Don Hertzfeldt

[Kain]

One of the greatest artists on the face of the planet.
[imo]

[gotxbrain]

that's not even good bro.

[Eli]

It's basic drawings repeated over and over.

[Kain]

It's animation.

[gotxbrain]

so is this, and it's way better

CSI: Minecraft

[Kain]

Implying work done by computer > work done by humans.

[gotxbrain]

oh, i'm sorry.

Bambi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

that better?

[Omlett]

i did love the intermissions of the animation show

[Kain]

oh, i'm sorry.

Bambi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

that better?

Implying teams of people > one person

[gotxbrain]

Implying teams of people > one person

sorry, how about THIS.

YouTube - Walt Disney Animations Steamboat Willie

[IMYou]

spam xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxtinct

[Kain]

sorry, how about THIS.

YouTube - Walt Disney Animations Steamboat Willie

K, a series of three shorts produced by one guy.

Hertzfeldt has done many more than that.

[Taz]

spam xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxtinct

Reported .

[gotxbrain]

K, a series of three shorts produced by one guy.

Hertzfeldt has done many more than that.

yeah, so has disney

Oh, also they're all better than poorly drawn/animated stick figures.


what i'm trying to say is that this dude is in NO WAY the greatest artist ever.

[Kain]

yeah, so has disney

Oh, also they're all better than poorly drawn/animated stick figures.


what i'm trying to say is that this dude is in NO WAY the greatest artist ever.

Except that after Mickey, he got with a studio.

ALSO:
2001 Academy Award nominee
1998 Palme d'Or nominee: Cannes Film Festival
2007 Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking: Sundance Film Festival
winner of over 150 other film festival awards

[gotxbrain]

Except that after Mickey, he got with a studio.

ALSO:
2001 Academy Award nominee
1998 Palme d'Or nominee: Cannes Film Festival
2007 Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking: Sundance Film Festival
winner of over 150 other film festival awards

I can think of 50 better artists than this guy.

[Kain]

I can think of 50 better artists than this guy.

Sure you can.

[gotxbrain]

Coppo di marcovaldo, cimabue, pietro cavallini, duccio, giotto, orcagna, altichiero. Those are just a few of the old artists. Some newer ones, Alberto seveso, jared nickerson, pablo alfieri, chuck anderson, joshua m. smith, pawel nolbert. All of those people draw better art than Don hertzfeldt.

Hell, I DRAW BETTER THAN HIM. And Clover, and tsuna

[Kain]

That's an opinion.

As was my first post.

So, really, this was a huge waste of time.

---------- Post added at 06:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 AM ----------

Also, I'm fairly certain none of them animate their drawings.

[gotxbrain]

That's an opinion.

As was my first post.

So, really, this was a huge waste of time.

---------- Post added at 06:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 AM ----------

Also, I'm fairly certain none of them animate their drawings.

>implying animation makes your art better

[Kain]

>implying spending years on single pieces means nothing

[gotxbrain]

>implying spending years on single pieces means nothing

it doesn't if it's shit. seriously, this isn't opinion, it's not good. it's like tying a piece of string to a light bulb and making it swing and calling it art.

[Kain]

The Rape Tunnel is art.
Paint splatters are art.
Botany is art.

"Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect."

This mans work invokes a sense of disdain from you, a feeling that you and others are superior.

Therefore, it is art.

HERPADERP

(Also, if it's not good, then explain the millions of fans, and copycats)

[gotxbrain]

The Rape Tunnel is art.
Paint splatters are art.
Botany is art.

"Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often with symbolic significance) in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect."

This mans work invokes a sense of disdain from you, a feeling that you and others are superior.

Therefore, it is art.

HERPADERP

(Also, if it's not good, then explain the millions of fans, and copycats)

i dunno about fans, but i can safely say people copy him because it's extremely easy to do so. In addition to your statement of what art is, i have my own addendum: Art is something unique, that others cannot replicate easily.

[Kain]

By your definition, the Mona Lisa is not art.
Nor is music.
Nor is anything you've ever created.

---------- Post added at 06:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 066 AM ----------

Also, just thought I'd post some reviews for one of Hertzfeldt's films:

"Everything will be OK" reviews

"...genius...Hertzfeldt’s offering, Everything Will Be OK, takes the prize... In his trademark 2-D animation, a stick figure enacts quotidian rituals — fruit buying, commuting — with a growing sense of ennui, existential angst, and eventually insanity. It’s hellish — and moving, too."
Nina Maclaughlin, Boston Phoenix

"...the centerpiece of this year’s show must be Hertzfeldt’s new one, which is short-listed for an Oscar. In the 17-minute Everything Will Be OK, [Hertzfeldt] mixes up his stick figure skills with experimental photography to show the slide into depression and insanity of a man named Bill. With his trademark salty-sweet take on life exhibited though poignant, simple writing, Hertzfeldt demonstrates how animation can tackle such tough issues as mental health and the doldrums of regular life better than Hollywood. It’s a sad tale, but one that’s likely pretty common in today’s world."
Matt Kettmann, Santa Barbara Independent

"Hilarious, touching, frightening, and wildly cinematic, Don Hertzfeldt's latest short continues down the same fourth-wall-breaking path he set himself on with Rejected and the trilogy from the first Animation Show. But this time the non-sequiturs and meta-cinematic effects are not used to reveal and expand the filmmaking apparatus so much as they serve to simulate an everyman named Bill's mental collapse...Hertzfeldt's stick-figure drawing style may be propelling him into experimentation outside of the animator's traditional realms, but it's also the secret weapon that makes his films as widely relatable as they are... Anyone who's ever felt a bit out-of-sync or depressed is likely to see themselves in Bill, and become appropriately unnerved when the representation of his anxiety begins to overwhelm even the narrative conventions Hertzfeldt had previously established."
GreenCine

"The best entry is Hertzfeldt's "Everything Will Be OK", a collage of line drawings and photography that follows a stick figure named Bill through medical treatments and madness. In 17 minutes, it manages to pack in more wonder, pity and dread than you'll find in several feature films. All that plus this classic line: "Outside, horribly deformed birds checked their voicemail." What more could you want?"
Aaron Mesh, Willamette Week

"What begins as a "day in the life" story of a regular Joe (or Bill, in this case), descends into madness and Lynchian disruptions of filmic sanity, where even the paper and pen medium of the director's work seems to be under threat."
Ted Mills, Santa Barbara News Press

"...this may be [Hertzfeldt's] most impressive. 2005's The Meaning of Life had some jaw-dropping visuals, but there's something creepy and real about Everything Will Be OK... It's done in Hertzfeldt's familiar stick-figure style, although he's added a few new tricks to his arsenal... integrating black and white photography and separating the picture into various bubbles as Bills' thoughts fragment. Even with the relative simplicity of the individual bits, the total composition is complex. At seventeen minutes, it's Hertzfeldt's longest film yet, and it's packed dense with gags, often overlapping. There's also a real darkness to this one, compared to the more fantastical types in his other shorts."
eFilmCritic

"...Hertzfeldt's latest masterpiece... cracks hilarious jokes while looking squarely at the meaninglessness of everyday life. It's like seeing a character from a Raymond Carver short story trapped in a "Far Side" cartoon... Hertzfeldt pushes the art form and its audience into some unexpectedly serious places."
Curt Holman, Creative Loafing Atlanta

"...the story, music, figures, and optical effects have been brought into perfect alignment... for a long time afterward, a sense of wonder for everyday life lingers."
J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

"...darkly original..."
Rebecca Winters Keegan, TIME magazine

"...devastating... stretches the form of the animated short in every direction. A meditation on the preciousness and fragility of health, mental or physical, it sends the soundtrack and visuals plunging into psychotic chaos as its stick-figure hero sinks deeper into undiagnosed despair. It’ll stay with you."
Jim Ridley, Nashville Scene

"...the best of the bunch... a touching exploration of terminal illness."
Graham Killeen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"...maybe the single best short... As you're marveling at its weird brilliance, take a minute to appreciate the humble ingredients: solid writing, a few low-tech camera effects and a bunch of stick figures on white paper."
Melissa Starker, Columbus Alive

"Bill has trouble remembering names. He knows something's wrong but he's not quite sure what. He dreams of having his head sent into orbit in a space capsule after his death. Bill is a stick figure. Yet in many ways Bill is more fleshed out, real and touching than most of the characters inhabiting Hollywood films... As the central character in Everything will be OK, Bill shows that innovation, heart and nuance are alive and well in cinema."
Tom Long, Detroit News

"...a sort of masterpiece... alternates between dream-like day-to-day life and hallucinogenic nightmare, scored at some point to Bizet. This is The Diving Bell and the Butterfly taken to paranoid extremes. It's wild, fun, and unexpected, not to mention a perfect demonstration of the lollapalooza that moviemaking - short and otherwise - can be."
Wesley Morris, the Boston Globe

"The highlight of the show was Hertzfeldt’s Everything Will Be OK, which packs more originality and voice into its 17 minutes than a lot of feature-length films... It blends Hertzfeldt’s signature bare-bones imagery with a fantasy-tinged bleakness to stunning effect."
Margaret Lyons, Time Out Chicago

"...wonderful and weirdly poignant..."
John DeFore, Austin American-Statesman

"...nothing else moved me like Everything Will Be OK... worth the price of admission... By blending in fuzzy and fragmented real-world photography and overlapping sound and a variety of fitting music into the mix, we really feel Bill's disorientation as he slips into his surreal world of psychosis. With Hertzfeldt providing a matter-of-fact voiceover narration to the action, we are never tugged in any manipulative ways. But Everything Will Be OK still hits with a surprising depth of emotion. Even with stick figures blinking on the screen instead of real people, this is one of the more realistic representations of a mental breakdown you'll see."
Jim Walker, INtake Weekly

"The best of the bunch.... takes the brilliant and focused wit of [Hertzfeldt's] previous work and applies it to a more expansive canvas than ever, building on the humanist tone of last year's The Meaning of Life and crafting an unforgettable piece of work."
Jason Shawhan, Nashville Rage

"...simply one of the finest shorts produced over the past few years, be it animated or not, full stop... essential viewing."
DVD Verdict

---------- Post added at 06:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:45 AM ----------

And for another one:

"The Meaning of Life" reviews

"4.5 / 5 stars... Animation genius Don Hertzfeldt, whose 2000 film Rejected is one of the funniest animated shorts ever made, has delivered a more varied and textured work than any of his previous line drawing material... a sci-fi odyssey. While not trying to be funny, Hertzfeldt here shows even more maturation of form.."
Jeremy Mathews, Film Threat

"Don Hertzfeldt's newest stick-figure masterpiece... a knockout... a richly complex look at Earth's evolution over hundreds of millions of years... mesmerizing and, on occasions, jaw-dropping. "Meaning" is animation with intention that goes far beyond amusement. It jogs the brain, reaching deep to conjure up thoughts about the nexus of existence. More simply, it's the closest thing on film yet to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey."
Bob Longino, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Amazing... this film alone is well worth the price of admission."
Amid Amidi, Cartoon Brew

"A multitiered opus... epic.. should guarantee at least a few wisps of marijuana smoke in each audience."
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

"The latest piece by Don Hertzfeldt, who's probably America's finest animation talent. If you haven't seen his previous film Rejected, I would suggest that you have missed out on what could well be this generation's A Hard Day's Night. But even better is his Meaning of Life...it's like the movie Picassuld have made...or maybe it's like Fantasia, if Fantasia weren't for people on drugs, but for people who are drugs. In sum, this 12-minute film uses sophisticated stick figures to trace the history of life on Earth from simple protozoa to multiheaded space monsters"
James DiGiovanna, Tuscon Weekly

"Hertzfeldt’s stick-figure animations are complemented here by painterly effects that add an entirely new dimension to his already unmistakable style. This isn’t "Rejected," however; "The Meaning of Life" chronicles the whole pantheon of human existence with a seriously jaundiced eye. Backdropped by the soaring notes of Tchaikovsky, it’s his most ambitious and mature (i.e., more smarts, less comedic mayhem) film to date. The literally universal truths expressed within – all of them pretty glum, by the way – hearken back to morbid Viennese existentialism: We’re doomed, he tells us, doomed. Thank goodness we’ve got Hertzfeldt to take our minds off all that angst with such revivifying imagery."
Marc Savlov, the Austin Chronicle

"Though clearly the one everyone in the crowd had been waiting for, Don's newest was almost certainly not what many expected. Still utilizing his penchant for stick figures, he also branched out into an astonishing technique of multiple exposures to create a light-intensive view of the universe and space as a whole. It's not nearly as dark or funny as his previous work, but obviously a very personal and laborious process.. maintains the Hertzfeldtian cynicism, albeit with a glimpse of beauty and hope."
the Bohemian Aesthetic

"...a beautiful study... dares to challenge our minds.."
ASIFA-San Francisco

"A bit of conceptual waggery.. riffs on the classic schoolroom poster that shows man walking toward his evolutionary terminus, from hairy ape to stubbly Neanderthal and beyond. Filled with legions of goggle-eyed black stick figures chattering at cross purposes and elbowing past one another under a threatening blue smudge, the film hews philosophically close to the Monty Python movie of the same title.."
Manohla Dargis, the New York Times

"For fans of ink and paint, we're talking nirvana."
Andrew Wright, the Stranger

"It’s surprising how poignant stick-figure, pencil-sketched characters can become in the hands of an artist, but that’s a large part of the magic of Don Hertzfeldt’s animated short..."
Animation World Network

"...an H.G. Wellsian look at evolution and de-evolution peopled by stick figures and mouthy creatures hurtling through the cosmos."
Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Phoenix

"...enigmatic.. a minimalist epic that conjures its cosmic vision from stick figures and a Tchaikovsky soundtrack."
Joshua Land, the Village Voice

"...views human society as a clutch of crabby stick figures, whose passing goes unnoticed in the weird vastness of the universe. Oddly akin to 2001: A Space Odyssey, "The Meaning of Life" suggests a kind of transcendence beyond words... the short features none of Hertzfeldt's trademark dark humor, except for the suggestion that life may be a joke beyond getting."
Curt Holman, Creative Loafing Atlanta

"A loopy look at a billion years, which includes a terrifying and lovingly executed crowd scene and generally boggles the mind while tickling the eyes."
Ray Pride, New City Chicago

"Insufferable."
Kyle Smith, the New York Post

[Drakonid]

Implying teams of people > one person

Implying work done by computer > work done by humans.

Yes and yes.


Also, there is no way you're saying that guy is better than Disney.

[Kain]

Yes and yes.


Also, there is no way you're saying that guy is better than Disney.

In my opinion he is better than Walt Disney.

[Eli]

In my opinion he is better than Walt Disney.

In my opinion, he produces simple, adorable drawings.
He animates his work well, however his drawings are simply not on par with other great artists such as Norman Rockwell or Salvador Dali.
I am not denying the man praise, his animations are whimsical and well orchestrated; however I doubt that he is one of "the best artists of all time".
There are many more that do the same type of work as him, and do it a wee bit better ;]

[Kain]

In my opinion, he produces simple, adorable drawings.
He animates his work well, however his drawings are simply not on par with other great artists such as Norman Rockwell or Salvador Dali.
I am not denying the man praise, his animations are whimsical and well orchestrated; however I doubt that he is one of "the best artists of all time".
There are many more that do the same type of work as him, and do it a wee bit better ;]

Like who, good sir?
I have yet to see anybody employ many of the techniques he has, such as using a backlit piece of paper with holes in it to create a starry night sky.

Also, never said greatest artist of all time, I said greatest artist on the face of the planet, E.G., alive.

[CL0V3R]

While this guy is decent, and the second video made me lol...
I just want to put in perspective something.
You made a comment about how doing hand drawn animation is different than using computers. I agree they can help especially when it comes to things like coloring, reusing things like mouths ect, but Don Hertzfeldt is just doing basic animation with no coloring. So I don't really see why and how that matters. Animating something regardless of whether or not you do it on a computer still has a lot of the same principles. Don has decent ideas but I wouldn't say his animation style is even close to being amazing. Interesting yes, amazing, no.

Anyways two decent examples of animations done by one animator:




^2D Animation by James Lee

Tarboy concept art


Makoto Shinkai

[Kain]

While using computers does still require talent, it doesn't require the ability to replicate nearly identical frames, over and over.
And, it's hardly basic. If you look up his video 'Rejected', the last few scenes employ techniques that are very difficult to replicate using just paper and cameras.

[gotxbrain]

While using computers does still require talent, it doesn't require the ability to replicate nearly identical frames, over and over.
And, it's hardly basic. If you look up his video 'Rejected', the last few scenes employ techniques that are very difficult to replicate using just paper and cameras.

uh, not really. He just crinkled up the paper a lot.

[Eli]

Like who, good sir?
I have yet to see anybody employ many of the techniques he has, such as using a backlit piece of paper with holes in it to create a starry night sky.

Also, never said greatest artist of all time, I said greatest artist on the face of the planet, E.G., alive.

He has created techniques that are unique to him, as have the other animators and artists on the face of the planet.
I wouldn't expect another artist to attempt to steal his ideas.

And yup, that's what I meant.
He's good, not one of the best.

There are other artists whom have created their own techniques, such as Sam Flores.

I also enjoy this guys work a little more than Mr. Hertzfeldt's.
YouTube - Prey
YouTube - Tom Kyzivat - Helium
Tom Kyzivat

But hey, it's all opinion.

[Kain]

uh, not really. He just crinkled up the paper a lot.

While having the crinkles 'move' the stick figured, and keeping other parts of the paper completely untouched.

---------- Post added at 06:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------

He has created techniques that are unique to him, as have the other animators and artists on the face of the planet.
I wouldn't expect another artist to attempt to steal his ideas.

And yup, that's what I meant.
He's good, not one of the best.

There are other artists whom have created their own techniques, such as Sam Flores.

I also enjoy this guys work a little more than Mr. Hertzfeldt's.
YouTube - Prey
YouTube - Tom Kyzivat - Helium
Tom Kyzivat

But hey, it's all opinion.

Thing is, many artists HAVE stolen his ideas.

The largest one, being the Pop-tarts commercials from a few years ago.

[gotxbrain]

While having the crinkles 'move' the stick figured, and keeping other parts of the paper completely untouched.

---------- Post added at 06:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:08 PM ----------


Thing is, many artists HAVE stolen his ideas.

The largest one, being the Pop-tarts commercials from a few years ago.

Pop tarts didn't steal from don hertzfeldt, there's nothing unique about poorly draw animated simple cartoon characters.


also, pop tarts commercials look better.

[Kain]

Pop tarts didn't steal from don hertzfeldt, there's nothing unique about poorly draw animated simple cartoon characters.


also, pop tarts commercials look better.

The style of them, and the general attitude mimicked his almost exactly.

[gotxbrain]

The style of them, and the general attitude mimicked his almost exactly.

I'm saying that it was extremely easy to mimic him because there's nothing special about his 'art'

[Kain]

I'm saying that it was extremely easy to mimic him because there's nothing special about his 'art'

There's nothing special about any art.

[gotxbrain]

There's nothing special about any art.

[Kain]

You're saying it's easy to mimic, because it's not special.

But the same goes for every other piece of art ever created.

The only problem is, after one guy does it, if another guys does it, it's copying, not art.

There are probably hundreds of people with the ability to paint an almost exact copy of the Mona Lisa.
There's nothing special about it.
It's just a painting of some bitch.