Boned

Original Animated Short Film

Boned is a 5-minute original animated short following a grim reaper who rebels against his boss by sending souls back to Earth. Developed from concept through final production, the project includes storyboarding, character design, custom typography, poster design, and finished animation, reflecting a full visual development and storytelling pipeline.

Project Overview

Project Type: Original Animated Short
Role: Writer, Director, Animator, Visual Development
Scope: Scriptwriting, story development, storyboarding, character design, typography, poster design, animation, production coordination

Boned stemmed from one central question: What if there were multiple grim reapers, living and going to work like everyone else? From that concept, I built a fully realized world of a capitalistic afterlife where the grind never stops, even in death.

Story Development & Ideation

Storyboards

I created storyboards to establish pacing, performance, and shot structure before production began. This process helped define key visual beats, comedic timing, and scene transitions while serving as the foundation for the final animation. The boards were an essential step in translating the script into a clear screen-based narrative.

While the dialogue and pacing were refined over time, these storyboards closely reflect the final film.

Character Design

I developed character lineups and turnaround sheets to define the proportions, silhouettes, and personalities of the film’s cast. These assets helped maintain visual consistency throughout production and supported the broader worldbuilding of the project. The character design process was focused on creating forms that felt expressive, readable, and aligned with the tone of the film.

Typography

I created a custom typeface for Boned to support the film’s visual identity and give the project a more distinctive graphic language. The design was intended to match the film’s offbeat, mysterious tone and create a cohesive connection between the animation, title treatment, and promotional assets.

Boned Regular

The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog

Poster

I designed a poster to promote the film for its debut showing at the SAIC FVNMAS festival. The poster was intended to capture the tone, characters, and visual identity of the film in a single image. It also functioned as an extension of the project’s worldbuilding and positioned the short as a complete creative property rather than only a standalone animation.

Outcome

Boned allowed me to build an original animated project from the ground up, combining storytelling, visual development, typography, and animation within a single production pipeline. More than a finished short, the project became a fully developed creative world supported by design systems, character work, and promotional assets.