Mr. Deja Vu

Inspired by the Mr Men characters from the children’s books by English author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves, Israeli artist Eric Lerner created this great experimental short as his thesis for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

Mr. Deja Vu is part of his Mr. CityMen project, which comprises a number of videos featuring 3D animated stylized characters with a geometric-shaped aesthetic (in line with the 2D Mr Men characters), staged in urban situations.

Mr. Deja Vu integrates 3D animation with filmed footage, a subject related to consumption and the alienation of a repetitive office job, and music that incorporates elements of that alienation (an alarm clock sound). Focused on a single character and its internal conflict, the emotions of the character are transmitted as the film progresses through overlay graphics (with a grunge aesthetic), disruptions in editing (jump cuts) and sound.