Melvin - Short film | 7 Mins

My first “Real” short film that I made with my friends while I was still in high school. The only real goal I had in mind with this film was to go from the weird YouTube skits I was shooting on a camcorder to something I could actually feel good about showing people. So I saved up $200 from my Airsoft Referee job and dropped it on some lenses for my work’s T3i and a nice tripod and got to work.

The script was written in a few days based on my friend CaAG’s story about why he calls people he finds dumb “Melvins”. At the time I was also obsessed with the band Melvins and thought it’d be funny to explore the life of someone who just wants to be left alone, but because of powers beyond his control he keeps getting sucked into terrible, dumb situations.

It’s a little hard for me to watch at this point sometimes, but I love my friends for doing this with me so enthusiastically and it was very important for my own development.

We also lit this with only natural light, no modifiers, and the only artificial lights used was from car headlights and the light inside of a car.

I could absolutely not pull that off today with a T3i.

Talent: Emily Swain, Tyler Muzzy, Cobe Bourbon, Amber Bourbon

Director/DP: Nate Doane

Sound: Neal Johnson