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EAST WINDSOR: Teen explores skateboarding world in film

By Matt Nelson, Special Writer
   EAST WINDSOR — There are two qualities that come to the mind of Dan Quiyu: skateboarding and making skateboard videos.
   Mr. Quiyu, 19, of East Windsor, graduated from Hightstown High School in 2011 and has been an avid fan of skateboarding since he was a little boy.
   "I always liked skateboarding video games, so, I would skate around my house,” Mr. Quiye said. “My favorite place to skateboard would be West Windsor Skate Park.”
   Mr. Quiyu is heading into his sophomore year at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison where he is a film animation major with a minor in cinematography.
   He is the creator of CUE Skateboards, which is a local skateboard company in which he makes skateboard decks and skateboard videos.
   "Since I was little, I also liked playing around with cameras,” he said. “Just watching a lot of YouTube videos and actual professional skateboarding videos made we wonder how professionals do it. I also work for my brother by making wedding videos, and now I have my own professional equipment.”
   The equipment Mr. Quiyu uses includes a Canon 7D and a Canon XH A1S. Further, he edits the footage using the software Adobe Final Cut Pro.
   He started making skateboard videos four years ago.
   "For the past two years, I went to the next level by using more professional equipment, better planning and better setups,” Mr. Quiyu said.
   While at Hightstown High, Mr. Quiyu took television production courses using Pinnacle Systems software with teacher David Hecker.
   "I was really close to Mr. Hecker. We talked a lot about editing, so he helped me a lot,” Mr. Quiyu said.
   Mr. Quiyu said his oldest brother, Roberto, knew he liked watching skateboard videos, so, he helped him get the professional equipment to make his own.
   He then watched tutorials and began experimenting with editing software.
   "I basically self-taught myself and watched and learned and analyzed what I would be doing that I’m doing today,” Mr. Quiyu explained.
   One of his newest videos, titled “Horizen,” took two weeks to edit up to eight hours per day. The end product was a 30-minute film. He shot 40 hours of raw footage for “Horizen” over the past two and a half years.
   When he was younger, Mr. Quiyu was part of a skateboard team called Horizen comprised of 11 people. The members wound up traveling to parts of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey and filmed themselves skateboarding.
   For the most part, the team went to New York City as well as to Langhorne and Falls Township, Pennsylvania, and West Windsor and Sayreville.
   The project started in 2010, and the film was released this spring. A release party for the movie, “Horizen,” was held June 9, and approximately 60 people were in attendance.
   "Dan is a really nice kid,” said Susan Curry, of East Windsor. “I was at the release party and was really impressed with what this kid has done to get to this point and be able to make this incredible film.”
   Mr. Quiyu said, “It’s definitely worth it to see everything come together because in a sense you see yourself grow up as a skateboarder and as a person once it’s all finished. The thing I enjoy most about doing videos is seeing how people progress; seeing how it all flows together with the music that is on the videos. It gives a sense of the personality of the person skating. You get to know them at a certain level of how they react and then seeing people’s reaction once they see it. You can see a smile on their face when they are watching it so that is the biggest thing about it.”
   In Mr. Quiyu’s future, he sees himself continually being involved in skateboarding either by making skateboards or skateboard videos. His second option would be to make feature films, he said.
   "Skateboarding has brought me into the person I have become with it. I would like to have it involved in my future as much as I can, but I would work with anything related to film,” Mr. Quiyu said.
   For information on CUE Skateboards, visit www.cueskateboards.com. The company is also on Facebook.