“FLEX” By Josefin Malmén & David Strindberg
Synopsis
He may be god enough, but is he… good enough?
A slightly surreal comedy short that (literally) lets you under the skin of a bodybuilder and his ambivalent self-image - exploring the fine line between self-loathing and self-loving.
Credits
Written and Directed by Josefin Malmén & David Strindberg (BABYBABY)
Starring - Calle Bolund
Director of Photography - Viktor Skogqvist
Assistant Camera - Jonas Ernhill
Gaffer - Magnus Karlsson
Colorist - Nicke Cantarelli
Composer - Hanna Stenson & Lisa Gagerman
Edit, VFX, Set Design and Baby Oil Specialist - BABYBABY
Film Lab - Focus Film
Special Thanks - Dagsljus
Beyond the Short
The script and the concept of the swift shift between self-loathing and self-loving is inspired by our own experiences as film makers and creatives. The creative process, for us at least but we think many would agree, is a constant roller coaster of light hubris and complete self-loathing, more often the latter. And making this film was no exception: “this is great, this completely crap, well at least it’s original, this is great”.
The idea of telling it through a bodybuilder was to get a distinct contrast between feelings of doubt and an image we often perceive as invincible, but beneath we’re all just the same.
Mixing a slightly raw, grainy 16mm film look and visual effects is something we’ve been wanting to do for years and pitched over and over again, but weirdly enough no one else has been equally keen so we’re thrilled that it finally got made (albeit in a smaller scale). This wouldn’t have been possible without the time and talent of a small bunch of absolutely brilliant people who helped us realize this.
On the shoot we were only six people - us two, the DP, 1AC, gaffer and our lovely bodybuilder and everyone gave everything they had. We had the smallest budget ($1600) meaning limited time, equipment and resources but it turned out exactly as we hoped for. Forever grateful for that.
