‘Across My Jaw’ Music Video Is An Audiovisual Feast For The Senses
The retro fantasy-inspired music video “Across My Jaw” is an audiovisual feast for the senses.
Created for indie musician Dan English, the duo Isabelle Aspin and Brian Smee — known collectively as Jocelyn & Jocelyn — imbue the video with a fantastical vibe that complements the song’s sweeping, Beatles-inspired layers. Through a mix of drawn animation and physical objects, the visuals echo the surreal style of Ralph Bakshi and the dreamlike aesthetic of Fantastic Planet.
Co-director Brian Smee explains:
Dan came to us with a mood board filled with modernist stage design, Remedios Varo paintings, gargoyles, and storybook imagery. Around the same time, we had just seen the opera Turandot, featuring David Hockney’s incredible set designs, which inspired us to lean into the stage design angle. As production progressed, we aimed for a filmed-opera look, drawing from classics like [Michael] Powell and [Emeric] Pressburger’s The Red Shoes’ ballet sequence, The Tales of Hoffmann, and Bluebeard’s Castle. The interplay between the visuals and the music evolved naturally without feeling too prescriptive. Much of the rhythm and flow came together during the animation and editing stages, especially after Dan provided feedback.
Smee managed the animation (created in TVPaint and composited in After Effects), while Aspin designed the backgrounds. She elaborates:
The backgrounds were all conceptualized as stage sets, incorporating flat stage pieces, props, scrims, and stage effects. Hand-painted backgrounds have a timeless quality, but the fantasy setting gives the video a distinct ’70s/’80s feel.
Aspin is a Los Angeles-based background artist renowned for her thoughtfully researched, story-driven designs. Smee, a filmmaker and Calarts experimental animation graduate, also resides in Los Angeles. Together, as Jocelyn & Jocelyn, they have collaborated on independent films and freelance projects since 2015. Based in the Solano Canyon suburb of Los Angeles, their partnership blends meticulous craftsmanship with a shared love for imaginative storytelling.
