When going for a custom look like this with Flash, I think it is easier to just make your own flash frontend for display purposes.  We normally use Ventrian's simplegallery module for uploading the images, then we create a .aspx page that reads off the Ventrian database and creates an XML file.

Once you have an XML file, you are pretty much open to create any look you want with Flash.

We used a similar approach at www.owingsbrothers.com (click on the gallery of work links on the right). While it looks different from what you are asking for, the technique should be about the same.