Café reflections

Amstel beer and Coke
Strange cocktail
I get drunk on light

A quiet day at the cottage. The weather is fickle today: we've had sun at least four times since this morning!

I'm sitting at the desk (a plank balanced on trestles, to be more exact), under the roof window and I see grey clouds, where I was blinded earlier by the sun...

We watched Boyhood  last night. I really liked it. I didn't exactly remember what was so special about it, technically speaking, but looked it up again and realised that there are not several sets of actors (especially the children), but that the very same play the roles from elementary school to college. Linklater did film this over a period of twelve years! Now that's what I call following through on a project! I also loved that it is not fancy cinema, but true to life, with no special effects, very simple camera movements, no extravanza in the lighting etc. It's filmed as a documentary, and has the appealing power of fiction. No wonder it garnered the prizes it did! For those of you who haven't yet seen it (we were a bit late to the party, admittedly), I thoroughly recommend it: I was amazed to realise it had been nearly three hours long. You don't feel them. All the actors are good, Arquette and Hawke included.

We missed Still Alice. It was shown at a cinema nearby when we arrived, but we couldn't go, and now it's not showing anymore. I guess we'll have to wait until the DVD comes out...

I'm so happy I feel like watching films again, and in an analytical way, not just for fun and distraction, but to admire the technicalities, too. I love to feel the need to observe the camera movements, the lighting, the editing. It makes me want to shoot again. I've had a scenario for a short film ready for years but have never had the guts to shoot it (nor the money, I have to admit - and this would still be a problem!). I should take it up again, brush it up probably (it is more than ten years old, I might not want to tell that particular story the same way), but it is much easier to shoot a film nowadays than it used to be. You can do it rather cheaply with a higher-range camera (the Canon EOS 5D, even the Mark II, is great for shooting quality videos, I hear - with a 6D as a backup.

It took me a while to write this, and now it's raining. I guess another film will be on the afternoon's menu...