Creative Brief

Lost Women of Highway 20 is a haunting true-crime series uncovering a series of unsolved disappearances and murders along a stretch of Oregon highway. October Films enlisted Little Shadow to design a complete suite of motion graphics and visual storytelling elements that would match the show’s tone: atmospheric, investigative, and emotionally charged. Our brief was to create graphics that supported complex timelines and geography while contributing to the show’s haunting visual identity.

Our Approach

We developed a layered graphics package that worked across episodes, enhancing clarity without interrupting tone.

• Title sequence: A slow, tension-building opener that weaved road textures, aerial footage, archival textures, and decaying typography. Designed to set the emotional tone of each episode: unease, mystery, and loss.

• Timelines: Modular graphics tracking events across multiple decades. Built to highlight gaps, overlaps, and emerging patterns in the investigation.

• Maps: Stylised, textured animations that traced key locations, routes, and case intersections. The look was deliberately muted and worn, reflecting the passage of time and the desolate feel of the American landscape.

• Supporting graphics: Overlays, photo treatments, and on-screen text elements to support character profiles, locations, and visual transitions.

All visuals were designed in close collaboration with editorial, ensuring each graphic supported narrative flow and respected the sensitivity of the subject matter.

The Results

The series was met with strong audience engagement, and Little Shadow’s visuals were instrumental in guiding viewers through the complexity of interwoven cases. The title sequence, in particular, helped establish the mood and visual identity for the series, which stood out within the genre.