Overview

What does it look like to step into a dream? For this spec music video for Gorgon City, I worked as the Art Director and Photographer in 2014, bringing a world of mythical beauty and surreal storytelling to life. Together with director Lucy Leigh-Pemberton, we created a visual universe inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream—a place filled with fairies, elves, and ethereal beings, where fantasy and music intertwine.

The biggest creative challenge? Designing characters that felt distinct yet seamlessly harmonized into a single visual narrative. Each one needed to stand on their own while contributing to the larger magical aesthetic of the world we were building. On set, the challenge became orchestrating a full creative team—from hair stylists and makeup artists to set designers—to ensure everything aligned with our vision under tight production constraints.

Branding Concept: Crafting the World of Gorgon City

Gorgon City is an English electronic music duo, known for their deep house sound and immersive visual storytelling. The band’s name itself was chosen to evoke mystical, otherworldly imagery—a reference to both mythology and fantasy island escapism.

As Kye Gibbon, one of the band’s producers, once said:

"We like the idea that people coming to our shows can go somewhere with us, with our visuals that take reference from our Gorgon City world."

This philosophy became the foundation for our approach. The music video for “Imagination” had to feel like a portal into that world, a mythological dreamscape where reality bends into fantasy. Additionally, the video needed to connect to the band’s 2014 album Sirens—whose cover featured a gorgon from Greek mythology, famous for her legendary gaze that turned people to stone.

Taking inspiration from Greek mythology, golden hues, and statuesque figures, we built a cinematic experience that felt timeless, elegant, and surreal.

Character Creation & Costume Design

The plot was simple but powerful: The Imaginer, a dreamer, falls asleep at a piano and is transported to Gorgon City—a utopian realm of beauty, harmony, and mythical creatures. There, he meets the Gorgon Girl, his true love, before waking up.

Lucy initially envisioned eight characters, but we needed more to create a truly immersive dreamscape. I expanded the world by introducing six additional figures, drawing inspiration from:

• Mythical creatures and fantasy archetypes

• White body paint and sculptural elements, evoking ancient Greek statues

• Gold accents, referencing classical mythology and divine imagery

To keep the production organized and efficient, I developed mood boards for each character, detailing:

• Costume inspiration and material sourcing

• Makeup and hairstyling concepts

• Set pieces and prop integration

Every detail had to be carefully planned, from the cut of a costume to the texture of body paint, ensuring each character felt like a natural part of the Gorgon City dreamscape.

Art Direction & Production

We filmed over two intense days at two locations:

1. The Palace of Fine Arts, chosen for its majestic, neoclassical architecture, reinforcing the mythological aesthetic.

2. A dance studio in San Francisco, where we used white flour to create dreamlike movement effects, enhancing the sense of weightlessness and fantasy.

As Art Director, I oversaw:

• On-set styling and creative direction

• Set design, including sculptural and organic elements

• Photography, capturing stills to complement the video’s visual story

One of the highlights? Working with Harvey Newton Haydon, a British model who flew in from England just for the weekend to play the lead role of The Imaginer. The energy of the cast and crew was incredible, and the synergy of movement, cinematography, and styling created something truly mesmerizing.

Key Insights

This project reaffirmed what I love most about art direction—transforming concepts into immersive visual experiences. By merging mythology, fashion, and music, we created a dreamscape that captured the spirit of Gorgon City’s world—one that transports viewers into a place of fantasy, beauty, and imagination.

The experience of building this visual universe from scratch—leading character design, set creation, and on-set styling—was both creatively challenging and deeply rewarding. It was proof that great storytelling isn’t just about words or music—it’s about creating a world so compelling, it stays with you long after the dream ends.