Private Project

Boneless

Synopsis: When John goes to visit his older brother Auden in Iowa City, he’s a bit perplexed not find him, but he’s even more perplexed when he finally does. Weaving together improvised scenes, skate video experimental animation, and a healthy dose of sci fi, "Boneless" explores the mysterious bond between siblings and the quiet discomfort of growing apart.

Logline: Where's Auden?

  • Auden Lincoln-Vogel
    Director
    Bill and Joe Go Duck Hunting, No Exit, Pies z głową, Zorg 2
  • Auden Lincoln-Vogel
    Writer
  • Tristen Ives
    Producer
  • Philip Rabalais
    Cinematography
  • Auden Lincoln-Vogel
    Key Cast
    "Auden"
  • John Lincoln-Vogel
    Key Cast
    "John"
  • Ben Dulavitch
    Key Cast
    "Roommate"
  • Hannah Bonner
    Key Cast
    "Ex-girlfriend"
  • Project Type:
    Feature, Student
  • Genres:
    drama, comedy, sci-fi
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 16 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 10, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    8,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - University of Iowa
Director Biography - Auden Lincoln-Vogel

Auden Lincoln-Vogel is an American filmmaker whose micro-budget work spans from animation to expanded cinema performances. His animations, experimental films, and live action narrative films have been screened at festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Black Nights Film Festival, Filmfest Dresden, and the European Media Arts Festival.

His work can be found at audenlincolnvogel.com

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I’ve always preferred working from the ground up – getting friends together, using whatever is at hand, and worrying more about how we’re going to make than what we're going to make. For me, shooting during the pandemic in the summer of 2020 without a budget did not feel like a limitation so much as a way of committing to a method: a tight-knit pod of cast and crew shooting in easily-accessible locations around Iowa City, employing a directorial style that was more collaborative than premeditated.

Although I had an outline of the film beforehand, we mostly worked in loosely-structured improvised scenarios, which allowed us non-actors to feel more comfortable in our roles and provided abundant opportunities for spontaneous performances. My hope with this working method was also to introduce deeper stylistic fractures in the film as a way of exploring the distinct worlds of the two brothers. The awkward improvised dialogues between Auden and his grad school friends just barely feel like they are from the same universe as John’s extended free-form skate video in the middle of the film, making – I would hope – the relationship between the brothers all the more mysterious.

As one can imagine, much of the film draws on John’s & my personal experiences, and the process of filming even felt like a throw-back to our teenage years, shooting skate videos on a mini-DV camcorder. Acting opposite him was an experience that was both novel and quite comfortable, but attempting to direct at the same time posed a number of challenges. I was lucky to have several close friends as crew–Philip Rabalais (cinematography), Tristen Ives (producer), Trevon Coleman (AC), and Michael Wawzenek (sound tech), who could step out of their official roles and tell me with candor: “You can do better!”

Working on a minuscule budget with a small group of friends also meant the post-production of the film was a slow and meandering process that took several years. Although this pace can be frustrating at times, I think that the gradual approach to editing allowed for a more delicate poetry to emerge from the film. Rather than racing to finish the film according to the original script, I could slowly and more coolly respond to the material we had shot - much of which was never written.