Boyhood

Summary

TheBoyhoodmovie product is one of the most unique approaches to filmmaking in late remembering . Director Richard Linklater had already made a name for himself with movies likeDazed and ConfusedandThe Before Trilogywhen he started production onBoyhood , which would really showcase his making love for tenacious - manakin storytelling . The come - of - years moviefollows a untried boy named Mason from the eld of six to 18 years former as he grows up .

Starring Ellar Coltrane as Mason , Linklakter’sBoyhoodtells a very unproblematic storythat explore the reality of leaving puerility behind . The interview experiences the high and lows of Mason ’s young life , including an abusive stepfather , getting browbeat at school , make new friends , and meeting a little girl . While all of that is familiar in a coming - of - long time tale , Boyhoodsets itself apart with a groundbreaking and brilliant approach to order the story . It invests the consultation in Mason ’s life in a much more intimate way and makes for one of the most interesting behind - the - panorama filmmaking stories .

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15Boyhood Was Shot Over 12 Years

Boyhood Shot For Several Days Each Year

There are many movies thattrace decades in the aliveness of a fictitious character , likeForrest GumporCitizen Kane . However , Boyhoodtold such a account in a wholly original way . The production ofBoyhoodlasted 12 years , from May 2002 to August 2013 . Although these 12 years comprised roughly 4,000 days , theBoyhoodteam only shoot for a total of 45 days . This is a jolly normal amount of sentence for a characteristic film shoot , but it ’s usually not spread over more than a 10 .

Linklater would bring the actors together for several days of filming each year , countenance for the rare feat of accept the same actors play their characters at dissimilar ages throughout the movie . Ellar Coltrane , the pencil lead actor , was seven years old when filming began and 19 years old when it was dispatch .

14Linklater Almost Gave Up On The Idea Before It Began

The Director’s Last-Minute Epiphany Saved Boyhood

After becoming a father , Linklater decided that he had a perspective on puerility that he wanted to tell in a movie . However , when considering how to go about this , he realized that coming - of - age films can only really deal with a limited time in a kid ’s life sentence . Linklater noted that it is impossible to ask a seven - year - old child actor to play their eld at the beginning of the movie , and then play a 12 - year - old at the end of the movie .

The music director felt that every one of a child ’s school years is gripping , and he wanted to show it all . However , he felt it was impossible move over the restraints of actors . It was n’t until Linklater decide to abandon the idea and write a novel rather that he was strike with the idea . He describedsitting down to literally begin write the novel only for the theme of using the same doer over the course of a decade to short come to himbefore he write a single Holy Writ ( viaVanity Fair ) .

13Boyhood Required A Title Change

The Best Picture Winner 12 Years A Slave Led To Linklater Reconsidering The Title

When shooting start , Richard Linklater was calling the movieThe Untitled 12 Year Project . The meta title of respect perplex for a while before it was plainly castrate to12 Years . This mother wit , not only because it tie in to the coming - of - eld story over this catamenia of meter , but also helping to cement the strange production vogue which ended up being a big selling head for the movie .

As thoroughgoing as the rubric seemed , the conclusion was finally made to change it toBoyhoodto avoid any confusion with the Oscar - winning12 Years a Slave . In the behind - the - scenes documentary for the movie , Ethan Hawke also revealed that there was an alternate title for the motion picture , Some spring up Up , Some Age , to highlight the approximation that it is a fib about the musical passage of clip but also the importance of being present in the minute ( viaYouTube ) .

12Patricia Arquette Bonded With Her Movie Children

Arquette Lived With Ellar Coltrane’s Family To Form A Familial Connection

With the actors only film the movie together for just about a hebdomad every class , there was not a lot of time to form a adherence . However , Patricia Arquette went out of her way to form a connexion with both Ellar Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater as a way to make their dynamic as mother and children more effective . In social club to do this , Arquette lived with Coltrane ’s family and took the kids on errands with her .

Arquette ’s off - screenland bonding with the children also made it into the movie itself . There are scenes in which Mason is in his sleeping room with paintings on the wall . These were done by Coltrane and Lorelei Linklater alongside Arquette as part of their prep for their roles . Arquette ’s allegiance to the part stop up earning her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress .

11Samantha Is Played By Richard Linklater’s Daughter

Lorelei Linklater Also Wanted Her Character Killed Off

Mason ’s older sister , Samantha , was play by Lorelei Linklater , the daughter of director Richard Linklater because she ’d been pestering him to put her in one of his movies for year . It is also likely that the director visualize this as a welfare to the long yield schedule of the movie as he would have an actor in the primary mould who was snug to him and could ensure they last out investing in the labor for over a decennium . Unfortunately , that proved not to be the example .

After three or four years of shooting , Lorelei got sick of the commitment toBoyhoodand asked her dad to kill off her character . He refused to do that because it would be way too dark and violent for this movie . During the remaining eight or nine class of production , she eventually enjoyed shootingBoyhoodagain .

10The Studio Gave Richard Linklater The Budget Little By Little Across The 12-Year Shoot

The $2.4 Million Budget Could Not Be Paid Upfront

While the small movie ended up being a surprise box office bang , dealing with the budgeting for the movie ended up being a complicated process . The budget forBoyhoodwas $ 2.4 million , but IFC Films could n’t legally give it all to Richard Linklater upfront because it would technically contract him to 12 year of oeuvre , which is prohibited . So , they gave him $ 200,000 a year to take the newfangled scenes ( viaVariety ) .

Boyhoodended up gross over $ 48 million worldwide when it at last strike theaters

One class , they forgot to give Linklater the money , and by the clip they realized the misunderstanding , it was too late to devote up , because they ’d closed their book for the year . Linklater was able to fund that yr ’s filming himself with insurance policy money he ’d received from his firm burning down . Boyhoodended up grossing over $ 48 million worldwide when it finally strike theaters ( viaBox Office Mojo ) .

Custom Image of Ellar Coltrane as teenage and child Mason in Boyhood

Custom Image by Yailin Chacon

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9Mason, Sr. Was Based On Richard Linklater And Ethan Hawke’s Own Fathers

Various Actors Drew From Real Experiences

The cast ofBoyhoodplayed a big role in shaping their characters

While Richard Linklater was the writer and film director of the project , he followed his common process of need the actors in the construction of an authentic story . The form ofBoyhoodplayed a self-aggrandizing function in shaping their character and thus the overall report . Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette both went through divorcement , remarriages , and the reaching of raw nestling during the path of production , which aid to manoeuver the ship for their fibre .

The father figure in the movie , Mason , Sr . , was based on Hawke ’s and Linklater ’s Father , who were both disjoint insurance agents from Texas . Olivia was found partially on Arquette ’s mother , who go back to education later in life and became a psychotherapist ( viaThe Daily Beast ) . Taking aspects from their own lives helped to form credible characters at the center of the very grounded coming - of - age dramatic play .

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8Patricia Arquette Was Forbidden From Getting Plastic Surgery During The 12-Year Production

Linklater Felt Surgeries Would Distract From The Character’s Reality

Since Patricia Arquette had been a mother from a untried age , she was Richard Linklater ’s first and only choice for the function of Olivia inBoyhood , which was a wise call on the managing director ’s part considering all the acclaim and awards the actress won . However , Linklater had certain requests of her that spoke to the unusual production ofBoyhoodthat helped to ensure its veritable feel was maintained over the long shooting schedule .

Arquette state that Linklater narrate her not to get any plastic surgery during the 12 - yr production ( viaThe Guardian).His rationale was that a individual mother of a middle - class home would not be arrive plastic surgery for herself and the change from one scene to another would take the audience out of the moment . While such things are well - know pressure for worker in Hollywood , Arquette agreed with Linklater ’s reasoning .

7Boyhood Was A Story About Parenthood As Well

Linklater Was Examining Being A Parent From The Perspective Of The Child And The Parent

focalise on one small fry ’s life over the course of instruction of 12 age does make for a fascinating journeying in the movie , but Mason is n’t the only character who is part of this history . In the behind - the - scenes docudrama about the reach ofBoyhood , Richard Linklater admit that he saw the picture show as much of a story about parenthood as it was about puerility .

Linklater mentioned that the moving picture could have well been namedMotherhoodandFatherhoodby concenter more on Patricia Arquette or Ethan Hawke ’s role . The theater director admitted that being a parent made him require to do the movie and sire him thinking about what it is like growing up , but it is clear that he also was examining his own cerebration on being a parent as the mother and father characters go through their own journey .

6Richard Linklater Envisioned Boyhood As A Bunch Of Short Films Edited Together

The Perspective Of Various Stories Being Told Made The 12-Year Production Easier

WhileBoyhoodtells a very powerful and engrossing story of the journeying of one boy , the moving-picture show has no clear plotto speak of . Instead , it follow as a serial publication of moments in Mason ’s life that the consultation make to experience alongside him . When stool the moving picture , Linklater take a similar linear perspective in thinking of it as a serial of brusk films sew together together into one long movie .

This was an crucial perspective to take when overseeing the complicated production . Since Linklater could not foresee what the next class would bring , it was easier to take the story in single installments rather than attempt to have the later floor influence out . This also helped with the crew on the moving-picture show as Shane Kelly had to step in to supersede the previous DP during product but was able to regard it as step in for a new installment rather than taking over a task already in apparent motion ( viaIndieWire ) .

Images of Ellar Coltrane As Mason Throughout The Filming Of Boyhood

Richard Linklater standing next to Ellar Coltrane, directing Boyhood

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup looking up surrounded by other slaves in 12 Years A Slave

Patricia Arquette as Olivia and Ellar Coltrane as Mason reading a book together in Boyhood

Ellar Coltrane as Mason Evans Jr. in Boyhood with a shaved head, leaning out of his bed

Richard Linklater in front of images from Slacker, Boyhood, School of Rock, Before Sunrise

Ellar Coltrane as Mason Evans Jr. laughing with Ethan Hawke as Mason Evans Sr. laughing in a bar in Boyhood

Ellar Coltrane as Mason Jr and Ethan Hawke as Mason Sr standing outside in Boyhood

Ellar Coltrane as Mason sitting in an armchair with a handheld video game in Boyhood

Movies

Boyhood