TORONTO -- Faced with an open-ended art project to close out the school year, it was clear to 15-year-old Liv McNeil what the subject matter had to be: self-isolation.
Like of a lot of Canadians, the Toronto teen, who just finished Grade 9 at Etobicoke School of the Arts, was hitting a breaking point during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three months in, the disruption of normal life was taking its toll on her mental health, she told CTVNews.ca
鈥淎t first it was kind of fine. I thought I had adapted to it and gotten used to it, but I realized I really missed my old life,鈥� she said during a phone interview on Monday. She craved the structure of pre-pandemic school days, and the human connection that was easier before talk of physical distancing and 鈥渟ocial bubbles.鈥�
So she made about 鈥渢hat feeling of monotony and numbness鈥� that has emerged during the COVID-19 lockdown. The project itself only counted for about two per cent of her grade (she scored nine out of a possible eight marks, she said), but it鈥檚 been worth far more outside the classroom.
The video has garnered more than 100,000 views on YouTube since June 17 and even a shout-out from one of Canada鈥檚 most celebrated artists, director Sarah Polley, who called the three-minute short film a 鈥渕asterpiece鈥� on Twitter.
鈥淏est film I've seen in a long time. Just. Wow,鈥� the 鈥淪tories We Tell鈥� director wrote in the post, later adding in a comment to the teen that 鈥渇ilm suddenly seems like it has a bright future.鈥� At first, Liv and her family thought the Polley account was an anonymous troll, but soon learned otherwise. 鈥淭hat was pretty cool,鈥� she said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 the real deal.鈥�
The short film, which the teen shot and edited herself, is called "numb" and features Liv in her bedroom, staring at images of pre-pandemic life and scrolling through emails that wish her 鈥渉ealth, happiness and safety.鈥� The final minute is a stop-motion time lapse of the days passing as Liv sits in the same place on her bed, clothes changing, items around her moving. By the end, she breaks into a silent scream.
That sequence was actually filmed over a couple hours, not several days, she told CTVNews.ca. She didn鈥檛 have a tripod, so she set up her Nikon camera on the step of a ladder and filmed the same sequence over and over, soundtracked to M83鈥檚 鈥淢y Tears Are Becoming a Sea,鈥� changing clothing items and shifting the position of objects in her room.
Originally inspired by emotional struggles during the pandemic, the project itself helped her deal with those very challenges, she said.
鈥淚t was like a coping mechanism. The success it got was a little bit of a coping mechanism, and also just the process of making it,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had been doing nothing for months and once I finally started making this film, it felt like I was finally productive again. It felt good to have a purpose.鈥�
A knack for the filmic arts might run in the family. Her father, Scott McNeil, has worked in television production, including work on such hits as 鈥淗olmes on Homes.鈥� He told CTVNews.ca that he takes 鈥渮ero credit鈥� for his daughter鈥檚 latest success and he can hardly make it through the three-minute film without crying.
鈥淭here aren鈥檛 enough tissues in the house these days,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been incredible to see the thing blow up, but also to watch Liv take the tsunami of recognition in stride.鈥�
That recognition has also inspired Liv to think about what鈥檚 next. She鈥檚 majoring in visual arts, but thinks it might be time to switch to a double-major and incorporate film in her studies.
But she thinks she may need to jumpstart her next project outside the classroom sooner and make another film this summer.
鈥淚鈥檝e been told you get your whole life to make your first hit, and 10 minutes to make your second,鈥� she said.
