don hertzfeldt, filmmaker : AMA

This is seriously not a question, I am sorry being against the format but I guess I'm gonna go ahead anyway. Because you roughly made what I'm today. Your works basically are an inspiration for me because I'm an amateur short-story and play writer (especially "Everything Will Be OK" and "I'm So Proud Of You") and they set my idea about life (especially "The Meaning Of Life").

I just want to thank you. Thank you because you made a young, depressive man who failed to suicide before to embrace life. Thank you for being. Thank you for being awesome.

hey, thank you for telling me. also you have cake or pie next to your name

As a fan for quite a while, I have always wanted to ask:

What the fuck is wrong with you?

bluhhhhh

How do you feel about Rejected overshadowing your other work?

most of my favorite bands are only known to the general public from their hit singles. which is fine. but there are usually way better songs to be found on the albums

How do you like your eggs?

i don't really like squooshy foods. it's a texture thing

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now look what you've done, this is at the top of the page

Yesterday I went to the pie shop and happened to be wearing an Animation Show shirt. They were out of the pie I wanted, and there was a quick chat with the girl at the register.

Her: Sorry, we're out of those pies, but that's an awesome shirt! Are you an animator? I love animation!

Me: No, but have you heard of Don Hertzfeldt?

Her: No.

Me: Rejected?

Her: No... can you write that down for me? <grabs a piece of receipt paper>

Me: Sure! <writes "Don Hertzfeldt, Rejected"> Definitely check him out.

And then I walked out.

Sorry it wasn't a question, but I just wanted to share the story of how I could have slipped a girl my number yesterday, but I told her about Don Hertzfeldt instead. Also, there was a pie shop involved.

that was YOU? she gave me a call and we have been making out all afternoon on a heap of stale pie

Hope is was apple pie with a picture of Carl Sagan hanging over the mantle.

GET OUT OF MY HOUSE

Do you remember a time when you were working really hard making things, except no one was looking at them and you weren't making money? Did you ever wonder 'Oh geez, maybe I'm not actually talented, maybe there is no intrinsic value to any of the things I make UGH WHAT AM I DOING' and IF so, do you have any advice for others going through such a period?

THAT TIME IS RIGHT NOW

lynda barry said something really great about this and i am paraphrasing badly, but you need to try to return to the time when you were a little kid, creating things on a big sheet of paper in a beautiful sunbeam, and not having any cares at all about how it might one day be received. it's when children learn to think, "is this any good?" that they start to become paralyzed creatively. and this is why most adults don't draw, don't write, don't sing, don't dance, and are terrified in front of audiences.

As a weird person who's had writer's block for a long, long time; thank you. And if you could thank Lynda Barry whenever you see her next, that'd be great, too.

i think it's in a book of hers.... "what it is"

What what is?

who's on first?

Is the current pop tarts campaign a rip-off of Rejected?

i guess so

Do you care?

of course

A few years ago, I had an assignment in my Gen. Ed. Art class where I had to basically decorate the inside of a shoe box. I took it as an opportunity to pay tribute to you. This is what I made. I got an A on it. Thanks for the help!

And since I should probably ask a question, how did you acquire the camera used to shoot A Charlie Brown Christmas?

i bought it from the nick vasu camera company in burbank in 1999. i'm not sure if their studio is around anymore. they used to have a small fleet of these sorts of cameras to mostly shoot titles and credits and cleanup animation stuff back before it became easier to do digitally

i picked up a second camera a couple years ago to help finish shooting "it's such a beautiful day" and when i moved to austin we had to cut a hole through the side of the house to get them inside

Wow, that's dedication. The cameras are that large?

yeah they are very large and very heavy. here's some pictures of the older one:

http://www.bitterfilms.com/P1010240.jpg http://www.bitterfilms.com/P1010248.jpg http://www.bitterfilms.com/P3100541.jpg

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i was in a supermarket a couple years ago and there were some grubby teens wandering around sort of half-following me through the aisles, quoting a bunch of lines from "rejected" to each other. and i thought they were making fun of me before i realized they had no idea who i was

How does something like that feel? I always thought that as a (really awful) musician that if I one day wrote a song and heard somebody I didn't know humming/singing/whistling it to themselves somewhere like that then it would be one of the most awesome things.

it's mostly just sort of strange, like a message from another life that you've forgotten about. what is odd is how famous some of the films are and how completely un-famous i am as a person (thankfully so)... which gives me a direct relationship to them, but they don't really feel like they're "mine" anymore, they're just sort of out there on their own. so it's not like, "ah i am beaming with pride from hearing this," but more like, "this is very odd and i vaguely kind of want to leave this area." but not in a negative way. sorry i am doing a very bad job explaining this

Holy shit, grubby teens? He just described me and every single one of my friends that I have

grubby teens are everywhere

I saw you a few years ago in New York City and when asked about the internet, you seemed pretty upset about people stealing your content and posting it with shitty quality to various forums on the internet (the first time I saw shitty dubs of your work online, it was pre-youtube).

I saw you this year in San Francisco and you seemed in general: happier. I'm curious if your opinions of the internet and piracy have changed?

i'm glad to hear that i am happier. yeah the internet-quality issue used to be a nuisance... especially in the late 90s when almost everything looked terrible really no matter how you uploaded it. i've described this before, but it's probably like going to extreme lengths to record and mix your album as carefully as you can and then realizing how many people are listening to it in their car with the left speaker missing and the bass turned all the way up. at some point you just have to let it go. but things have changed obviously over the years and now you can get full hd online... i still don't think the internet is the proper setting for seeing a movie, and it never will be, but at least things look incredibly better now and i am more at ease with releasing stuff that way.

Hey Don, HUGE fan here, just wanted to say that 'Everything Will Be Ok" got me through some really rough patches when it first came out, I was really moved by it. As someone who is aspiring to be a sound designer for film the elegance of your soundtrack has always been something that has stood out, among others. How do you go about finding the right music/sound fx for your films and how do you know when enough is a enough when layering sounds?

thank you... i love working with sound too but to be honest i don't really know what i'm doing most of the time (incidentally this is true for much of life). it is not much more than listening to it over and over and over again and constantly refining. the same goes or editing, really. constant study and shaping and trial and error. i'm not good enough to get something right the very first time but i have a lot of patience

Do you ever find yourself taking days or perhaps weeks off from editing/sound because you are viewing things over and over again, too much? Is the film just so much in your head that you don't need to step back to see it in its full context fresh? Also do you hold test screenings with friends or is the premiere usually the first time people other than you get to see it? THANKS.

usually going to bed and returning to the mix or edit the next day is a refresh enough. it's sort of like when you work on a crossword puzzle... you'll eventually get stuck and put it down. and then for some reason the next morning when you pick it up all the answers seem really obvious

incidentally, i think the same thing is true when i play piano.... i'll be practicing, figuring out a new piece. and the next day when i sit down again i can suddenly play it much, much better than the previous day. something happens in your sleep

Hi Don! You came to Rochester back in 2005 when "The Meaning of Life" had just come out, and showcased all your films. I, a meek animation student at the time, asked for your autograph, like most fans. But then I challenged you to a game of tic-tac-toe, as I have a grid tattooed on my arm. Overwhelmed by the fact that I, an excited fangirl, was playing tic-tac-toe with one of my idols, I lost all sense of intelligence, and you won the game. On my own arm. Aaand it was my birthday.

This is all an exciting anecdote to retell, but what I'd really like to ask is if I may challenge you to a rematch. Same court (my arm, of course). I live in Philly now--do you know when a possible future tour may lead you here so I can attempt victory once again?

can't we just ship your arm back and forth?

Do you do drugs?

no

Don, here is a picture of my favorite kind of cloud. Can you please draw your favorite kind of cloud?

i don't know that is a pretty good cloud

With the Bill Trilogy, you've included more and more live-action shots in your films. Do you see yourself shooting an all live-action piece? Or at least a predominantly live-action short with animated sequences?

Big fan. Met you twice at Q&A's. You were rad both times.

thanks... i wanted to be a live action filmmaker from day 1 but it was always too expensive. i don't know about a live action story but i would like to shoot a documentary

I'm sick Don, how do you make me stop being sick?

sit in the sun

Will you be hiring young eager animators for your upcoming feature? Also, your work is great. Can't wait for DVD vol. 2.

yes, absolutely. it would take me 20 years to animate something like that alone and not drawing everything by myself over and over again will be a blessing. i look forward to the day where i can merely stroll into a room full of hardworking people and tell them everything they're doing is wrong

What's with the language the characters are speaking in the short "Wisdom Tooth"? Is it true that it's based on Scandinavian? If so, why Scandinavian?

it's total gibberish. it's a strange blend of the sounds of german and swedish and some other stuff. the cartoon was based on a comic strip i did a super long time ago, and when i got around to doing the movie i realized that there are certain things that are really funny when you read them on the page, but sort of not at all that funny to hear performed. so the excuse to throw subtitles on the screen and just make the audience read everything was sort of the only reason for that.

also, i'm half swedish

speaking of gibberish, what's the background to the "alien speech" at the end of The Meaning of Life, is it gibberish or if I put the video on a turntable and played it slowly backwards I'd learn...well...the meaning of life?

i can't remember. i don't think it's backwards though. also those aren't aliens actually

follow up question: what are they?

evolved humans, super into the future. everything takes place on earth. a lot of people think they're aliens though and i think i screwed that up but that's ok

Are you going to make any prints from "it's such a beautiful day"? I bought one from each of the first two films, and I want to have a threesome on my wall.

yeah we should probably do that. i really like those prints. i punched out the fancy printer that makes those though (true story) so we probably need to get a new one. i really don't have a temper or anything but that printer was a nightmare

I wrote you two years ago for an autograph, you sent me these series of little stars as a response: * * *, * * * *.

I thank you for the stars again, but still want an autograph....

perhaps some little ampersands would satisfy you this time?

&&& &&&&. &&.

Can you sometimes feel annoyed when an audicence laughs at the darkly funny things in your films, as opposed to being more analytical and open to embrace the tragedy?

Don't get me wrong, Everything Will Be OK is an insanely good black comedy, but to me it's more tragic than it's anything else. I often get the feeling when watching black comedy together with other people that many are so eager to laugh at funny stuff that they end up ignoring the deep tragedy that is so central to black comedy. And that saddens me.

I often watch your films as a therapeutic experience, as something that makes me feel better about myself. People who laugh out loud at funny details kind of ruins that for me. Thoughts on this?

i am mostly grateful for any audience reaction that is not total boredom. when on tour with those films, in particular "i am so proud of you" i noticed a lot of what you're describing... in some cities it would play as a comedy with lots of generous laughs, and in others it would play as a tragedy. i think any reaction, as long as it's honest, are totally fine. i like movies where maybe people leave the theater thinking different stuff

Have you made the jump to modern tools, or do you still prefer to use paper and pen?

yes sort of. this has been answered elsewhere though so instead i am going to type a few b's for you

bbb b b

Do you love me?

we have to stop seeing each other like this

Rejected was one of the first videos that I remember downloading.

How do you feel about piracy of your content?

it's fine. i think if anyone knows me enough to torrent something, they know i'm one of those indie types where a dvd or ticket sale actually does make a difference. i don't think all the pirates are drooling anarchists... people know to support what they like.

incidentally i think we will be able to offer our own downloads sometime next year

What advice would you give to an aspiring filmmaker/screenwriter? I'm just out of college and film is all that really interests me but I don't know if I can survive off it alone. How did you manage when you were in your early twenties is my question. Thanks!

this may sound weird or sad but i often find people to be fundamentally disappointing. ok that does sound weird and sad. but i think the less you put your career / your dreams into other people's hands, the better off and the happier you will be. which means working independently and getting your own things off the ground as much as possible, rather than waiting around indefinitely and doing nothing for months for some stranger to green light a pitch

(which is another way of saying you will be broke and you will struggle, but you will not be merely relying on dumb luck and the whims of others)

Are we ever going to see any Bitter Films blurays or your stuff in HD or is that up convert not possible?

well it wouldn't be an upconvert.... there are actually beautiful HD masters on hand of all the films since 1995, direct from the original film elements. these are the masters we draw from for all the regular DVD releases and they are gorgeous.

HD video's definitely happening at some point, that's inevitable.

i'm not sure what will happen first though, or if blu-ray will even be on the radar. i would love to be able to hand over the keys to the car to a trusted distributor to make a blu-ray happen properly for all the films. as it is now, new physical releases just take us a lot of work: remastering, designing, promoting... and i'd just much rather spend that time working on making new stuff than revisiting and re-releasing the past again.

so i think when the time does come to think about another release, people may not even be buying physical discs at all anymore but transmitting movies straight into their faces with something new?

as the market shifts towards HD downloads, it seems like dvds and blu-rays are becoming more like albums or special box sets, something for the most dedicated fans to own, who want the cool booklet and the special artwork and the 35mm film strip and the bonus features. which i have a soft spot for, i remember staring for hours at album artwork as a teenager looking for the hidden messages and stuff. and i like seeing it all on a shelf... but these all seem more like cool specialty mementos now.

Earlier this week, you posted a Zbigniew Rybcynski short called "Tango." Was that in any way the inspiration for the pedestrian scene in Meaning of Life? Also, who are some of your favorite filmmakers?

i think i first saw "tango" at an animation festival when i was 13, so yes that was probably in the back of my head

With the trilogy complete, what's next on your plate?

there are three books sort of hovering in the air. one is small and one is sort of medium and the other is big.

that sounded like a prophecy

there is also something strange i would like to shoot that's not animated but i'm not sure how to do it yet

much more concrete, i am soon going to get serious about an animated feature film. probably have to do it indie

Don, I just wanted to say I'm a big fan. I heard you've drawn a lot of movies on your kitchen table. Is that true? What does your work space look like?

ha, that is not true. this is my pathetic art desk in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EBdEoZUH7o

I'm a bit late here, yeah? I just wanted to say, your work has inspired me tremendously. Just want you to know.

thanks

and i am glad your hellokitty is no longer gumming everything

Do you hold a grudge against Pop-Tart commercials?

you shouldn't eat those things anyway, they will probably give you cancer

Did the Oscar nomination have any significant impact on your career?

sure, i think so. awards are fantastic publicity and that was a lot of fun. people tend to return phone calls more.

the only pitfall with awards is if you start to care about them too much, or worse, take them personally. because then if you lose, you might turn into an asshole. and if you win, you might turn into an asshole.

I just wanted to thank you for being awesome. You're work is some of the rare few that can consistently make me laugh after multiple viewings (the only other major one is Venture Bros.). Please, in the name of good taste everywhere, keep doing what you're doing and showing the rest of the world how it's done.

thank you, i am trying

Are there any plans to bring back The Animation Show? And what theaters will It's Such a Beautiful Day be playing in? Any in the Seattle area?

Thank you for doing this AMA, Don. Your work has really resonated with me.

yes it's coming to seattle in december:

November 30, December 7, December 14, December 21: NW Film Forum, Seattle WA

Don, huge fan, especially of the Everything Will Be Okay trilogy. Have you ever considered utilizing computer animation in your works, as opposed to just 35mm? (not implying that it's better than the effects you create in-camera, just different)

Also, could you ever see yourself creating larger works in the future? Features, television shows, etc?

hi i think the computer / 35mm is being asked a lot and i will address it elsewhere in a sec but to your 2nd question, yes a feature film is definitely on the radar next. i think "it's such a beautiful day" will be the last short for a while

Have you ever been content?

it happens

I don't know if you're still here. I've been having a rough couple of days so I slept through the beginning of your AMA. I don't have a question but I just wanted to say that I'm a huge fan. You're able to do such thought provoking work with such a unique medium and I'll definitely be buying your next DVD. Cheers.

thanks i'm still here i just am really slow

Don first I want to say your trilogy is one of my favorite films of all time, I lent the first two dvds to a friend to watch. I cry like a sissy at the end of part 2 every time. Anyway, your music is always perfectly selected in your films... Got any music recommendations?

most recently i've (re)discovered nick cave's grinderman stuff.... and am a new listener to the black angels. and the chrysta bell / david lynch album is good

I know from listening to you in the past that your an avid traditionalist. Drawing and shooting everything in film. Have you started to embrace any digital technology in the past few years or are you still staying away from that?

sure.... "it's such a beautiful day" was my first short that has a handful of digital effects in it. but it was a very strange process because everything still needed to be married on the 35mm animation stand.

so whatever i would do in the computer would then be printed out, one frame at a time, in massive stacks of stills, which were then photographed underneath the camera one frame at a time, just like the drawn artwork.

so those shots sort of went from analog to digital back out to analog, with a unique layer of special effect added to each step.

meanwhile, of course our editing and sound work is all digital. i try to create a happy hybrid

As someone venturing into the world of creating my own independent productions, I often find myself getting distracted with new ideas. How do you manage to focus on a project through to completion?

Also, I missed my chance to meet you at OIAF a couple years ago because I went to a workshop (which turned out to be totally useless). My friend managed to go and suggested you go get some all day breakfast at Zack's Diner, if you went did you enjoy the food?

yeah i think we actually ate every meal at zack's diner? it was whatever 24 hour hour diner there was in town at least.

do you like how i lazily only focused on your second question?

Hi Don!

I am eagerly awaiting for your dvds to end up on my doorstep, and am hoping the mail people do not mess anything up.

Also, what convinced you to produce your animations in the style that is so uniquely yours?

i'm afraid it wasn't really a big choice, it's mostly just the way i draw. i couldn't afford to shoot live action in film school, because it was all 16mm then and you needed to buy a lot of rolls of film for that. but if you animated your student film you only needed to buy one roll of film

Do you think you will go back to doing something like the Animation Show ever again with Mike Judge? It's really cool seeing all of the different animations that people can come up with.

Also, don't say you are scared like a deer in headlights during your Q&As. People are there because they love you.

animators are maybe the last people who should be thrust on stage with a microphone :(

re: the animation show, i think it is long gone. but i think we did a good thing while it lasted

Awe sorry to have been the only person so far to induce a sad face from you.

:<>

Why do you choose to use film instead of digital?

for movies like billy's balloon, which was shot on 16mm, it probably would not have made much difference if it was shot digital. but in 1997 that was not really an option

for the more recent movies, which rely so heavily on experimental effects and weird trick photography and composited shots, they would have been much, much more difficult / more expensive to shoot digitally

Hey Don! During your screening tour you mentioned possibly doing a live action movie. Any details on that? What do you plan on doing now that the Everything Will Be Ok Trilogy is over?

i did? that's weird. i'm not sure what i was talking about. this happens

When I met you in Santa Barbara, you were really different than I imagined. Totally thoughtful, polite and engaging. I was really moved to see all three films together (pick the DVD up for that, its amazing) and you delivered a deeper experience by the end of it. Are you still hinting of this new, larger production or can we look forward to an announcement soon?

As someone in film, I want to see your potential with more than a handful of collaborators. Granted, I know that's a tall order for anyone!

hi again - your question was answered elsewhere here, i just wanted to reiterate your first sentence:

"When I met you in Santa Barbara, you were really different than I imagined. Totally thoughtful, polite and engaging."

I loved your commentary on Rejected. In all honesty, I really did like your commentary about commercials being lies- I believe that's true.

thanks, yes most advertising is weirdly schizophrenic and frightening

We all know your stance on advertising and lying to the audience. Do you have specific stories about advertising companies who wanted to use your work / style, or are you legally unable to discuss such things? By the way, I love your work.

yes, but most of them are just depressing. and not just from thinking about all the money i turned down. and thanks.

when i'm dead nobody will care how much money i had in my bank account, or if i drove a cool car. but maybe i'll have left behind a couple good movies

Hi Don, many reference you as an example of making a living as a truly independent animator? Do you think it's possible for other up-and-coming animators to follow the same path today? Or has the industry, technology and distribution landscape changed too much over the past decade+?

yeah i don't see why not. if anything maybe it's a little easier now since there are so many more avenues. when i was getting started in the 90s the internet was still too young to be a big help (incidentally my website is still almost entirely 1998 html). though on the other hand i don't think there is a single US cable or tv channel actively picking up shorts anymore.

but new guys like david o'reilly are making amazing indie things and i think making a living at it

i guess i am sort of not at all answering your question

How do you feel about those Pop Tart commercials that clearly rip off your style?

i feel sad

Another music question:

Are there any classical composers you enjoy in particular?

i like sad stuff

to play, chopin and erik satie. scott joplin's sadder ones. what's wrong with me? and i've been sort of learning some dustin o'halloran who is a modern guy

to listen to, that's very very hard. probably most of my favorites are actually all in the films already

If you had only primitive weapons, and had to fight a dinosaur to the death in a "Dinosaur Death Match", what is the biggest dinosaur you think you could defeat? You don't have to give a specific dinosaur, just give us a general size. Also you can't set traps.

can it be a plant eater with a broken hip? i could probably handle that pooping sick triceratops in jurassic park

You use a lot of classical music in your films. Is this a creative decision or is it based on the fact that it's cheaper to use Public Domain?

I'm guessing both, it just seems like a win-win for any project. Cheap and effective (probably more so than an original score, but whatevs)

I loved Rejected when I was little and now that I'm older and sadder I really appreciate your other more serious films.

yes, both is correct.

that was easy. i think i'm going to start answering these questions by saying BOTH

What is your favorite Color?

it changes

If you could take any classic movie and bring it to animation life - twisting the story into a surreal Hertzfeldesque black comedy - what would you choose and why?

Bonus follow-up question - what music, if any, do you listen to whilst animating?

i don't think i would do that to any classic movie, i would probably ruin it

i usually just put the ipod on random and chug away. though sometimes, weirdly, i find that putting the ipod on a specific album makes me sit still and work for longer periods than going random, which sometimes makes me flighty

Hey, big fan of your work, sorry its such a generic question but I'd like to know: which of your films is your favorite? Is Genre still your least favorite?

it's maybe sort of a tie right now between "i am so proud of you" and "it's such a beautiful day".... though to be honest after living with them all for so long and having to see them 9000 times sometimes the favorite is the next thing in my head just because it's something new

Why move from Santa Barbara to Austin? I too am a fellow Gaucho with a film studies degree and thought it was cool that you stayed in SB.

i loved santa barbara but it was time for something new. i was there for something like 14 years. also i will never have the millions of dollards required to actually buy a place to live there. i remember it being like half a million just for a terrible condo beneath a freeway overpass

i accidentally typed dollards