How to Choreograph for Film with Margo Roe

Voice caught up with writer, director and choreographer Margo Roe about how to enter the film industry, what it's like being at Edinburgh Fringe festival and where to begin when creating your own choreography for film. It's part of the Artist Workshop with Voice series, funded by Arts Council England.

How to Choreograph for Film with Margo Roe

Writer/ director/ choreographer Margo Roe explores how to create choreography for the camera and how to bridge the gap between narrative and movement. Margo Roe is a writer, director and choreographer from the Midlands, UK. Margo’s recent short film ‘Searching for Cowardice’ was created as part of the BBC New Creatives programme. 

Interview

Voice interviewed Margo Roe on live on Instagram on 9th July. Catch-up with the full interview here: 

Artist Workshop with Margo Roe 

Following her live interview, Margo then ran a 30-minute skill share workshop on Zoom focusing on how to get into the industry, how to apply for funding as an artist AND some great advice on techniques to use when you're starting to choreograph your own film. The following is some practical workshop advice from Margo herself: 

Writing exercise: Initial ideas and building a motif 

Take a topic, object or theme and write it in the middle of your paper and circle it. Like the word association game, think of as many different interpretations of your centre subject and fill the space around it (mind map). 

Look at all of your surrounding interpretations and pick one that excites you the most. This should be the start of building/ investigating a subject, I find it is great to have a notebook to one side where I can scribble any ideas that I can come back to later. 

From here start with a fresh page and write your favoured interpretation at the top. Now put 5 bullet points under your word or phrase and write a different word on each bullet point that relates to your chosen topic. Sometimes you have to do the previous exercise a couple of times before you find a path the explore. 

When you have your 5 bullet points, have a play with creating a movement/ motif for each word and you will start to build your movement language. 

Check out this article from Margo Roe on:

How to get into the film industry and get funded

Margo Roe's artwork

Find out more about Margo Roe: https://www.margoroe.co.uk/

Name

Young people endure the brutality of the job market in dance short Name, by Priyanka Chavda, Laura Roe and Bart Bazaz. Laura Roe, is a freelance Assistant Director and contemporary dance teacher from the Midlands. Priyanka Chavda is a development producer, from Leicestershire. Passionate about storytelling, she aims to develop and produce films with a unique narrative at its centre. Bartholomew Bazaz is a Midlands based DOP, having worked his way up as a Camera Assistant, with experience Focus Pulling on music videos, commercials and narrative short films.


Searching For Cowardice:

What would mass recruitment look like in World War Three? Using the movement of the “Order of the White Feathers” in WW1, we look at how social media would play a role in present-day youth recruitment. We follow Joe, a sixteen-year-old boy who is stuck between expectations and reality. Through physical theatre and movement, we see Joe's struggle with social cowardice, battling with the expectations from the three different influencers in his life.

Watch Searching For Cowardice: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p084lg06

More artist interviews and workshops

Thanks to Arts Council England, we're excited to be offering you a whole series of artist workshops. Join us as we interview creatives and then hand over to them to run a workshop! Perfect if you're doing Arts Award and need to find out about an artist's work and career.

From artists to actors, we've got an insightful series planned for you. First, join the artist on Instagram where they will do a LIVE demonstration or performance followed by an interview from one of our Voice Contributors. THEN, head over to ZOOM where the artists will run a LIVE 30 minute skills share workshop, showing you exactly how to become as amazing at their art form as they are. 

We have 12 artists workshops planned between now and November 2020, so keep checking back for the latest additions. 

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Author

Nici West

Nici West Voice Team

Nici is the an editor for Voice. She loves all things books, theatre, music, art, visiting other countries, anything creative, and sometimes attempts to make YouTube videos. Alongside Voice she writes and edits through her own pursuits.You can occasionally find her running marathons dressed as a black dog.

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