BURNING THE MIDNIGHT OIL

It was now 3:30 am, and Carlos firmly pushed his mouse aside at his desk, laid back into his leather chair, took in another breath, and released it. He had just fallen into a flow state that lasted him into the wee hours of the morning coming out on the other end with a rough cut for a film that still needed a little tweaking to be a polished draft that he could show producers to get the next project underway. 

He lay back into his chair, feeling accomplished. He liked working into the early morning hours as it was always so still not even a sound from his upstairs neighbors with two dogs was there to distract him. As he sat reclined, he thought over the actor's lines, almost speaking them word for word his ability to do this came from his closeness to the project having helped write the script with the writer and on set throughout the film's shooting. 

The glow of the early morning sun taking over the night was coming, but he felt energized. He got up from his black leather chair and walked to the kitchen for some refreshment. In his fridge, he found a few cans of soda and a pitcher of iced tea and a small selection of food items of the edible kind, letting him know he'd have to go shopping at some point. He grabbed a trail mix package instead out of his cabinet and downed a glass of water, feeling a bit under-hydrated. 

He was heading back to his studio and the rough cut of his film. He then slowed sipped the second glass of water he brought with him scrubbing the timeline over a scene in the movie he was looking to tighten up. He played it over and over like it was on a constant replay. Then feeling satisfied with the minor adjustments he had done better with the scene, he was ready for it to be seen by the director for her approval, as this was a pivotal part of the film. 

He then proceeded on to the next scene where the moment came with a great shot of a woman walking on the edge of a building to the building next door. Artistically the director intended to make it as dramatic as possible. So he scrubbed the timeline looking to make edits that made the scene that much more exciting. 

As that edit came to a close, he finished the remaining water in his glass and saw it was approaching 5 am and realizing that he was to be in a daily meeting at noon that day. Carlos looked to get a few hours of shut-eye, get back up, shower, eat something wholesome and arrive at the meeting ready to look over the film thus far with the directors, producers, cast, and crew. So he got up from his chair once more and moved to his bedroom, set the alarm for 9 am and drifted off into dreamland feeling accomplished.