Erick Melanson: A Silver Screen Surfer
What is the one thing a filmmaker bring to a tropical island?
Though I have known Erick for over a decade, it feels like lifetimes. I consider our friendship one of the longest-enduring, closest, and most synergetic that I’ve ever had. Growing up in Massachusetts, we worked together numerous times, cooperated in bands, collaborated in classes. Not only does much of my personal artistic experience run parallel with his, so too does our life experiences. Erick is currently in a music band, Ten Things I Hate About You (the name’s relation to a film is purely coincidental). He also hosts two podcasts about music and film, respectively titled Nobody Is Listening To This Music Podcast and Nobody’s Listening To This Film Podcast (he’s aware of the apostrophe.) His on-going involvement in these endeavors of expression is evidence of his withstanding enthusiasm for art. Since graduating from the University of Hawaii’s Academy of Creative Media, Erick is paving his way into a career in the film industry, though his approach is contrary to what most would consider typical Hollywood. In this interview, we explore his thoughts and feelings deeper and reveal what a regular dude really wants in watching life through the lens.
Filming of “Rap’s Maps”
T: Who are you? Where are you? What are you?
E: I’m Erick Melanson. I’m in Oahu, Hawaii. I’m many things. I am few things.
T: Wow.
E: I don’t know. Yeah, I guess, creatively, which is the context of this, um, interview—y’know, actually, I put on my taxes this year for my occupation “Freelance Filmmaker.” In the past, it’s been so many various other things. Recently, I was telling somebody that I’m landscaping, and I felt like “that’s so not what I’m doing, though.” Even they said “but you’re still doing film stuff, too, right?” I thought “Yeah, I can just say that because that’s what I’m trying to do, that’s the goal.”
T: That’s what counts. Tell me, before you moved to Hawaii, did you have any sense of working with film?”
E: In a sense, I think it was something always relatively interesting to me. Y’know, we did music, together, took art classes, took photography class, even before that I was kinda into film photography. It seemed cool and it was just a thing to mess with sometimes.
T: What influences you to do film rather than pursuing other arts?
E: I was trying to track this one down the other day, too. I think it stems from filming [music] shows. I think that was big in me starting to care about video. We would mess around with the flip camera and document things happening just hanging out. But filming shows, I can remember watching this one Title Fight [band] video and it was just a camera held up, side-stage, fish-eye, wide-angle, just watching the show. I always wanted videos for our band, too, y’know, to be like “this is us, here’s this time capsule type-thing.” At one point, I was like “wait, I can do that. I can just set up a camera and record our own shows or friend shows and start editing some of those.” Once I moved to Hawaii, then it was “I wanna film surfing, I wanna film skateboarding” and stuff like that. So, filming for me came from much more of a documentation standpoint at first. Then once I got into film school, I realized I liked the “intentionality” of it, creating scripted narratives and developing something with certain points-of-view.
A Local Show
T: You filmed shows for a piece you did in film school called “Hawaii Hardcore.” I imagine it felt good to be a part of a music scene from a different perspective. What was it like going to shows to film instead of watching and listening like a regular fan?
E: I’ve always been super into music documentaries and early on in my time in film school, it was a goal to create something in that vein. I’d been to a handful of local shows and had some friends who played in bands here and it seemed sort of like a natural “in.” I ended up focusing mostly on my buddy Micah who I met through a mutual friend Erik. Micah books shows and designs merch for bands. Eventually, we have plans to tell more back story of the history of the scene here but the current iteration of the doc is about the scene in 2019.
T: How many shows and bands did you film?
E: For that, I went to four shows. The footage I used included the bands Soon, Out Of Bounds, and Rotting Out who’s from LA. I also included footage of Die Slow from a friend Kaliko Fase. For the credits, I used audio from a local band that Micah is in called Tunnel Vision. I’ve filmed more shows since then. I just post the full sets on my Youtube. Like I said earlier, I like to watch videos like that and I wish that our old band had stuff like that posted. I think the bands I’ve filmed and their fans appreciate it. Eventually, it’ll be source material for any future projects that might arise.
T: What people think when they hear you filmed something called “Hawaii Hardcore?”
E: Somehow it feels like almost nobody on Earth has ever heard of hardcore music and so when I tell people about the video, ofter I hear the response “hardcore what?!” I guess it justifies making a documentary about it for those people. I’m really introducing something new to them. It played at HIFF, the Hawaii International Film Festival, where I was also interning, which was awesome.
T: You mentioned Erik Oseto earlier. Right now, you’re in a band with him, Ten Things I Hate About You. Erik’s a tattoo artist that you’ve commissioned frequently and grown close to. You did a piece for the shop where he works. Was it cool to do like a little love letter to your favorite ink spot?
E: Yeah, the video for Queen Street Tattoo was a lot of fun to make. Actually, I think I broached the subject with him about doing that mini-doc when you and I got tattooed while you were visiting here. Erik was one of my more interesting friends that I felt I had access to who would also be willing to let me ask him questions at that time. Also, it coincided with the shop turning 5 years old which was a big deal for them so that added to the fun. I used my uncle Dave’s band Tiki Twins for the soundtrack. I realized I had a knack for the documentary style. I’m proud of that video and it sort of spun me into filming Hawaii Hardcore afterwards.
T: You also made a film called Rap’s Maps and you won an award for it in school.
E: Yes, Best Comedy.
T: It’s obviously different than making a documentary. What was it like to be actively generating ideas for every aspect of that project?
E: Well, there was a different kind of accessibility I enjoyed when filming shows because for those, from a technical standpoint, I could do it with my own equipment, I could do it on my own time. I could do it by myself without having to involve a bunch of other kids who didn’t know what they were doing. For making Rap’s Maps, it was overwhelming a lot of times. I still had control but I also had collaboration with people who did know what they were doing which was a big help. Once the big concepts and logistics were taken care of it was really fun to go in with a fine-tooth comb and plug in little jokes or references or plan out shows that I thought were cool. Ultimately, I’d like to make my career in scripted stuff like movies and TV. To have that much control to create my own world, directing was sick.
T: Why did you choose to make a comedy instead of a drama?
E: Rap’s Maps came from a screenplay I wrote in a screenwriting class. To this day, it is the most thought out script I’ve written. I should probably write more. I decided to write a comedy because everything that my classmates were writing was so melodramatic and dark. I think their goal was always to make something visceral that would make people feel something but there’s definitely more ways to do it than just to bum people out. That being said, there’s some great work that came out of those classes but I didn’t need to personally live and breathe tragedy for two semesters.
T: What’s some insight on filming a movie or show that you could lend to common viewers who will miss out on the experience of assembling the exact details of their imagination?
E: Well, I think on one level or another, a lot of people feel out of control of their lives at certain points and when directing, there’s this aspect of being able to take the reins that feels nice; to create a scenario you’d like to see happen in your own life, or to say the cool thing you thought of on the drive home after you got in an argument with someone. I heard someone say on a podcast the other day that many times, people end up circling around their own issues when writing and directing characters. I think it’s a neat practice in working through issues. It can be very cathartic. I think sometimes when people are deprived of a means to express something through a medium, in real life they may be liable to repeat the same mistakes so that they get a chance to approach it the way they wanted to prior. Writing and directing can circumvent that cycle.
T: To my understanding, there’s a lot of film work opportunities that’s offered in Hawaii. Can you speak more on that?
E: For me, it’s all I know, so I can’t say it’s more or less than anywhere else, but it does surprise me the amount of film work that is available where it’s, y’know, an industry here. It’s a part of why I set my sights on this. Going back to our fine art days, I’d always been interested in drawing and painting, but I never saw my ability being profitable, or rather, I didn’t see anyone paying for that kind of work I did. Whereas in filming, I felt there was more of a technical side to things and that seemed more like a job to me, and there are jobs to be had. A film crew has hundreds of people. There’s an angle there where it’s not necessarily just dependent on me creating something and expecting people to pay for it.
T: What’s the job you want to have?
E: Ultimately, I want to be a Director of Photography. More often, while a director is dealing with conveying the emotional, the Director of Photography is more technical, dealing with things like lighting and camera movements, the visual storytelling aspects. I enjoy playing with cameras.
Screen Capture from “Rap’s Maps”
T: On the film podcast that you do with former classmate, Spencer Bento, you’ve elaborated in-depth about the work of crews and productions. Briefly, can you tell me your favorite Directors of Photography and what qualities that appeal to you do they possess?
E: In no particular order: Roger Deacons, Tim Ives, Robert Richardson. What’s appealing to me about them and about cinematographers in general is that entertainment feels dirty or cloudy or little hollow of sorts. Like, if you imagine becoming an actor, or model, or a musician a lot of times, it feels kind of like “oh, you just want to be famous.” There’s an aspect that feels separate from the art.
T: It’s like servicing your ego.
E: Exactly, and what appeals to me about those individuals, you can feel their work ethic in the way they talk and how it's just like a job, and not in a negative way, but in a way that they’re not expecting anything in return, they’re not expecting anybody to know who they are. They’re like regular people, so to me, it feels very accessible. Also, it feels like there's integrity there. They’re just trying to service the story.
T: I really like that. You wanted to move to Hawaii partly because you wanted to become a marine biologist but you felt like it was too inaccessible for you before switching to film. Do you think what led you to marine biology and then to film stems from your personal appreciation for life itself?
E: Yeah, that might just be the thing. The worst part of Massachusetts is that for months out of the year, every single thing is dead, and that was really taxing and upsetting to me. I think that affected me a lot more than other people.
T: You simply want to live life not with death.
E: Right. I just want to look at nice, living stuff all the time. The marine biology stuff was really not thought out. I clung to it pretty early because it allowed me to be in the ocean and go to college in Hawaii, so that was cool to me. Y’know, I like to watch Discovery Channel and Shark Week, but also, it was one of the only things I thought of that felt professional to me, because other than that, I only wanted to do music, which you can’t just get a job being a musician. People have to like you and you have to get incredibly lucky.
T: Have you considered Marine Cinematography?
E: When I switched my majors, I said “well, maybe I can do the two together. Maybe I can film the Discovery Channel stuff.” Since then—even the other day, I got an email from my school like “oh, do film work for this, like, science lab” and I was like, “I don’t even care to apply for this, at all.” I think those things [marine biology and film] for me are pretty separate. I don’t know, I could still just go to the beach, or go snorkel if I want.
T: You’ve worked on a few professional productions in Hawaii. What’s it like? Has COVID affected the work?
E: The other day, I was on a set for a commercial. I was working as a PA, a production assistant, and a part of that a lot of times is what they call “locking down the set” which is basically going to the outskirts of the set where there’s a road with people walking by or cars driving or whatever. Then, while the camera’s rolling, you have to stop people from going through. So, I was locking down the set on the beach. I had to stop people from walking past this yard on waterfront property. I was like, “this is dope.” I was getting paid to literally sit on the beach. I haven’t done a ton else since I graduated three months before COVID quarantines. I did a short over a couple weekends with some friends last summer. I did an informative commercial for my old workplace coming back after COVID. I have a shoot coming up with a local politician where I’ll be a camera operator. Even though there might be less jobs now, the machine of Hollywood is going to endure. So many people are riding on it.
T: If you could give yourself four years ago any film advice you have now, what would it be?
E: Good question. Just practice more, shoot more. Maybe network better. I think I’ve always done what I can. It’s just advice I’d give myself currently, to just say “yes” more, because that’s the only way to move forward: to get on a project and then meet somebody who's going to hit you up a couple weeks later for another project. Just gotta say “yes” more.
T: To create a lasting impression in Hawaii, are there any contributions you’d like to make to the film scene there in the future, perhaps in like organizing a Hawaiian Drive-In fundraiser? My girlfriend came up with that.
E: I would be interested in that, yeah. If at some point I had enough capital to rent a giant screen, that’d be super cool to do like a mini film festival with friends and local filmmakers. They do that kind of stuff at UH but it’s more for the students’ work, it’s not very curated in any sort of direction.
T: You could be a major curator of work done by amateur filmmakers in Hawaii. Is there anything else you want to add before we wrap this up?
E: Um…
T: Just say one cool thing.
E: This is really tough for me to say.
T: What do you want to see?
E: I wish you wouldn’t put me on the spot like this. Um, I don’t know.
T: Can you say anything about art? (Laughing)
E: (Laughing) It’s kind of “nothing” to just talk about art so generally. But, I think most of anything that I have fun doing is something creative. Most of what I’ve done to make a living is a means to an end to having fun creating something at one point or another.
A Natural Habitat
Whether it’s locking down the set, or locking in on sets of waves, Erick’s rides out the storm and stays looking to the horizon for the next adventure.You can check out Erick’s videos on his Youtube and catch him releasing the same day as your most anticipated movies every Friday on his film podcast and releasing along with the newest music every Tuesday on his music podcast. His band Ten Things I Hate About You is set to release their first album very soon. Stay tuned, folks! We’ll continue to follow Erick’s journey as he goes along!
