Dezeen Magazine

Jeanette Lee animates a futuristic city for Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble video

Music: American animator Jeanette Lee borrowed the shapes of Tokyo's Nakagin Capsule Tower to create a science-fiction urban landscape for Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

The film opens on an anonymous landscape of skyscrapers, as their lights turn on in rhythm to the London musician's track.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

Although designed to be an ambiguous futuristic location, Lee told Dezeen she borrowed on Chinese and Japanese architectural elements, as well as referencing sci-fi films including Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

A bubble-shaped vehicle is seen driving down the road carrying a sad-looking dog character, which joins a lane of other identical cars.

"I wanted the dog to essentially be a bubble – aimlessly moving around until eventually floating away, albeit with a lunch break in between," Lee told Dezeen.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

"The bubble doesn't burst because there's a momentum of isolation, the dog goes from being among other dogs to voluntarily being entirely alone. Solitude is the ultimate bubble."

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

The film cuts to a tower with spherical windows reminiscent of Tokyo's Nakagin Capsule Tower – a 1972 block by architect Kisho Kurokawa, with cubic sections featuring single porthole windows.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

"For a while I kept thinking about bubbles, AKA circles and enclosed spaces," Lee said.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

"Enter Nakagin. It just fit so well. Otherwise that was the only specific building I looked at. But I actually studied architecture for my undergraduate degree before switching over to animation, so it'll always be a major source of influence and inspiration."

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

A similar dog character is revealed behind each of the windows, before the film moves to a nightclub also featuring circular speakers and doors.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

The main dog character is shown through a round window eating ramen noodles, before returning home past the flashing lights of the city – once more in his bubble car.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

Production on the film took two and a half months, with backgrounds made in Photoshop before being animated in Toon Boom Harmony and composited in Premiere.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

Lee told Dezeen the film doesn't have a specific narrative, but the repeated circular motifs are deliberate.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

"The whole idea of everyone moving around in their bubbles is very relatable, and also very isolating," Lee commented.

Dewy Sinatra's In My Bubble music video by Jeanette Lee

"So that became the jumping off point for my brainstorming – everyone alone together. As for the design, the repetition within the song translated into the repetition of visual elements."