Circles by Jayloni is a music video about a space refugee who has lost connection-- and translation-- with his lover. The video weaves themes of isolation, longing, and memory through three distinct visual worlds. As both Producer and Art Director, I guided the project from pre-production through post-production, ensuring that every lighting choice, costume detail, location, and visual effect stayed true to our moodboard and narrative vision.
Process & Creative Approach:
With zero starting funds, we raised $800 in one week through grassroots fundraising. Every dollar was stretched to secure locations that fit our aesthetic and budget. Working with a core team of four, I managed communication and streamlined processes between VFX artists, assistants, DPs, talent, and other collaborates over the course of six months.
With zero starting funds, we raised $800 in one week through grassroots fundraising. Every dollar was stretched to secure locations that fit our aesthetic and budget. Working with a core team of four, I managed communication and streamlined processes between VFX artists, assistants, DPs, talent, and other collaborates over the course of six months.
For the art direction, I aimed to create a visual mood where reality starts to blur and fade into something half-remembered, dreamlike, and unreachable. I wanted it to feel like a dream you're fighting to wake up from, but can't. We assigned each world in the video a specific color palette and visual aesthetic to make them distinguishable, yet kept a cool-toned consistency across all three for cohesion.
The first world, the bar, was grounded in deep blues and purples, with fleeting hints of warmth appearing and fading alongside the presence-- or memory-- of our Space Lover. The second world, the interrogation room, was stripped to stark black and white, with sharp, contrasted rim lighting evoking the harsh, cold atmosphere of an actual interrogation space. Heavy grain and textured overlaps gave it a gritty, determined, almost rebellious quality, reflecting our Space Refugee's resistance against his captors. The final world, Tiny Worlds, was brought to life by our Head of Visual Effects and VFX artists. Its palette returned to the same cool blues and purples, but with intense surges of red to mark the stages of the world collapsing as the lover and protagonist are torn apart.
The process included countless late-night brainstorms where we came together after a long day of classes and commitments, test shoots, endless when2meets, location scouting marathons, (mild) crash-outs, food runs to survive and/or celebrate long shoot days, and iterations until the worlds felt right, and ours. The result: a music video that balances intimacy and scale, anchored in the unspoken emotions of love and connection-- those we feel most deeply yet struggle to put into words.
Role: Producer & Art Director
Skills: Art Direction, Visual World Building, Producing, Project Management, Creative Direction, Budgeting, Location Scouting & Negotiation
Deliverables: Full-length Music Video, Visual Style Guide & Moodboards, Cinematic Worlds