Animator Review - Don Hertzfeldt

Don Hertzfeldt draws stick figures for his animations. Hertzfeldt is different in a very humble way, his drawing skill depicted in his work isn't up to the standard of the CG film found in huge budget films currently in productions, but through composition, narrative good and humourous story unravels. Detail isn't previlent in the Animation so emotion is conveyed in the characters very subtly by small changes to line work which make up parts of the face, or body. Its a very precise art considering Hertzfeldt hasn't left himself much room in which to manoeuver.  "Austin-based stop-motion animator Don Hertzfeldt projects the complex psychologies of his characters through minute enhancements of facial features. Yet he hasn't given himself much creative wriggle room, as the stars of his movies are all near-featureless stickmen with dots for eyes and a single line for a mouth." (Jenkins, 2017)

I find this relevant because its not about the skill of an animator at drawing, its also about the narrative and ways to convey interesting story. 

(Figure 1)

Bibliography

 Jenkins, D. (2017). Don Hertzfeldt: the best animator you've never heard of. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2013/may/02/don-hertzfeldt-animator-beautiful-day [Accessed 9 Oct. 2017].

Illustration: 

Figure 1 - It’s Such a Beautiful Day (Dir. Don Hertzfeldt, 2012)

Animator Review - Lotte Reiniger

Lotte Reiniger produced the very first full length animated film to be released in cinema, it was make between 1923 and 1926 in Germany. The technique in which she used was to draw figures and objects onto card, if it is a character or has moving parts then separate parts are drawn and connected later with lead hinges, then she creates silhouettes from the card by using a light box set up, then through the process of stop-motion Animation where you take a picture of small movements and combine them, to create motion. "Even though her work reduces images to their very basics, there's incredible grace, complexity and variety to the "performances" of the paper actors. It's impossible to see exactly how she accomplished it - there must have been some sort of magic involved." (O'Neil,. 2008)

(Figure 1)

This applies to me and animation because when we learn to use Adobe Animate the same principle is occurring but on a digital plane instead of a physical light box. Reiniger creates animations around Fairy tales and was heavily influenced throughout her life which lead to her into this. "Film was Reiniger’s passion: as a child she was delighted by the trick films of Georges Méliès, and later the dreamy horrors of Paul Wegener. She was also an enthusiast for the Chinese art of shadow puppetry, creating her own silhouette spectaculars for a parental audience." (Hutchinson, 2017). 

Bibliography:

Fernando Katz. 2009 The Art of Lotte Reiniger Available at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvU55CUw5Ck Accessed:09/10/17  

Hutchinson, P. (2017). Lotte Reiniger: animated film pioneer and standard-bearer for women. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jun/02/lotte-reiniger-the-pioneer-of-silhouette-animation-google-doodle [Accessed 9 Oct. 2017].

O'Neill, P. (2017). DVD review: Lotte Reiniger - The Fairy Tale Films. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/nov/29/lotte-reiniger-fairy-tale-films [Accessed 9 Oct. 2017].

Illustrations: 

(Figure 1 - The Adventures of Prince Achmed, Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 film. Photograph: YouTube)