--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Since 1950 I have been keeping a film…" description: "\"Since 1950 I have been keeping a film diary. I have been walking around with my Bolex and reacting to the immediate reality: situations, friends, New Y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/jonas-mekas-12648_cinema_since-1950-i-have-been-keeping-a-film-di_1933056.png" --- # Since 1950 I have been keeping a film diary. I have been… ![“Since 1950 I have been keeping a film diary. I have been walking around with my Bolex and reacting to the immediate reality: situations, friends, New York, seasons of the year. On some days I shoot ten frames, on others ten seconds, still on others ten minutes. Or I shoot nothing. Walden contains…” quote by Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/jonas-mekas-12648_cinema_since-1950-i-have-been-keeping-a-film-di_1933056.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/jonas-mekas-12648_cinema_since-1950-i-have-been-keeping-a-film-di_1933056.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f72/jonas-mekas-12648_cinema_since-1950-i-have-been-keeping-a-film-di_1933056.png) > “Since 1950 I have been keeping a film diary. I have been walking around with my Bolex and reacting to the immediate reality: situations, friends, New York, seasons of the year. On some days I shoot ten frames, on others ten seconds, still on others ten minutes. Or I shoot nothing. Walden contains material from the years 1964-1968 strung together in chronological order.” [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A personal chronicle of daily life captured through spontaneous filming, reflecting changing moods and environments over time. **In simple terms:** Daily life recorded on film. Key Takeaway Document moments, observe change. Themes art memory observation time city Mood reflective nostalgic Type documentary personal When to use this quote - personal reflection - urban exploration - seasonal changes - creative process Key Concepts cinema personal narrative chronology Questions to Reflect On - How does spontaneous filming shape memory? - What does the rhythm of shooting reveal about your life? A Different Perspective May miss deeper analysis of events. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cinema](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) [Diaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diaries/) [Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [New york](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Seasons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seasons/) ## Related quotes > [Chronological time is what we measure by clocks and calendars; it is always linear, orderly, quantifiable, and mechanical. Kairotic time is organic, rhythmic, bodily,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/chronological-time-is-what-we-measure-by-clocks-and-calendars-it-is/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [“Inspiration doesn't always come in chronological order.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-marinello-sweeney/inspiration-doesn-t-always-come-in-chronological-order/) [Gina Marinello-Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-marinello-sweeney/) > [In the memory of the dead all chronological differences are effaced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/in-the-memory-of-the-dead-all-chronological-differences-are-effaced/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [My favorite thing in moviemaking is to shoot in chronological order if at all possible, because it just helps for continuity and all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-bell/my-favorite-thing-in-moviemaking-is-to-shoot-in-chronological-order/) [Zoe Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-bell/) > [“We've got an entire lifetime ahead of us to do things like get married. 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Heisig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-w-heisig/) > [We do NOT know the past in chronological sequence. It may be convenient to lay it out anesthetized on the table with dates pasted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/we-do-not-know-the-past-in-chronological-sequence-it-may-be/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“Time is the chronological breakdown of life”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/time-is-the-chronological-breakdown-of-life/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A person's life consists of a collection of events, the last of which could also change the meaning of the whole, not because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/a-person-s-life-consists-of-a-collection-of-events-the-last-of-which/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [My books are written with a strong chronological spine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/my-books-are-written-with-a-strong-chronological-spine/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [Time doesn't necessarily happen in chronological order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/time-doesn-t-necessarily-happen-in-chronological-order/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) ## More by Jonas Mekas > [I live, therefore I make films. I make film, therefore I live. Life. Movement. I make home movies, therefore I live. I live, therefore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-live-therefore-i-make-films-i-make-film-therefore-i-live-life/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [I'm not so much in the future as always in the present. The future always takes care of itself. What I do now with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-m-not-so-much-in-the-future-as-always-in-the-present-the-future/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [“pasidaryt mažesniam reikia daug laiko.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/pasidaryt-ma-esniam-reikia-daug-laiko/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [To me, cinema is cinema. Cinema is one big tree with many branches. The same as literature. In literature, you don't just say, 'Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/to-me-cinema-is-cinema-cinema-is-one-big-tree-with-many-branches-the/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [The nature of the video camera really makes you focus on the present. Since I have always been a diarist filmmaker, not one who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/the-nature-of-the-video-camera-really-makes-you-focus-on-the-present/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [In narrative cinema, a certain terminology has already been established: 'film noir,' 'Western,' even 'Spaghetti Western.' When we say 'film noir' we know what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/in-narrative-cinema-a-certain-terminology-has-already-been/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [An adventurer can always return home; an exile cannot. So I decided that my home would be culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/an-adventurer-can-always-return-home-an-exile-cannot-so-i-decided/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [Just as in writing, there are novelistic and sort of pedestrian ways of telling a story, to write a postcard with your little pocket…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/just-as-in-writing-there-are-novelistic-and-sort-of-pedestrian-ways/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [I myself saw the great works of Western civilization for the first time in my high school in Lithuania in bad black-and-white reproductions on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-myself-saw-the-great-works-of-western-civilization-for-the-first/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [Once you change the technology - from a film camera to a video camera, or from an 8-mm camera to 16 mm - you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/once-you-change-the-technology-from-a-film-camera-to-a-video-camera/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [I'm working in a form of cinema that can be described, and has been described, as a diaristic form of cinema. In other words,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-m-working-in-a-form-of-cinema-that-can-be-described-and-has-been/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [I'm a filmmaker, but my working procedures are different. All my basic structuring is done during the filming. You know, how long I keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-m-a-filmmaker-but-my-working-procedures-are-different-all-my-basic/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [When I came to New York in 1949, there was already an entire fresh avant-garde film movement blooming in New York and California. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/when-i-came-to-new-york-in-1949-there-was-already-an-entire-fresh/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [I make home movies-therefore I live. I live-therefore I make home movies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/i-make-home-movies-therefore-i-live-i-live-therefore-i-make-home/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) > [“The hygienic slickness of our contemporary films, be they from Hollywood, Paris, or Sweden, is a contagious sickness that seems to be catching through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonas-mekas/the-hygienic-slickness-of-our-contemporary-films-be-they-from/) [Jonas Mekas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) [Explore all 46 Jonas Mekas quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonas-mekas/) ## More Cinema quotes > [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. I've taken breaks as the years have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-made-like-five-movies-while-i-was-in-college-i-think-they-just/) [Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/) > [You have to have a great director to make a great movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thelma-schoonmaker/you-have-to-have-a-great-director-to-make-a-great-movie/) [Thelma Schoonmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thelma-schoonmaker/) > [I'm trying to write a film with my friend. I'd love to get the thrill of speaking actors making my work even funnier.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-howard/i-m-trying-to-write-a-film-with-my-friend-i-d-love-to-get-the-thrill/) [Russell Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-howard/) > [I wasn't attracted to American cinema, but I fell in love with Los Angeles the minute I arrived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-varda/i-wasn-t-attracted-to-american-cinema-but-i-fell-in-love-with-los/) [Agnes Varda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-varda/) > [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/) [Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/) > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/) [Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/) > [I am tired of our characters being so incomplete. When do we ever save the day in a film? When does a Latino actor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esai-morales/i-am-tired-of-our-characters-being-so-incomplete-when-do-we-ever-save/) [Esai Morales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esai-morales/) > [I love film people and actors and I am in the right world because I am one of those people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewan-mcgregor/i-love-film-people-and-actors-and-i-am-in-the-right-world-because-i/) [Ewan McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewan-mcgregor/) > [Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donnie-yen/personally-i-prefer-contemporary-films-but-the-market-calls-for-more/) [Donnie Yen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donnie-yen/) > [I'd love to work in the States; I'd love to work anywhere where you get a good script and a good part to play.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-carmichael/i-d-love-to-work-in-the-states-i-d-love-to-work-anywhere-where-you/) [Laura Carmichael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-carmichael/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > ['Rear Window' isn't really a horror film, but it is a psychological drama, which I love. It is very tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-silvers/rear-window-isn-t-really-a-horror-film-but-it-is-a-psychological/) [Diana Silvers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-silvers/) > [What a thrill. You know you've entered new territory when you realise that your outfit cost more than your film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-yu/what-a-thrill-you-know-you-ve-entered-new-territory-when-you-realise/) Jessica Yu > [I am not interested in churning out a certain number of films every year. For me, it's about the quality of work. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepika-padukone/i-am-not-interested-in-churning-out-a-certain-number-of-films-every/) [Deepika Padukone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepika-padukone/) [Browse all 23,940 Cinema quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cinema/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Since 1950 I have been keeping a film diary. 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