Logline
An alcohol dependent man who is afraid of accepting the death of his late wife, wakes up in an alternate reality where he must face his fears in order to get back home.
Creation Process
After the death of my Grandmother back in 2020, I observed the different ways grief played out through my family members. One of them affecting my Grandfather heavily, so in order to tell this story, I hoped to capture every raw feeling and thought as much as I could through every shot, character and setting.
Nailing down the Story
I had the story down right off the bat, but since it was intended to be a no-dialogue piece, I struggled a lot with showing and not telling this tale.
I came up with only two versions of this story and ended up scrapping Version 1 because it consisted of Robert being told by Rose that she was only a dream and he had to accept how things were now, which wasn't what I was going for.
Version 2 allowed more character acting and no dialogue whatsoever! I ended up going down that route but also, expanding on it to add more stakes, build up the climax and truly show a moment where Robert decides that letting go and coming to terms with this lost was best for him.
The importance of Robert being the one who found it within himself to change was a message I wanted the viewers to leave with. I didn't want any other outside source to influence this big decision for him or else it wouldn't have been impactful.
Version 2 became my final beat boards for my film before I began storyboarding!
Early Thumbnails
Taking the final beat boards of my film, I moved onto the early thumbnail stage for the boards. I focused on getting the first pass done as fast as I could but also, executing the vital character acting early on. Even in it's rough state, I knew it had to start off strong!
Final Designs & Early Character Sketches
 Introducing The Characters |  Robert's Expression Sheet |  Rose's Expression Sheet |
|---|---|---|
 Character Lineup |  Hands and Turns Overview |  Robert's Hand Chart |
 Rose's Hand Chart |  Rose's Turn-around |  Robert's Turn-around |
 Character Early Sketches |  Rose's Style Explorations |  Robert's Style Explorations |
 Robert's Design Exploration |  Robert's Design Exploration pt.2 |  Rose's Design Exploration |
 Rose's Design Exploration pt.2 |  Robert and Rose's First Draft |
Environment Design: Robert's Home
It All Comes Down to Shapes!
Robert's design being a square, allowed me to translate that into his home. Every shot that he stands in the very beginning, traps him in that square, enforcing his mental state early on in the film and visually.
Along with the square shape being seen everywhere in his home, I went for a warm color palette that contrasts his cool color scheme, but dropped the saturation and the brightness to best portray his emotional state.
Environment Design: The Field
Unlike Robert's Home, the field had to be the exact opposite of the opening environment. Since it took place in Robert's dream world, it had to be full of color and wonder! I reffered to my color scripts to best convey the color during dramatic moments in the film.
It all Ties Back to Rose
Because the field was nothing but a dream world in Robert's head, of course every little detail tied back to his late wife.
Every little design in the field related back to her color scheme and shape language. This world was built off of her because she was always on Robert's mind. Not to mention, it's a field of ROSES, and her name is Rose of course. The only time the field changed in color was because of the climax which was the change Robert needed to move on.
Extras
Want to learn more of the behind-the-scenes process for creating this film? More on animation, composing the original score and collaborating, check out my process book here!
Can't access the process book?
Final Thoughts
Being able to tell this emotional and beautiful love letter without the use of dialogue, truly pushed and challenged my style of storytelling as a artist.
I felt that as a storyboard artist, I should be able to deliver a strong message and display the beauty of being human even through such a tough topic to tackle that isn't often told in media today.
Under this project, I became fluent in being able to adjust to change and juggle many hats under a job. As I look back at it as a whole, I am grateful to be able to collaborate with many talented individuals and lead my team to the finish line.
This love letter will forever be a project of admiration and respect to those who battle with grief, addiction and to those who have loved ones fighting that battle as well;
Allowing them to be seen and loved in media too.
