Ryan Lee
Visual Effects, Film, Programming, and Music
About Me
I am a passionate visual effects artist, filmmaker, programmer, and musician based in Washington. I hold interdisciplinary interests with both technical and creative sensibilities. I am the founder of Issaquah VFX, built from the ground up, developed a curriculum, and eventually got granted $10,000 worth of software for free by an established creator in the industry. This website is my creative portfolio!
Enjoy my work!
Visual Effects Reel
As a self-starting visual effects artist of over 7 years, this is a reel of my personal / school projects, client work, and more.
I also have been doing freelance work for 4 years now, maintaining a 5 star review in all categories.
Client Reviews
Reviews from some of the clients I have worked with! More on my freelance page down below
Holiday Snowglobes
I was the project lead and main instructor for our most recent project at Issaquah VFX. High schoolers were taught how to 3D model and create digital worlds to be placed inside a CGI snowglobe.
After editing the final video and posting it to the internet, it gained some traction, receiving generous offers by people in industry to get 20 free licenses for the software plugins “Composite Brush” and “Lockdown 3” as well as guest speaker Robin Mangat, a visual effects artist that has worked on hundreds of Hollywood films including but not limited to Spider-Man, Star Wars, and Barbie.
Closing the Deal
A Short Film by Ryan Lee
A workaholic stockbroker stumbles into his childhood best friend at the park. Upon meeting, his friend asks if he still remembers their elaborate handshake from when they were young. As this action-packed handshake takes place, the stockbroker is caught between two separate worlds: the innocent joy of childhood memories, and the monotonous slavery of corporate life.
Through this piece, I encourage the audience to hold onto their own childlike enthusiasm and appreciate the beauties in life—even amidst the often restrictive tedium of the corporate world.
To the Skies
A Short Film by Ryan Lee
A homeless teen with big aspirations struggles to find sympathy from strangers, except for one kindhearted woman who he quickly develops a close friendship with. Despite her big heart, he finds out that she is undergoing heavy traumatic struggles herself. This film explores the importance of holding kindness in our hearts for others.
The reality is that the homeless are people with thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Society as a whole must work to broaden the empathy in their hearts so that in the future, teens like this one won’t be restricted in their dreams to chase the moon and stars.
Calculus Vs. The Nerd: A Calculus Musical
Assigned to make a 3 minute long Calculus music parody, we turned it into a 12 minute long musical short film. A light-hearted but meaningful story about a nerd that no longer understands Calculus, but undergoes trials, tribulations, and enlightenment to find his purpose. Plays off of popular tropes and pop culture references!
A lot of work was put in for the lyrics, the visual effects, the storyline, and more. I was the main director that organized the overall project, and wrote the lyrics for “Sophia the First,” “Alright” and helped with lyrics for “Rap God.”
I was the main visual effects artist and project editor. Special thanks to all of my friends for helping out!
3D Modeled Renders
3D modeled renders I created in Blender. Hover over the images to stay paused, use the arrow keys to browse.
1. Eternal Youth
The surreal depiction of a deflated man and a baby crawling out of his head represents how a man’s true youth and innocence is revealed when he is by himself in nature, removing the mask that is upheld to fit societal expectations.
2. Escaping Accountability
Billionaires have been steadily investing in their own space companies with the goal of finding an alternative place to inhabit. Though this seems great on the surface level, it means that the top 1% will be able to escape the repercussions of their extreme contributions to climate change, while middle and lower class families will continue to face the consequences.
3. Our New Reality
This piece is an outlook on a potentially dystopian future where people will be so immersed in their calm and vibrant virtual reality, that they remain blissfully unaware of the outside world that is in crumbles due to climate change.
4. Parasocial
Mimicking a puppeteer and its puppet, this piece talks about our growing attachment to algorithms and social media in dictating our daily lives.
The Consequences of Miscommunication
Experimentation with traditional mediums of sculpture using clay, acrylics, and yarn.
The inability to communicate is one of the biggest detriments to a successful relationship. Often, people are too afraid to share their emotions, which leads to pent up resentment and unrealistic expectations for their partners. This ends up destroying the beautiful bonds that the two parties have, and they ultimately forget the reasons they fell in love in the first place.
This sculpture, made out of clay and painted with acrylics, represents this concept. As the anatomical hearts are facing away from each other, their positioning represents the lack of communication between the two people. The bonds that connect the two souls are slowly snapping apart, contributing to the message both literally and figuratively.
Freelancing Page
This is my freelancing page as mentioned earlier in my site. Click around to look at reviews, descriptions, and some of my work!
Portfolio
Here is the rest of the work I've done! There are no descriptions, but feel free to click around as you wish.
Halloween Special
Fingerstyle Cover
Awards
I have received several competition awards. First place overall in the Influence the Choice Competition for Positive Mental Health and Honorable Mention (3rd Place Internationally) in the World of 8 Billion Competition for Climate Change.
