Pixeldust created the show graphics for A&E’s forensic series Tell Me How I Died: a cinematic morgue open, 2D and 3D forensic explainers and a full on-air graphics package.
Every episode of A&E’s Tell Me How I Died begins with a body and a question. The series follows forensic pathologists as they uncover the truth behind suspicious deaths: part medical science, part detective work, all real. Its graphics had to carry both sides of that story, the chill of the morgue and the clarity of the lab.
Pixeldust created the show’s complete graphics package: an animated opening sequence, a wide range of 2D and 3D forensic explainers, and the on-air elements that tie every episode together, from lower thirds and bumpers to templates for the production team. The look is dark and moody, built on a green and teal palette that evokes a cold morgue and the glow of an old projector.
The open, the explainers and the graphics
The open drops viewers into a morgue at night. A body drawer slides out, steel catches the light and typewritten lines set the stakes. The palette of sickly greens, cold teals and deep shadows recalls the glow of an old projector and the feeling of a room kept just above freezing.
A tray of surgical instruments waits beside the table, seen from above. Each shot builds the quiet ritual of an autopsy about to begin, while the text reminds viewers that forensic pathologists must uncover how these victims died.
The morgue was designed and lit like a film set: surgical lamps, worn tile and porcelain tables, slow dolly moves, shallow depth of field, lens flares and film grain. Nothing feels like motion graphics; it feels shot, and that is what pulls viewers in.
The logo reveal sums up the series in a single image: a toe tag hanging from a human foot, stamped with the title Tell Me How I Died. Typewriter text, a muted palette and a measured pace carry the mystery from the first frame to the last, and every element of the open was designed to pull viewers into the story.
Inside each episode, the job changes from mood to clarity. For medical findings, Pixeldust built intricate 3D animations that take viewers deep inside the human body: a journey into the bloodstream to show enzyme activity, tiny blood vessels rupturing around the eyes to reveal petechiae, a crucial forensic clue, and a hyper-close-up of a vessel tearing open so blood spreads through the soft tissue.
Pivotal moments in each case are rebuilt as animation. A 3D reenactment shows a car striking a guardrail. A bird’s-eye view of a road turns into stylized line art of the victims at the scene. A top-down blueprint of a parking lot maps a shooter’s position and the path of every round, and a truck flees a crime scene before crashing through a fence because of a jammed steering column.
Some explainers challenge the official story. A skeletal diagram reveals an unnatural hyperextension of the neck that contradicts the reported cause of death. A slow-motion breakdown of a rifle walks through the trigger pull, the hammer strike, the gunpowder igniting and the bullet leaving the barrel, and another sequence explains mummification, showing how a body shrinks over time. Each one balances visual impact with scientific accuracy, so complex forensic details stay clear and engaging.
Beyond the explainers, Pixeldust delivered the graphics that hold the series together. Lower thirds present names and key information in the show’s eerie style, location and date graphics follow the same look, and a suite of templatized elements lets A&E’s production team customize graphics episode after episode while every frame stays consistent.
Frames from the series
