Film Project I Want To Happen

[Redstar]

I've had this idea for years now about a film that is shot over the course of decades, then finally cut together into some sort of cohesive story. I just love the concept of filming a story around different characters and seeing them age and playing their adult selves.

Even cooler would be seeing the younger/older versions of the actor interacting with each other through compositing done after the fact. Wouldn't that be the coolest time travel effect ever?

I just sort of wanted to share this idea because it seems so inventive. I'm surprised it hasn't been done before on some level, though I would be thrilled to be told of examples that have.

Thoughts on this concept? Or does anyone have their own concepts for a film or novel that they feel has never been done before?

[Phlibbit]

You're not alone in having this idea. I've thought many times that something like this could be extremely cool if there's a story to back it up. It's just not commercial to do it--if some independent filmmaker started it, and then maybe got famous, and was able to get enough resources to bring the whole thing together later in his career, it could be absolutely extraordinary.

[Redstar]

Looks like someone took my project to heart, though it's obviously not nearly on the same level as what I had envisioned.

[ultimateemail5000]

That is such a good idea. I wish I would have made a tape like that when I was younger. Brilliant idea it could make a good movie.

[Redstar]

Richard Linklater's new film Boyhood has finally executed my idea!

Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent, set to a soundtrack spanning the years from Coldplay’s Yellow to Arcade Fire’s Deep Blue. BOYHOOD is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting. It’s impossible to watch Mason and his family without thinking about our own journey.

So, the same actors are featured throughout the film, yet age on their own as Linklater chose to only shoot a few scenes for a few days of each year. Introduce a time-travel element and this'll be perfect!

[Phlibbit]

This sounds awesome! Can't wait to give this a shot.