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Midnight On Canvas

Midnight On Canvas was due by midnight, online on Canvas (in January 2020). So there’s the title off the rip.

But more significantly, with this piece for my COMM 445 Directing Seminar, I sought to evoke the slow-brewing panic that sets in as that classic 11:59 deadline approaches. Curiosity breeds procrastination, apathy spawns amusement—and then shit boils over.

Set in my favorite study spot (pre-COVID, that is; long live the still-closed Stacks mannnnn), I developed a shot list primarily centered around my character snoozing behind his desk. But I knew I’d marry a variety of closeups, frantic editing, and visceral sound design to evoke the terror of unintentional self-sabotage. So once DP Antonio Mosquera, PA Lilly Adams and I had the desk bits covered, we shot every “distraction” closeup I could think of until they kicked us out of the library. I don’t want to write too much on this one, just a few fun highlights:

  • The dolly was a squeaky-wheeled book cart we found laying around
  • Lilly’s cough predicted COVID
  • All the sound is completely artificial, mostly recorded at my apartment desk against a Blue Yeti USB mic, with a few supplements from the sound library.

Enjoy!

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