Movement Choreography:
for Nosferatu (2023/4)
I
https://www.focusfeatures.com/nosferatu
Premiers DEC 25, 2024 USA and January 2025 UK | HORROR
Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.
STARRING
Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Bill Skarsgård, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Emma Corrin, Willem Dafoe, Simon McBurney, Ralph Ineson
DIRECTED BY
Robert Eggers
My Movement Choreography for the language of Nosferatu was indebted to my solo works such as Mythic and Black Mirror and my previous research into possession, hysteria, human and animal hybrids and associated research into the Occult and Witchcraft. I also watched every single relevant horror film as part of my preperation and research for the movement material as I wanted to be sure to make something not seen before.
My solo Black Mirror was in fact inspired by Nosferatu and I have previously done several group works based on Vampire narratives (Darkness Cycle 1 and 2) so it was a kind of artistic destiny that I contributed my artistic and research history to Eggers own incredible and inspiring vision for Nosferatu.
My artistic process many months prior to filming was to go into a studio alone (only observed by my Norfolk Terrier!) and then working with the script, with ideas that arose in correspondence with Eggers, I crafted movement sequences and filming then on my iphone and sent them back to Eggers and the producer for comment.
I had also conducted workshops six months prior to filming, working with actors and dancers on relevant themes. I was able to use these workshops to test out and formulate the most swift, effective methodologies, images and prompts to give to both Lily Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgaard when working in the very tight filming scheduling where lots of rehearsal and laboratory process is just not possible, Although, for this film, I did in fact have very generous allocation of rehearsal time with both actors, and with Lily I was able to discover so much about her own unique strengths as a tremendously capable physical actor, and then integrate that into the final and various movement sequences.
There is a conception. that the movement director just turns up with material and transposes into on the actors body. This is just not possible, or desirable, as the actors will have their own internal narratives, images, physical aptitudes and ideas. I had the trust of the actors and Eggers to allow this dialogue process to unfold and many revisions and versions were explored until we arrived at the best material for each scene, accommodating camera angles, script continuity, set locations, costume, and so on. There is always also the balance to be found between too much choreography, too much control, or conversely not enough structure and we had to constantly find the right balance to each scene. I think when working with such idiosyncratic 'invented' movement scoring, this is always going to be the best process to follow.
I am hugely proud of the end material and cannot wait to see this in the cinemas!
I have not currently released images or videos or compromising information, directly connected to the film due to NDA.
Background Image Credit photo copyright Aidan Monaghan/Focus Features