Official Album Trailer
'Everyone Who Comes Close Eventually Drowns ' for Jessica Fessler
This CG animation was created entirely by me over the course of some months. Taking inspiration from the different tracks on the album, I developed a visual trailer that journeys through the album’s world, moving between spaces and objects that embody its dark, siren-like, ocean-inspired sound and atmosphere.
Archives and stills from the rooms, which I then deconstructed to create a seamless fly-through for the animation.
PROCESS WORK, RESEARCH AND TESTING
I collaborated with paris-based sculptural artist, Commarella . She creates sculptural incense holders and decorative pieces inspired by the sea and the traditional architecture of her hometown, Naples. I reached out and she was happy for me to use her work in the project. I recreated the sculptures in Blender using photos she sent me as references, and used those same images to build the textures and capture the original surfaces.
THE BRIEF
For my BA Final Major Project, I explored how CG animation could extend the experience and promotion of a music album beyond traditional approaches.
Using 3D environments, I explored how an album’s themes, emotions and atmosphere could be translated into a digital space. Through environmental storytelling, camera movement and sound design, the project questioned whether virtual environments could recreate the sense of immersion, connection and world-building traditionally associated with physical music media.
I explored this idea through Jessica Fessler’s upcoming album, Sirens.The final outcome consisted of a series of interconnected 3D rooms, with each space inspired by different elements of the album’s visual identity, themes and atmosphere. Together, the rooms created an immersive digital world that extended the experience of the album beyond the music itself.
DISCLAIMER: As Sirens has not yet been released, I am unable to share the completed animation with its sound and music. Instead, I am sharing a selection of stills from the final work to showcase the environments and visual direction of the project.
concept and ideation
The Process
After discussing the music, themes and visual inspirations with Jessica, I developed a series of moodboards to establish the direction of the project. From these, I sketched out the main ideas, room layouts and key assets that would make up each environment.
Ideation and Concepts
1
I worked through each room individually, starting with the main assets before building out the spaces. I used a mix of techniques, including modelling and texturing from scratch, 3D scanning physical objects, and using AI-generated imagery as reference for certain assets. For example, for the tail, I generated a series of images. I used these as references to create the 3D model, then manually textured it using the original imagery.
Building the Environments
2
I wanted the camera to feel like it was travelling through the space, taking you on a journey into this world. I experimented with different lenses, object placement and speed to make the movement feel more natural and immersive.
Camera rigging/Render
3
Once the animation was rendered and composited, the final stage was building the soundscape to fully immerse the viewer in the world. Using sound effects, instrumentals and vocal stems from the album, I created a soundscape that made elements of the music feel as though they were coming from within the rooms and objects themselves. I used volume, reverb and echo to control the distance and position of sounds in the spaces.
Sound Design
4
As a large-scale project, detailed planning was essential. I set a clear production timeline to manage each stage of the process and ensure the project was delivered on schedule.
