Reference Point is my Substack — a space where I break things down. In art direction we live in references: film stills, scraps of fabric, paintings, half-heard lyrics. They’re the building blocks behind every frame in film, TV, music videos and beyond.
This isn’t about glossy finished work, it’s about the threads that lead there. A mix of design notes, cultural parallels, and the visual shortcuts that shape worlds on screen.
For me it’s accountability and voice — practice in public, a way to sharpen how I see and how I share. If you’re curious about the references behind the work, that’s the point.
new substack! this one’s all about exploitation of film crew in the UK Film Industry and my experiences with it. check the link in bio to read it in full. #substack #film #tv #artdirector
#jessiebuckley won 42 awards for her performance in HAMNET. It is so well deserved. Here I talk about grief, and how it’s built to feel that way. It’s fragmented, sensory and a bit disorienting, Agnes’ experiences it physically while Shakespeare turns it into art. Link in bio to read full article. #substack #chloezhao #fionacrombie #bestactress
I went to see the Yoshitomo Nara exhibition at The Hayward Gallery, South Bank. (@hayward.gallery ) Walked around, got inspired. Wrote a substack about it, link in bio x
Flip through 1930s Vogue and you’ll see a magazine caught between two worlds: painted fantasies and photographed reality. Illustration met photography, Art Deco elegance met cinematic presence, and the result? Timeless fashion storytelling. ✨📸
Sue’s house isn’t just a home — it’s a body in decay. Every mirror, every polished surface, every staged object enforces perfection and judgment. In The Substance, architecture becomes horror.
link in bio to read full breakdown. #FilmDesign #ArtDirection #TheSubstance #SetDesign #CinematicSpaces
The Red Room is a masterclass in minimalism as mythology. No walls, just red velvet curtains. A chevron floor that hums like a pulse. Sparse objects loaded with meaning.
It’s a reminder that design isn’t just decoration — it’s narrative. Space can judge, disorient, and haunt. That’s the power of art direction.
LINK IN THE BIO FOR THE FULL READ.
Seahaven looks like paradise — pastel skies, white picket fences, eternal golden hour. 🌅 But in The Truman Show, that perfection is the prison. Every street, every neighbour, every colour is designed to soothe, control, and contain. A pastel dream… or a cheerful cage?
LINK IN THE BIO, READ IT IN FULL.
Same kitchen, new skin. ✨ Gleaming counters, ticking clocks, surgical order — Carmy’s obsession made physical. The Bear turns space into story.
again, link in bio for full write up.
Grant Montgomery’s set design for Netflix’s Dept. Q is pure atmosphere—cold, damp, lived-in spaces that carry as much emotion as the characters themselves. From Morck’s flickering basement office to eerie council flats and brutalist buildings around Edinburgh, every detail tells its own story. It’s not just design that supports the show—it is the story.
link in bio to read my full write up.
