We tend to concentrate on the process and technology, and don’t often offer our opinions in regard to motion picture content.  But after all the tentpole live action comic book sequels, it was so refreshing to see a truly moving motion picture, Boyhood.  The seemingly simple but extremely elegant method for covering a 12 year span of critical changes in the characters was to actually shoot with the same Actors for periods of three or four days at various intervals over an actual period of the dozen years.

The production scheduling format is unique, but what’s really exciting is the depth of the drama in perfect sync with the physical changes to the characters.  The story follows a Texas family going through divorces, celebrations, confrontations and just experiencing ordinary life. The movie’s run time is nearly three-hours, but it is very relatable and to me, it never got at all boring.

The two young stars Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater, literally grow up onscreen, while their parents played by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette also go through distinct periods of adulthood.  Filmmaker credits included Richard Linklater directing, writing, and producing along with Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, and Cathleen Sutherland.  Cinematography duties were shared by Lee Daniel and DCS member Shane Kelly, while Editing credit goes to Sandra Adair.

So, OK, this was supposed to be about content, but I can’t help but think how lucky the Filmmakers were not to have tried to employ digital capture for this particular production.  Can you imagine the many obsolete electronic formats they would have been trying to marry for the final DI?  Thank God they chose trusty Kodak film with Panavision cameras and lenses; the results were reliable and beautiful.