.
Expertise: iMovie, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro

Catherine Hartman (catherine.hartman@duke.edu) - Biology and Math, 2010

Catherine's interests include digital photo and video editing via programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and Motion. Catherine hopes to someday become the next Dr. Phil. She plans to direct, produce, and edit her TV show as well as be the star, host, and all special guests. Catherine likes Macs because she never has to worry about getting her right and left clicks confused.
Expertise: Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Motion

Tendi Muchenje (etm7@duke.edu) - Electrical and Computer Engineering, Economics, 2010

Tendi loves tech design just because it is a good expression of him - interesting and intelligent. He is currently webmaster for a number of organizations on and off campus and wants to design some major software so he can drop out of college and go to Africa with money in the bank. Tendi doesn't think Macs (or any computers) are great, people are. However, Macs do provide a great platform to showcase and further your greatness. They can bring some good stuff out of anybody.
Expertise: Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, iMovie, iDVD

Kana Hatekayama (kh56@duke.edu) - International Comparative Studies, Theatre Studies, 2010

Kana's interest is in digital video editing because she loves film. She loves multimedia because it's a huge part of the entertainment industry, and that's where her passion lies. She also just likes to play with sound and images. She's made a few short movies, including a documentary at the Cannes Film Festival, and she hopes to make another short some time this year! She also thinks Macs are just too damn stylish.
Expertise: Audacity, Illustrator, iMovie

Gabriela Borges (gmb8@duke.edu) - Economics, 2010

Gabriela understands that the difference between success and failure often lies in a really cool graphic. She has experience with desktop publishing and is especially comfortable with the Microsoft Office Suite. This semester, she is interested in learning more about working with digital film and Photoshop. She is secretly a PC girl but remains open to persuasion.
Expertise: Photoshop, Microsoft Office

Andrew O'Rourke (ado6@duke.edu) - International Comparative Studies, Film/Video/Digital, 2011

Andrew has been involved in film production since sixth grade and television production since eighth grade. He's made quite a few movies during that time, ranging from Beowulf's epic green-screened fight with a claymation dragon to a chilling yet humorous parody of Saw. This stuff made up most of his high school life and made it livable. Andrew has taught himself all of Final Cut Studio and considers himself an expert at using all of the software therein excluding Motion, which he plans to change. He also knows Photoshop and iLife applications very well and has basic knowledge of Shake, Illustrator, and Flash. Apple shamelessly markets their products with sex appeal; geeks don't invite friends over to watch them unbox just any computer. No, Apple sells love affairs in a box. And his love might be on his lap right now. Seriously, though, Andrew does leave his computer behind... from time to time...
Expertise: Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, iMovie, Illustrator, Flash, iDVD

Trent Serwetz (tcs17@duke.edu) - Undecided, 2011

Trent's interests lie with desktop publishing. He is an Indesign guru, as well as experienced using Command Line, Photoshop, iMovie, and whatever other software is required to make a sexy newspaper or magazine. His goals Trent likes Macs because they remind him of his true love, Linux. He tends to accidentally order BigiMacs after long nights at the MPS.
Expertise: InDesign, Photoshop, Terminal, iMovie