I'm too much of a baseball fan, I see this as Whitey Herzog and think two things: a) He passed away in 2024, and b) Why would he talk to Paul Cronin?
Then, I think it would have been cool if they met each other at one point.
Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
11–20 of 34 posts
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#12I love his views on Los Angeles, I paraphase: > [...] What I like about Los Angeles is that it allows everyone to live his or her own lifestyle. Drive around the hills and you find a Moorish castle next to a Swiss chalet sitting beside a house shaped like a UFO. There is a lot of creative energy in Los Angeles not channelled into the film business. Florence and Venice have great surface beauty, but as cities they fee…
> New York is more concerned with finance than anything else. It doesn’t create culture, only consumes it Even smart and talented people are capable of saying very stupid things. > for me Los Angeles is the city in America with the most substance Well, it could have been worse. He could have disclosed his undying admiration for Las Vegas ..
Likewise, someone said Jacksonville FL is the most boring city, yet you have a vibrant artist communtiy there.
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#13What I always loved about Werner Herzog documentaries that how he just lets people talk. He just listens. Most people will talk and tell their story if you let them do it and that's exectaly what he does without any fanfares. But he never lets them off the hook either. It's an art on its own to do this, walking on a thin line. I can highly recommend Into the Abyss, one of his best work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Spot on. There's something about his approach to documentaries that really resonates with me. I'll admit I'm not super well-versed in documentaries so maybe his style isn't that unique, but I suspect it is. The only other film that's had the same effect on me as a Herzog documentary was Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing. I would also highly recommend Herzog's early film, Land of Silence and Darkness (1971) which shows he had the magic very early in his career.
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#14I love his views on Los Angeles, I paraphase: > [...] What I like about Los Angeles is that it allows everyone to live his or her own lifestyle. Drive around the hills and you find a Moorish castle next to a Swiss chalet sitting beside a house shaped like a UFO. There is a lot of creative energy in Los Angeles not channelled into the film business. Florence and Venice have great surface beauty, but as cities they fee…
This interview is full of gems. Just below that:
>Of course, California is also where some of humanity’s most astonishing stupidities started, like the hippie movement, New Age babble, stretch limos, pyramid energy, plastic surgery, yoga classes for children, vitamins and marijuana smoking. Whenever someone wants to pass on “good vibes” to me, I look for the nearest empty elevator shaft.
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#15He's also written an autobiography: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Man_for_Himself_and_God_...
The part about begging for money to continue making Fitzcarraldo fascinated me, I wonder what artistic vision was actually driving him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeUKZtYug3w
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#16Buried in this interview is a great insight about the limits of AI:
"Just viewing all of Treadwell’s material would have taken me at least ten days, but I had four assistants who went through everything, melting it down to about twelve hours of footage. I gave them precise instructions about what I was looking for, but sometimes scrutinised what they had put aside and found extraordinary moments they had dismissed. The shots of the fox paws on the tent had been discarded because they were too shaky, but I thought it was very beautiful imagery."
Benedict Evans often compares LLMs as "infinite interns" and when I started reading this passage my mind immediately went to the idea of "What if Werner used LLMs to filter this footage?" But the following sentences reveal a truth that I've discovered personally and that is apparent here: When creating something original there is something only accessible to the human mind of the creator. The creator needs to have direct experience with the materials that make up the creation to bring out its full vision. The more of the process you replace with interns (or assistants, here), the more the creation is compromised and doesn't fulfill its possibility.
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#17I love his views on Los Angeles, I paraphase: > [...] What I like about Los Angeles is that it allows everyone to live his or her own lifestyle. Drive around the hills and you find a Moorish castle next to a Swiss chalet sitting beside a house shaped like a UFO. There is a lot of creative energy in Los Angeles not channelled into the film business. Florence and Venice have great surface beauty, but as cities they fee…
This interview is full of gems. Just below that: >Of course, California is also where some of humanity’s most astonishing stupidities started, like the hippie movement, New Age babble, stretch limos, pyramid energy, plastic surgery, yoga classes for children, vitamins and marijuana smoking. Whenever someone wants to pass on “good vibes” to me, I look for the nearest empty elevator shaft.
Had your cat to a psychic yet? No? You're missing out man.
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#18Buried in this interview is a great insight about the limits of AI: "Just viewing all of Treadwell’s material would have taken me at least ten days, but I had four assistants who went through everything, melting it down to about twelve hours of footage. I gave them precise instructions about what I was looking for, but sometimes scrutinised what they had put aside and found extraordinary moments they had dismissed. T…
Art is communication. If you can convey the message to an intern on a post-it, what's the point!
My favorite art is the kind that describes to people how they already feel.
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#19What I always loved about Werner Herzog documentaries that how he just lets people talk. He just listens. Most people will talk and tell their story if you let them do it and that's exectaly what he does without any fanfares. But he never lets them off the hook either. It's an art on its own to do this, walking on a thin line. I can highly recommend Into the Abyss, one of his best work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v…
Grizzly Man was the first Herzog documentary I saw and this scene is exactly what you’re talking about and something I still think about when I am with people willing to share the things they alone carry in life: https://youtu.be/hXyQAtXJ4II
Re: Werner Herzog in conversation with Paul Cronin (2014)
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
> New York is more concerned with finance than anything else. It doesn’t create culture, only consumes it Even smart and talented people are capable of saying very stupid things. > for me Los Angeles is the city in America with the most substance Well, it could have been worse. He could have disclosed his undying admiration for Las Vegas ..
Likewise, someone said Jacksonville FL is the most boring city, yet you have a vibrant artist communtiy there.
They have galleries and they are there for tax fraud.