In this guest blog, we speak to SP member James Berkery, an emerging movement director who has been involved in a number of projects via SP recently, and has great prospects ahead of him. He outlines his practice as a movement director, explains what constitutes this work and how he got involved with it, and explores why filmmakers should consider involving movement in their productions.

Originally from Ireland, James’ father is a musician so he grew up with music. As a child he was always dancing and making family and friends sit through performances of dance and puppet performances. “I began taking drama classes, which I always thought of it as a hobby until I was about fourteen years old and I felt that this is what I wanted to do. I went on to train in dance and acting in Ireland, and then to London where I am now based.”

“During my time performing professionally as a dancer and actor, I felt myself drawn into a more creative role and began to make the transition to choreography and movement direction in 2015. From the beginning I have naturally been drawn into screen work as I find the combination of dance, movement and cinematography fascinating.”

“In its simplest form, movement direction is part of a process that enables someone to tell a story physically. This physical story telling can include character work through body language, physical expression of a time period or quite specific movement coaching. Whilst sometimes encompassing dance, movement direction is more holistic and comprehensive dealing with a huge range of movement subtleties that aren’t typically considered to be dance. Movement direction can deal with body language, physicality of period etiquette, the embodiment of medical conditions, pregnancy, zero gravity, robots, aliens, mummies, zombies and the list could go on.”

There is often a misunderstanding that movement direction is the same as choreography. “Although choreography is part of a movement directors’ skill-set, this does not mean that every choreographer is also a movement director. I consider choreography similar to movement direction in the fact that both roles facilitate story telling. Choreography, however, can be less collaborative. As a choreographer you are designing how the movement or dance will look in the frame or on stage. You are usually working with performers that are sometimes more of a vessel for ideas and where there is more focus on the visual aesthetic. I find that most choreographers have an associated style or signature such as commercial, contemporary or musical theatre etc. I’d consider my own style to be narrative led expressive movement, I love the challenge of adapting to different styles and trends.”

Embodying these physical states is usually achieved through a collaboration with the performer after much research and discussion with the director and/or writer. “One of the differences to choreography is that with movement direction you’re creating a movement language for a character or world. Through finding this language you are giving the performer informed options to use during the filming adding depth, subtlety and another dimension to their character.”

Choreography and movement direction, when applied to filmmaking can add “more depth to performance and giving another dimension to a character or sequence bridging the gap between physicality and emotion.”

Viewers most often don’t perceive the role of a movement director in filmmaking but as with any craft thats often an indication that it’s being done well. “It’s being used increasingly more in film and television adding subtlety and depth. Upcoming projects featuring movement direction include The Life, War The Plant of the Apes, The Mummy and Wonder Woman to name but a few, and choreography can be seen to be more popular than ever, as in projects like La La Land, Mary Poppins Returns, Beauty and the Beast.”

James is finding similar receptiveness in his own search for projects to get involved with, “Earlier this year I finished working on the first season of a new 10-part US TV series ‘Will’ for TNT Drama (airing July 10^th) for choreographer and movement director Francesca Jaynes. Over the past year I have been fortunate enough to have her as my mentor, learning from her practical experience working with directors such as Tim Burton, Mike Leigh, and Steven Spielberg.”

“So far, I have worked independently with different media on varied projects and I love the challenge of having to adapt quickly and the intensity of being on set. Emerging as a creative in an oversaturated market such as London has its challenges but I am enjoying finding my way and working with a variety of different up and coming directors. I am currently working on a film for 4Q Films working with mixture of actors and dancers that will be released next year.”

You can find out more about James and his work on his site, or get in touch via SP to work with him, or ask a question about movement and his work on Ask & Discuss.