Alan Rickman is commonly termed a "phone book" actor because so many people would be happy to listen to him read the phone book. But would you watch him make tea in super slow-motion while the soundtrack to Inception plays? Well, here is your chance.


This video is part of artist David Michalek's Portraits in Dramatic Time film series. Each video features a "glacially paced performance" of an actor, aided by ultra-high speed, high-definition cameras. Each performance took a mere 10-15 seconds to shoot, but was then stretched out over several minutes.

By pairing Rickman's performance with the Inception piece "Mind Heist," Michalek has created the impression that Rickman is in Inception's top-level dream, making tea while other characters are off having adventures in dreams within dreams within dreams. Rickman manages to make his tea stirring — and its aftermath — as intense as anything that happens in those lower dreams.


Portraits in Dramatic Time [David Michalek via Geeks are Sexy]