Woooo-hoooo, remember that video for Blur’s Song 2? No Doubt’s heart-shattering film for Don’t Speak? Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s literal Murder on the Dancefloor? Padam Padam? Name any number of influential music videos of the modern era and you’ll find the same director is behind them: Sophie Muller.

Having stood behind the lens of well over 300 music videos, Muller’s career has spanned five decades. Her secret? She gives musicians full rein to have fun and express themselves, often simply shot inside a dimly lit room. It’s why Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Gwen Stefani, Annie Lennox, Sade, Garbage, The Kills, Kylie, and Blur keep returning for more, not forgetting her work with Beyoncé, Rihanna, Radiohead, Weezer and Dolly Parton. Her “greatest joy” is when artists say, oh, I want to work with you again!

“On my treatment, I would always have the word ‘atmosphere’. Whatever the song’s atmosphere, I would try and find that,” Muller states. “I would say to the artist – this is your video. You are the star of it. What do you want? How do you want people to feel about you and the song? Artists respond to being asked. A lot of directors don’t want to know because they want to make a video about them.”