Filmtecknarna’s Jonas Odell has been a distinctive voice in the world of motion design ever since his 2004 hit video for Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out.” His style blends live action with Dada-esque graphics and grungy, DIY typography, channeling aesthetics from across the last century of graphic design.
His latest short film, Lies (Lögner), proves that Odell’s approach to filmmaking can work exceptionally well for longer form narratives, in addition to the commercials and music music videos for which he is more widely known. The episodic short tells three stories in three very different visual styles, but all are unified by their subject matter: the art and consequences of lying.
We can’t share the whole film here—it’s on the festival circuit now—but Filmtecknarna has kindly allowed us to post one of the film’s three chapters. I’ve selected the first, which combines fantastic camera work with a graphical style that depicts the protagonist’s world to be as bleak and anonymous as he is.
Watch Chapter 1 of Lies: High res (44mb) | Low res (27mb)