Boyhood

Richard Linklater made the film Boyhood over twelve years, shooting for just a few days each year with the same actors and crew. It's a fantastic achievement and one that pays off, creating a unique experience within the history of cinema.

As well as the obvious advantage of being able to tell the story of someone growing up without the hardship of casting multiple actors there are other advantages to making a film in this way. Linklater has talked about it being 'a period film shot in the present'. Most of the music decisions came towards the end of the process allowing Linklater to use songs from the relevant period but to choose them in the future giving him the benefit of knowing which songs have stood the test of time.

He also had the luxury of editing a section of the film and then not watching it again for another year giving a distance and freshness you can never achieve with a regular feature.

Linklater cleverly leaves out some key events from the characters lives instead choosing to focus on the effect these events have had on their everyday living. He transitions between years without the use of titles, the audience never left in any doubt that time has passed due to the change in appearance of lead actor Ellar Coltrane.