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Animation · Visual Development · 2025

Dismorfe­stesia

Animated Short Film & Visual Development

A character-driven short film combining stop motion, 2D animation and rotoscoping to visually represent an internal psychological conflict.

The Project

Dismorfestesia is an animated short film created to explore body dysmorphic disorder through visual storytelling.

The project combines stop motion with 2D animation, rotoscoping, illustration and symbolic visual elements to translate the protagonist's internal conflict into something visible on screen.

  • Project
    Animated Short Film
  • Year
    2025
  • Role
    Director Character Designer Storyboard Artist Animator Motion Designer Editor
  • Techniques
    Stop Motion 2D Animation Rotoscoping Illustration
  • Tools
    DaVinci Resolve Procreate / Dreams Maya

How do you make
an invisible conflict visible?

Process

Giving the conflict a visual form

The central challenge was finding a visual metaphor for something psychological and internal.

Early explorations included a humanoid figure, a distorted reflection and a shadow-like double before the concept evolved into a growing knot of black thread — a physical element that could follow, surround and eventually trap the protagonist.

Early explorations
Exploración visual 1
First ideas
Exploración visual 2
What if dysmorphia could manifest?
Exploración visual 3
Shadow form
↓
Final metaphor — the black knot
Black knot sketches
Final knot concept

Character Design

Designing Alai

Alai was designed to feel visually simple, vulnerable and expressive, while remaining practical for frame-by-frame stop-motion animation.

The character went through several iterations in both design and fabrication before reaching the final proportions and internal armature.

Alai diseño 06
Alai diseño 06-2
Primera versión crochet
Version 01 First crochet version · filter
Versiones crochet primera segunda y tercera
Crochet versions 1st, 2nd & 3rd
Diferencia primera y última versión crochet
First to last Crochet puppet evolution
Muñecos finales
Final puppets Both production characters

Character Design

Designing for expression

Facial expression became an important part of the character design. Different eye and eyelid solutions were tested to find a system that could communicate emotion while remaining physically compatible with the puppet.

Button eyes test
Button eyes
Amigurumi eyes test
Amigurumi eyes
Eyelid tests
Eyelid tests
Final expressive solution
Final solution

Storyboard

Planning the story visually

Storyboarding became more than a planning tool. It helped define the visual rhythm of the film, test how the symbolic elements would work on screen and identify narrative decisions that needed to change before production.

Storyboard página 1
Storyboard página 2
Storyboard página 3
Storyboard página 4
Storyboard página 5

Animation

Combining physical
and digital animation

The final film combines physical stop motion with digital animation and rotoscoping. Hand-drawn elements were layered over the photographed footage to represent thoughts, memories and changes in perception that could not be expressed through the puppet alone.

01

Stop Motion

02

2D / Rotoscoping

03

Final Composite

Production Design

Building the world

Room sketch
→
Set construction
→
Final set

The bedroom was designed and built at character scale, allowing the environment to become part of Alai's emotional state throughout the film.

Final Film

Dismorfestesia

Character Design Storyboard Stop Motion 2D Animation Rotoscoping Post-production

Reflection

What I learned

01

Character-first thinking

Designing for animation requires considering not only how a character looks, but how it needs to move and communicate emotion.

02

Storyboarding

Planning visually helped me identify narrative problems before production and strengthened the final structure.

03

Hybrid workflows

Combining physical and digital techniques opened up visual possibilities that neither approach could achieve alone.

Next Project

Kriba

Motion & Video Production →