Day of the Dead: My Love Letter to Death & The Mexican Culture

Client: Mexico Tourism Board

Agency: LiveFrom631

Project: Day of the Dead: My Love Letter to Death & The Mexican Culture

Location: Mexico City, Mexico

Project Overview

This narrative film explores Mexico’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) through a deeply personal lens. Created by LiveFrom631, the piece blends documentary-style imagery with first-person narration to help travelers understand the emotional and cultural significance of the holiday—not just as a visual spectacle, but as a living tradition that reshapes how we relate to death, memory, and family.

The project serves as a proof of concept for how LiveFrom631 uses storytelling to build deeper, more meaningful relationships between destinations and travelers.

The Challenge

Many international travelers recognize Day of the Dead through surface-level imagery—face paint, parades, and altars—but don’t fully understand the belief system and values behind it.

The challenge was to:

• Move beyond the “postcard” version of the holiday

• Educate viewers on its cultural meaning in a respectful, accessible way

• Use one traveler’s personal journey to make the tradition emotionally relatable to audiences who may find conversations about death uncomfortable or taboo

All of this needed to be done with a lean, one-person production, without the resources of a large agency or studio.

Strategic Insight

Most destination content focuses on what to see. Very little focuses on how a place can change the way you see the world.

LiveFrom631’s insight:

If you want travelers to form a long-term emotional connection with a destination, you have to tell stories that touch on the things they fear, hope for, and wrestle with in their everyday lives.

In this case, that “universal pressure point” was our relationship with death and grief. By openly sharing his own discomfort with death and how the Mexican approach challenged that, Stefan positioned Day of the Dead as not just a cultural event—but a lens for rethinking life itself.

Approach

The film was designed around three core pillars:

1. Personal Narrative as Entry Point

   • The story begins with Stefan’s own uneasy relationship with death and his limited exposure to loss.

   • This vulnerability invites the audience in, making the topic feel human instead of academic or exoticized.

2. Cultural Education Through Storytelling

   • Rather than explaining Day of the Dead in a purely informational way, the film shows how Mexicans celebrate, remember, and honor their loved ones.

   • Visuals and voiceover work together to explain the symbolism (altars, marigolds, photos, food, etc.) in context.

3. Visual Language That Honors the Tradition

   • Warm, intimate imagery of altars, families, and city scenes during the celebrations.

   • A pacing and tone that balances reverence with curiosity, avoiding stereotypes or “dark tourism” tones.

Content Creation

To bring the vision to life, LiveFrom631 delivered:

Execution

LiveFrom631 handled the project end-to-end:

• Pre-Production & Research

  • Cultural research into Day of the Dead traditions and their regional variations.

  • Shot planning to ensure coverage of both public celebrations and quieter, intimate moments.

• Production (On Location in Mexico)

  • Solo filming in Mexico City during Day of the Dead, capturing:

    • Street processions and public festivities

    • Details of ofrendas (altars) and offerings

    • Moments that show the joy, color, and community aspect of the holiday

  • Live, on-the-ground storytelling driven by curiosity and respect.

• Post-Production

  • Scripted and recorded reflective voice-over connecting Stefan’s personal journey with what he witnessed.

  • Editing that weaves together:

    • Reflective narration

    • Cultural context

    • Visually rich scenes from the celebrations

  • Color grading and sound design to amplify the emotional tone: warm, reflective, celebratory—not morbid.

Relevance to Our Future Partners

For our future partners, this case study illustrates how LiveFrom631 would approach their destination not just as a place to visit, but as a place to feel something.

Key parallels:

• Just as we used Day of the Dead to reframe how travelers think about death and remembrance, we can use your local communities, seasons, traditions, and hidden stories to reframe how visitors think about the region—beyond what they already know on a surface level or what you're already marketing to them.

• Our process is designed to:

  • Find the emotional core of a destination

  • Build narrative arcs around people and culture

  • Deliver content that helps travelers feel more connected, not just entertained

In short:

This project proves that LiveFrom631 can take a culturally rich, emotionally charged topic and turn it into a story that builds understanding and desire to visit. We’re ready to bring that same depth of storytelling to you.