**Skip to 2:40 to see the animation** I animated the dream sequence and co-edited Bobby Hawk’s “Lights On, Kinks Out” video. The song laments lost love, celebrates the liberation of resignation, and is an escapist drama.

The video shows our protagonist living in a world of clutter and confusion, trying in vain to fashion some transportation so that he can move on. Dejected after many failed attempts, he slumps down in a chair and zones out. What emerges in his mind is a parade of fantasy beings from air, land, sea, and space that reflect the unsettled-ness of his emotional reality. When finally the last remnant of his beating heart is severed and devoured by monsters, he snaps out of it, jumps out of his seat and disappears on foot through the forest. We see him one last time through a dirty window pane: Perhaps he has arrived somewhere new and is scoping it out? Or do we simply see him back in the same place he’s been all along?

Process: I created the characters of the dream sequence by cutting out objects from magazines, high-res scanning them into Photoshop, then cutting them out again and re-assembling in After Effects. Certain attributes of the characters arise as a result of the nature of their components: The Giggling Gardner’s eyes, nose, and mustache are made from a hand-standing girl’s floppy ponytail. The Jet-Powered Jelephant’s trunk and ears are hands tucked into the pouch of a sweatshirt.