We are in a Dream makes me think of the psychological effects our dreams have on us while we are in a vulnerable state and the instant we wake up from this other “dimension”. Throughout the short I noticed a lot of repeated imagery that emphasized the psychological effects dreams have on us during and after we experience being in a dream state. They used visual effects of merging different objects and/or things together to give the illusion of what some people may know as ink blots or the RorschachTest, which are visual images that test subjects’ perceptions based on what they see within the image shown in front of them. To me this short is playing as an analysis of these different subjects’ thoughts, feelings, or personality traits based on the things they see in a dream. The choice of colors create a sort of energy between the viewer and the stories. It enthralls the viewer into the story and gives off the feeling as if you were in this dream reality experiencing it yourself. 

Simo Pitkänen’s choice of music and sound design creates an eerie, cringe feeling in combination with the visual imagery and effects. This is like the epitome of the meaning and feeling that a nightmare gives. The depiction of the static and blinking effects creates a dimensional space through time as one dreams. This contributes to the impression of an eerie state of mind. What first caught my attention was the beginning sequence of imagery of what seemed to me to be a camera lens or the pupil of an eye indicating that the viewer was looking through the eyes or “lens” of the narrator. This gravitated me to want to look deeper into the blackness that was overcoming the frame. 

Throughout the short there is graphic imagery of constant doors opening and objects floating in space which created a sense of gravity within the dream. The speed of certain frames or objects supports this idea of perceived perception of how the eye sees things while dreaming. The framing and composition of each frame moves with the eye of the viewer as if they were a part of the dream experiencing it themselves. Each frame creates an endless path of events occurring in a sequence that doesn’t really make sense to the dreamer. The Images used throughout the short are both solid and translucent, occasionally blinking in the frame. The details of these objects have been distorted. They are instances or moments of happenstance. This creates a dysfunction in what we see and what we remember from a dream. Most times I only remember certain moments of a dream vividly, other times it's just a glimpse. Dreams often do this thing where the sequence of perceived scenes jump from one to the other, constantly changing in connection to the mind, again bringing this connection to what the mind is capable of fabricating. The entire animated short is a dream analysis full of symbolism and imagery captured through the effects. Objects constantly morphing into other objects. The colors and constant changes in imagery, sounds, and effects is hypnotizing. As the Individuals take turns talking, going back and forth and creating an echoing, it becomes distant in the mind again creating another dimension. Dream analysis is often associated with instances occurring in real time which draws a psychological connection and meaning behind an individual’s mind. The animated short ends with two individuals going back and forth:  

Male voice: “I’m certain I have done this before.”

Female voice: “And it always recurs that I kill it in the same way.” 

“At least I think this same dream recurred many times over.”

“I am awfully focused as I’ve done it so many times before”. 

Male voice: “It crashes on the ice shattering it”

Female: “It’s an unpleasant thing that I have to do but I know it’s for the greater good.” 

Male voice: “Then I reach it and turn it around”

Female voice: “When I’ve done this I can move on in the dream and in my life.”

Male voice: “I look into those huge and powerful eyes of that eagle owl…and become aware that I am the bird”…“and then I wake up”. 

This moment is significant in the theories and conceptions of dream analysis and circling around this idea of perception. What I appreciated most was the attention to detail within the theme and concept of the film which had a very deep thought and psychological grab in connection with the sounds, effects, and imagery, which I am very much fascinated with. 

-Alex Valentine San Miguel