Method to Their Madness: Behind the scenes of 1000 Deaths with Improper TV
Long before Improper TV became a creative studio with a distinct voice and a growing list of cult-favorite title sequences, Aditya Dutta and Mehr Chatterjee were two kids scribbling on furniture, notebooks, and pretty much any surface they could get their hands on.
That instinct, undiluted by time or commercial polish, forms the backbone of Improper TV’s approach. And nowhere is that clearer than in their latest project: the opening animation for 1000 Deaths, a surreal and chaotic game developed by Pariah Interactive.
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Aditya and Mehr met at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), where long nights of drawing, feedback, and ideas laid the foundation for something more lasting. After graduating, the two drifted into different corners of the creative industry-Mehr freelancing with U.S. studios like The Mill and Hornet before moving back to India to work with MTV; Aditya diving into advertising at Publicis.
But after a few years of structured, client-first work, they felt the pull toward something rawer.
“After a few years in those more structured, commercial spaces, we started feeling drawn to something a bit more offbeat-something that felt more personal to us”
That’s where Improper TV came from. The studio became a home for visuals that felt rough around the edges, purposefully imperfect, and emotionally resonant. Their credits include a range of eye-catching work-motion branding, ads, and more recently, animated title sequences for Khauf (Amazon Prime), Killer Soup (Netflix), and Farzi (Amazon Prime), alongside Plexus Motion.
Animated opening titles made by Improper TV for the Netflix show Killer Soup
Visual Development, Design and animation for Farzi made by Improper TV in collaboration with Plexus Motion
“We’ve always had a soft spot for 2D animation and drawing -it’s what we naturally gravitate towards-and over the years, we've been lucky to work on all sorts of projects”
But their most playful and experimental project yet may be their first foray into game animation: the wild and unpredictable world of 1000 Deaths. “It doesn’t try to be beautiful in a traditional sense,” they say. “It’s beautiful because it’s bizarre and emotional.”
Character concept art for 1000 Deaths
That emotional honesty is baked into every asset. Each character is designed around one of the classical elements-fire, water, air, earth- and they age through four life stages: baby, teen, adult, and elder. Improper was responsible for visualizing all those transformations and creating worlds for every version.
Even though the designs are a little weird on the surface, there’s a lot of thought behind them. We really tried to make sure every design choice had some kind of logic or personality behind it.
They explain. “There were a lot of fun little details we got to sneak in. Like, Prashast had this idea that the fire character, Maxi, was super gluttonous, so we designed their house with these subtle golden “M” arches-kind of a nod to McDonald's.”
Improper TV’s design of the Fire character’s world as it grows and changes through the years.
The earth character, meanwhile, visibly slumps and spreads as they age, exaggeratedly weighed down by gravity and time. That kind of exaggeration feels cartoonish, but there’s emotional logic there. It’s not random; it’s rooted in storytelling.
Improper TV’s design of the Earth character’s world as it grows and changes through the years.
Improper’s research process went well beyond mood boards. They visited the Delhi Rail Museum to study old transport styles, rummaged through childhood relics, and scanned their own homes for everyday objects that felt visually meaningful.
The stand fan that the TV character uses as transport
They say,” The stand fan that the TV character uses as transport-that came straight from our own surroundings. Those kinds of details ended up shaping a lot of the visual language for the game.”
The key was to blend the familiar with the fantastical. Everything had to feel like it came from some place-even if that place was someone’s fever dream.
Vehicles for transport of the characters designed by Improper TV
The collaboration with Pariah Interactive wasn’t a random studio collab-it was a reunion. Prashast, the mind behind 1000 Deaths, had gone to RISD with Mehr and Aditya. “The three of us would often end up hanging out during late nights-taking breaks, sharing what we were working on, and giving each other feedback. That kind of regular, informal collaboration naturally built a lot of trust,” they say.
When Prashast reached out about 1000 Deaths, I think he already had a sense of our style and how we work, and it just felt like a good fit all around..
Initial rough sketches for masks and living characters
While Prashast had a clear creative vision from the outset, he gave the Improper team plenty of room to experiment and play. One of the most rewarding aspects of the collaboration was the freedom to share early, rough ideas-sometimes just loose, scrappy sketches-and receive thoughtful, honest feedback. That open dialogue allowed the design process to remain fluid and intuitive, often leading to unexpected and delightful visual moments that may not have emerged in a more rigid setup.
How feedback was shared with the Improper TV team
Improper started with rough storyboards, style frames, and an animatic-timed to music. The animation was done in After Effects, using Duik and Joysticks 'n Sliders for rigging.
Having the music early on was a huge help-it let us time the edits and movements to the beat, which added a lot of rhythm and energy.
But the rigs weren’t your standard humanoid setups. “Since the characters weren’t your typical humanoid forms, we had to get creative with the rigs-each one was custom-built to match their personality and movement style” they say.
We also put a lot of care into rigging their faces to add squishiness, expression, and charm that felt true to the designs
They also paid close attention to camera movement-zooming, spinning, tilting-to match the energy of the world.
“We were also really mindful of how the camera moved-we wanted the animation to feel super dynamic. So we played around with zooms, pans, even 180 spins. The idea was to have the camera feel like an active part of the action, wherever possible.” they say.
Parts of the storyboard for 1000 Deaths
Fully animating them frame-by-frame wasn’t practical, so Improper opted for a hybrid approach-animating in After Effects with selective frame-by-frame moments where it mattered most. This kept the visuals dynamic while staying within scope.
One of the project’s biggest shifts for Improper was the use of color. Known for darker, moodier palettes, this project let them embrace color in a wild, unapologetic way.
“We had the chance to go all out with color, textures, and wild character designs. It was a nice shift, and it pushed us to think differently..”
Despite the chaos, nothing was random. “There’s a difference between messy and meaningful,” Aditya notes. “We had to make sure the weirdness still held together.”
Parts of the storyboard for 1000 Deaths
Visually, the world of 1000 Deaths is bursting with energy-vibrant colors, layered textures, and eclectic elements all vying for attention. But behind the surface-level chaos was a strong internal logic. Every visual choice, no matter how wild, was rooted in the game’s world and themes. For Improper, that sense of structure was essential-it ensured the visual madness never tipped into randomness, and that the aesthetic, while unconventional, always felt cohesive and intentional.
One of the most memorable turning points during production came from an experiment. “I think we were experimenting with adding textures when Aditya felt like we should try out some CRT effects,’” Mehr recalls. “Once we added them, they felt totally at home with the animation and worked surprisingly well. ”
The CRT filter instantly connected the animation to the concept of television-not just literally, but emotionally. It felt like you were watching some strange, lost VHS tape that you’d found in your uncle’s attic- adding just the right kind of nostalgia and grit.
Stills from the gameplay of 1000 Deaths by Pariah Interactive
Improper speaks fondly of working with Pariah Interactive. “ There’s a big difference between someone saying, “I hate it, but I don’t know why,” versus, “Hey, what if the character wore Balenciagas instead of sandals?”,Mehr says, “One shuts the conversation down, and the other opens it up. With Prashast and the team, it was always the latter. That kind of feedback made the whole process feel fun and productive.”
There’s a big difference between someone saying, “I hate it, but I don’t know why,” versus, “Hey, what if the character wore Balenciagas instead of sandals?”
While the project was fully remote, the synergy between teams remained strong thanks to clear communication, open-ended critique, and mutual respect. To the duo, it felt more like a jam session than a production pipeline.
Though 1000 Deaths is Improper’s first project for a game, it’s already changed how they view interactivity and visual storytelling.
“Now when I play games, I notice things like world-building, in-game graphics, and UI way more.” says Mehr. “Like with RDR2, I got totally obsessed with those photo-negative transitions between chapters, and Arthur’s little sketches in his notebook-stuff I probably would’ve glossed over before.”
It’s exciting to think animation can play that kind of role in game storytelling, and we’d love to see more games (especially ones being made in India) collaborate with animators in that way.
Still from the gameplay of 1000 Deaths by Pariah Interactive
While 1000 Deaths remains a proud milestone, the Improper team hasn’t slowed down. They just completed a calm and dreamy title sequence for a Macedonian documentary about farmers-completely different in tone, and proof of their range.
Even more exciting: they’re finally working on their own short film. “We actually wrapped up the script almost a year ago, ” Mehr says, “but production kept getting pushed because of other projects. Now we’re properly in it-character designs and backgrounds are coming together, and it’s been really fun to build something that’s completely ours!”
And on that note, we come to the end of this article with Aditya Dutta and Mehr Chatterjee from Improper TV. We thank them for their time- and for reminding us that in a world constantly chasing sleek perfection, there’s still magic in the messy, the playful, and the deeply human.
You can reach out to them or stay updated on their newest work on the channels below
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