Added: 1 year ago
From: t1i1b
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  • I tought i had a great spatial perspective O.o

    P.S: Great things to great people, rare things to rare people, common things to common people

  • cats

  • This is really amazing. I knew this dude put a lot of effort into this animations but I never realized how much. I can't imagine drawing circles without cell paper. He has to have a really good eye to pull that off.

  • This is just incredible. I was always impressed by the planets sequence and seeing the process behind making it happen has only left me in even deeper awe.

  • question: what kind of glove do you wear? Obviously to prevent pencil smears, but pencil residue doesn't collect on that material?

  • this is the most amazing thing i have ever seen things like this is what makes me glad im an artist

  • 10:38 was really beautiful

  • usually i won't watch a vid that's over 10 minutes, but when i found this i thought, "oh, Don Hertzfeldt. wonder what this one is...?" i was beyond amazed by the whole peice. i'm very impressed, inspired and intrigued by such patience and dedication he has. Don is now my +1 for inspiration in both animation and other forms of art [because cartoons are art!]

  • The animation is stunning! And his choice of music is brilliant. Never thought the music of Phillip Glass would fit in any film, but this film is an exception! I will be dreaming great dreams this night.

  • @electricbeachboy watch koyaanisqatsi, his music fits so perfectly!

  • First time I've actually noticed the immense artistic talent that goes along with Don Hertzfelt's incredible sense of humour and the quirky aesthetic of the cartoons - his perspective on the planets is amazing, his creatures impeccably imaginative and often womping, this is genius.

  • WOW! He spent four years making that animation. I wish I had the patience to make a film (Well, I kind of do). The sad thing: I long to be a film director, yet I have nobody to help me, and I don't want to use clay for the rest of my life.

  • @HorrificanStudios he didnt have much help ether...

  • WARNING: May cause seizures

  • How does he get paid? Im sure he has a day job, but I mean its a shame all this work just gets posted on youtube for free.

  • @daboognish88 DVD sales, no day job as far as I know. Luckily he has enough loyal fans to support his film making.

  • What kind of glove do you use? I'm left-handed and my hand drags across everything all the time.

  • @BucketCapacity he uses cotton gloves.

  • This film contains two pencil tests that show paper edges, registration pins, and Don's marginal notes. The flashing sequence of pages become visible at the edges, while smooth and natural motion takes place in the center. A sense of wonder grows on me that no persistence of vision or fool-the-eye camera techniques explanations can dispel, how an artist's vision drawn on static pages can be brought to life. This adds another layer to my fascination with animation.

  • I like the music XDDDDDD

  • like any sane and good artist, he has music playing in the background.

  • @chicasrule434 with the exception he is insane!!! this is too Awesome to be true he works so rough!!

  • Seeing all the work that goes into these, I guess all I can say is...thanks!

  • Hell i think I'll buy some of his stuff. Don and Jhonen Vasquez are my personal heroes.

  • aaaaa headless people walking!.I could never do this,im so lazy

  • I wonder what he does with all those eraser shavings? I'd just throw them on the floor and wait for piles of eraser bits to collect in the corners of the room.

  • Dear got I think I'm in love :D

  • @MsCrayonz me too~

  • Be so much easier to do it on a computer but I guess if you enjoy drawing why not draw every frame the old fashioned way.

  • Beautiful,... 

  • I recently ran across a curious historical artifact: 'Gertie the Dinosaur', also by Winsor McCay. 'Gertie' is reputed to be the first animated character with some personality to appear in film. The line drawings on paper (no cels) remind me of Don's work. 'Gertie' is available at the Internet Archive.

  • This reminds me of Little Nemo by Winsor McCay. He spends most of the cartoon showing how time consuming animation is (it was produced in 1911).

  • where can i find the original video ''the meaning of life"?

  • @HalfBreedPsycho On Don's bitterfilms website, look for the link to his store. It's on the Bitter Films Vol. One 1995-2005 DVD, along with his student films produced at UCSB, and other early stuff.

  • he is like the kurt cobain of art/animating/storytelling!! this guy really inspired me into animating and doing different kind of genre of it too! way to go man! everything he done to this vid makes an adventureous climax of his animation :) blood tears and sweat he gave this is history made of this generation

  • What lovely music. =3

    The simple eraser sounds, the flips of papers, and the ambient noise coupled with background music. The sound of creation is truly marvelous.

  • Am I alone in this, but does watching him animating traditionally make any fellow animators feel happy like clams? ^_^

  • He is absolutely amazing! ...He looks like Johnny Depp! Yep. I want him.

  • Jake Gyllenhaal mixed with johnny depp

  • i am strangly attracted to this guy o.o

  • Thumbs up if you watched the entire thing in absolute "awe"

  • love

    

  • This man is more than just talent. He has a strong concentration, morality and art. It is more than just an animator. Simply unique! Awesome!

  • this is beautiful

  • thumbs up if you saw the guy hitting himself

  • Nowadays, there are lots of headless people.

  • Wow! I just...wow! I know the work you...wow...did you see the movement of all the "people" while an event was taking place...plus the walk behind of the "headless" people. You would see peoples heads disappear. Just amazing work, really amazing! True talent. Oh, and was that Tom Waits in the background playing?

  • I've always enjoyed how Don creates animations which are drawings that are living on the page, rather than just moving on it. The page isn't simply media, it's a dynamic environment.

  • @doodlingdork I disagree. The artist has something in his head that he wants to get out, and he wants it to come across in a very raw and organic way. This is the medium and method that works for him. This particular video is more of a "sketchpad" of ideas and techniques to get those ideas across. Regardless of how nonsensical or random they might appear to be. If Don didn't care about content, he would have taken all of the commercial offers that came his way.

  • this reminds me of my 2d animation class :(

  • I just noticed something, though it took a while to hit me: In none of his films that I've seen so far has he used cels. All the techniques developed by Max Fleischer and Ub Iwerks for traditional animation-- movable backgrounds, rotoscope, multiplane camera, etc-- all depend on the transparency of cels. Trad cel animation is labor intensive enough, but Don makes himself MORE work by doing multi exposures and camera tricks instead. The results look great, but...WOW!!

  • I hoped Don worked with a light table. o_o ... Her eyes should be

    red at the end of the whole movie.

  • You do know flash right?

  • @ALEG0Man360: Animation cameras don't use flash bulbs... (big grin)

  • this guy has some serious skill

  • I love the sound of paper.

  • ......damn.

  • This is amazing without description!!

  • ^^^^ hm. does the quality of a work rely on buttons of likes and dislikes.

    As if the only understanding and appreciation can make itself worthy through buttons created of digital imagery that expresses. one. short. bland,.response...within itself, carrying the motivation to make itself important. Forbid the negativity! For it has never driven anyone to analyze within their self-righteous..self! +___-

    I had a granola bar for breakfast

  • Don Hertzfeldt is a genius. But this video makes me think somehow that he needs a girlfriend.

    ^_^

  • I have a masters degree in animation and besidesHideoki Anno, Don is my biggest source of inspiration.

  • Am I the only one that thinks that he looks like Kurt Cobain?

  • How many erasers and pencils did you go through????

  • @TheBostonseattlefan over 9000

  • AMAZING!

    How long did it take to make this amazing animation?

    When I have nothing to do (in school), I usually do these animation and take pictures of each design on paper, and then I'm going through the pictures to form an animation. But usually lasts about 10 seconds :(

  • @doodlingdork whoa, thats a bold statement, there.

    i think that you're viewing this art ass backwards.

    the quality in his work is okay, but the CONTENT here is what really matters.

    as a motion graphics artist myself (i.e. an animator), I personally believe that quality can only get you so far.

  • awesome

    just

    Simply

    AWESOME!!!!

  • 00:19 you see him having a soda or something...

  • WHAT'S THE PIANO SONG?!?!?!

  • All this time, I was annoyed by smearing my drawings with the sweaty side of my hand. Who knew the solution was something as simple as a glove? :P

  • amazing

  • WOW! and to think it took 3 years for this to be animated.

  • Comment removed

  • This man is a fucking animation god

  • Thanks to cocaine, this was done in twelve minutes.

  • @modernmoders lmfao hell yea

  • @lightningshrub Indeed... It's not even funny... This video is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. Really inspiring.

  • @Zerusuke that's how i felt about Billy's Balloon... despite all the whack comments.

  • all if have to say is... cried...

    and you have a really, really beautiful face ;)

    you have such a talent... im happy and hopefull that you dont weaste it :)

  • This guy make the world to a better place! BIG RESPECT!

  • He's hawt :D

  • :D he's hawt...

  • :D he's hawt...I lol'd @ da end tho <3

  • this is brilliant, every character is moving on thier own unique pace, simultaneously

  • @iamnotadriel absolutely unbelievable.

  • woah, i wonder how much money he spends on paper

  • He's amazing

  • He looks like the actor from the film prince of Persia

  • foda pra caraio mas, a mesa de luz mandou um salve!

  • The Passenger by Iggy Pop @5:50.

  • heard some Revolution 9 in there somewhere, good for you Don!!

  • i wonder how many frames total there are on that one...

  • WOw. Even the timelapse takes long!

  • WOw. Even the time-lapse takes long!

  • wow

  • wow, he caught my attention; he's on to classical music too!!

  • Don is very attractive :D

  • Then a creeper...

  • Only 1 person got bored... Its a new record!

  • really wish i could know what Don was listening to through out all the four years.

    The idea of the soundtrack is a mystery...

    Super cool video :)

  • @koibubbles four years!? so he just sat at his desk and drew frames for four years straight? he's probably the most patient person in the world and i am dead serious about that statement.

  • lightboxes are one reason I prefer a computer to a pen.

  • 5:45 Iggy Pop! :D "The Passenger" was one of the songs. I also heard some Sex Pistols, I think. And some 70s hard rock. And Tom Waits @ 11:48 .

    I even love this dude's music taste! I'd really love to drink a beer or two with him someday.

  • @TerryCraig23 I think I heard some Dead Kennedys at 5:25. All hail Don Hertzfeldt.

  • What song is that?

  • here's a fact for you guys, the human eye is capable of viewing about 36 pictures a second, so in order for this animation to be soo smooth like this its amazing... freakin a thats a lot of pictures!!!

  • This is art.

  • Beautiful animation : good job!

  • I like how ROUGH he his with his drawings... When I'm animating I'm ridiculously delicate with the pages just in case I accidentally crease something. Such a cool insight into a true master of animation/filmaking/storytelli­ng.

  • @kumaraisin to think he started at 15 is even more impressive...

  • QAQ

    1 minute of glory comes a long way. Especially so in animation.

  • and no light table!!

  • What is the name of the song starts 7:40?? GREAT JOB BTW =D

  • He does this all without a light table or anything? Damn. Respect.

  • @lkmrn325 i was saying the same thing. fucking insane.

  • @lkmrn325 You dont nd fancy art tools to create amazing work, hes just using a #2 pencil and sharpie

  • it's beautiful.  thank you.

  • I want to be an animator. I guess this is the life that's waiting for me...

  • @rockomundo If you don't use computers, then yes this is the life.

  • Can anyone tell me what the name of the first song is that plays in The Meaning of Life? The part where there's a man falling from above and he slowly rots as he descends towards the bottom. =(

  • This shows us how remarkable we can be, by watching someone who is dedicated and focused, working somewhere on this same planet, alone with his mind and his music.

  • if every human being was as skilled as this man we would be ahead of our time

  • This is beautiful.

  • inspiration,,incredible,genius­.

  • there's blood on that table. and he's got a broken hand. Didn't realize animation was that stressful

  • @Airsoftdude615

    I doubt his hand is broken. He's just wearing that glove to avoid smudging his pencilling with sweat.

  • If Don's Creativity and imagination were to manifest itself into physical strengh. Chuck Noris would be kissing its feet.

  • he's not only very good, he's also very cute :)

  • Amazeing...Impressive work! Hey, have you heard of the BOFF, BIGSTAR Online Film Festival on BIGSTAR.tv ? They have a $50,000 GRAND PRIZE for any genre film that is 5 minutes or less.

    I subbed and rated as well.

    Respectfully,

    Kevin Mattson

    PAPA BEAR

  • If Don's imagination was a video game. We will be seeing a lot more stranger looking creatures. As well one very interesting game.

  • I truly admire your patients.

  • @SillyLilSam That's "patience", smart one.

  • he probably spends hundreds of dollars on paper but he is good

  • he probably spends hundreds of dollars on paper, but he is good he deserves alot more recognition than this, like his own cartoon show or something

  • 11:47 = wiki pic

  • he's incredibly hot

  • he's really good at over lapping!

  • @doodlingdork It's about the quality of the content. LOLWUT

  • 11:05 OMG. And I thought I was the eraser shaving queen!

  • Wow, drawing the whole crowd moving frame by frame! You sir have a ridiculous amount of patience.

    Thank you for showing all the work that goes into animation, especially the old school kind that was done completely by hand.

  • amazing..freaking amazing...the expressions, the diversity of the characters...awesome...I don't think I could focus on an animation for that long... unless I had something (or someone) getting me excited to do said animation..

    and that's a cool little glove he has there! must be so he doesn't smudge anything midway through the animation..I need one of those for drawing..XD

  • "Animation is concentration"... truly amazing in see how a genious work in one of the most tedious but beautiful jobs, animation.

  • Best score I've seen! 73/0!!!

    Don will one day destroy Disney. 8\

  • @L00NGB00W we can only hope

  • como es que semejante artista no tiene mesa de calco?! DON HERTZFELDT NEED A LIGHT TABLE!!

  • como es que semejante artista no tiene mesa de calco?!

  • amazing!

  • And some people spend their lives growing 10-feet long nails on their hands...

  • that was...awesome...

  • Don Hertzfeldt is a genius. And a fox.

  • ... aaamaaazing!

  • Ever see that Ren and Stimpy episode where one or both of them become animators? The amount of work and little pay drives them literally insane.

  • @blazeadam09 Really? what's the episode called?

  • I've been following you since I saw the first animation show at the Dryden Theater. This video has given me a new found respect for your work though! Absolutely ridiculous stuff here

  • Damn! Look at all the hard work this guy puts into his videos!

  • philip glass at the end, ftw.

  • For a single man to tackle such a herculean task for his art is astounding. Drawing each individual frame by hand and then going over each of those carefully drawn frames with sharpie... I wish that I had your dedication, hand steadiness and patience. I already watched this on the DVD but it was nice to watch this again to see the process and effort it takes to work on even a single frame.

    By the way, I loved your inclusion of Philip Glass's "Opening" It's one of my favorite minimalist songs.

  • waaaait a second.

    Bitter Films has a YOUTUBE PAGE?!

    why don't someone TELL ME THESE THINGS!

    anyways, great video, Don. I am so proud of you (*wink*)

    how did you get a video up here that's over 10 minutes?

  • i make cartoons like him but not as good you can always see the side of the paper

    but now i know he uses bigger paper than me but not that huge paper

  • 28 images for 1 second of our happines :D

    DON IS THE MAN!

  • Do I hear some old Pink floyd from 5:05 to 5:09?

  • Why do all the people seem more mindless when they have heads?

  • For anything else yeah I'd rather watch grass grow, but to me this is watching a genius at work. Truly an amazing artist and a great story teller.

  • wow, that's a lot of effort.

  • A glove... that's actually a good idea. I should get one.

  • alot of hardwork :p

  • This is really fun - I'm trying to figure out which songs these are, from half-second snippets. I'm failing!

  • That's an impressive amount of work for any single human being.

  • @feoring even for a double human being.

  • @feoring Who said he was human? =)

  • no!

    bad Don, bad!

  • 2:46 on....

    Amazing. THIS is why he is amazing....

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