"NENA" is an animated music video we created at Estudio Helena together with my partner Matilda Batlle, based on the song by Lola Sánchez.

The piece explores the process of growing up as a woman in a world where the most chaotic, sensitive, or childlike of us often need to be hidden to be accepted. We wanted to capture that feeling of inner strangeness and self-discovery, but without anchoring it to a specific human character. That's why we created an alien — a being anyone could relate to, symbolizing the experience of feeling "different" within an environment that doesn't fully understand you.

Color Script

The entire story unfolds within a single space and over the course of one day — the alien's apartment. From sunrise to the next sunrise, we follow a cycle — or rather, a spiral — of transformation. The color script, which I developed, defines each moment of the day with a distinct palette. The color progression reflects the character's emotional journey. Even though the video begins and ends with similar tones, something changes in between — there's an inner transformation.

Character & Environment Design

The alien was designed with intentional simplicity — a calm silhouette wearing just a long t-shirt and socks. Matilda led the design and exploration of the character, while I focused on the overall aesthetic direction and backgrounds.

In contrast, her home is a vibrant visual chaos filled with personality: clothes, books, records, paintings, and scattered objects that reveal a rich inner world. The disorder of the environment symbolizes what the character represses. We aimed for a nostalgic 2000s–2010s aesthetic, with CRT-like textures, bold colors, and visual elements inspired by Argentine teen magazines like TKM, Tú, and Pop Star.

Backgrounds

Since we had limited time and budget, and several background artists involved, we built the alien's entire apartment in The Sims to serve as a 3D base for perspective and consistency. It was really fun! We then moved straight into line art, using an ink brush to keep a bit of visual chaos, and colored the elements as if drawn with crayons or pencils, symbolizing a childlike act of creation.

By the end of the video, the alien reconnects with her inner world. That reconciliation allows her to create, to write, and finally to rest. The cycle.

Below you can explore the final backgrounds featured in the video — feel free to zoom in, see the process details, and watch the speedpaints!