Gareth Taylor
Freelance & The Mocap Vaults
Gareth works as a Performance Capture Director, VO Director, 1st AD and Movement/Creature specialist, collaborating with incredible teams including Supermassive Games, Blur Studios, Playground Games, Larian, EA, Netflix, Amazon Games, and Criterion. He has worked on over 30 AAA video games titles and brings a wealth of experience to every shoot. Most recently he was Mocap Director on Battlefield 6 and Need for Speed: Unbound, 1st AD on the upcoming Fable & The Casting of Frank Stone and he’s currently Performance Directing for Larian on their next big drop.
He is Co-Head of Operations for The Mocap Vaults (www.themocapvaults.com), a training ground for directors, animators and performers, teaching a range of classes across the UK and Internationally.
Gareth also spent 20 years working as a performer in over 50 AAA games and feature films. He features in Secret Levels for Blur Studios/Prime and Sabers’ Warhammer: Space Marines 2, the hugely successful Until Dawn and Man of Medan for Supermassive Games, Diablo 2, Hitman 2 and the Battlefield and F1 franchises. He’s played iconic characters including Voldemort, Dobby and House of the Dead’s Agent G, as well as creature development and performance on feature films including Pirates of the Caribbean and John Carter of Mars.
Having trained as an actor and director, Gareth has a unique approach that can support both new and familiar performers and animation teams in the volume and streamline shoots to get the best performances and data for the project.
As an experienced Theatre and Movement Director he has worked on large scale immersive projects like Dot. Dot. Dot’s The War of the World’s utilising VR, projection mapping and large-scale puppetry as well as shows for Soho Theatre and Southwark Playhouse. He is a Creative Associate for the multi award-winning international theatre company Curious Directive.
Gareth was also Head of Movement at ALRA and Rose Bruford SW and currently teaches and directs at numerous Drama Schools in the UK and internationally. He specialises in the teaching of Lecoq, Laban and digital performance. He has lectured at various symposiums and events about performing for the digital realm, as well as contributing to various books on the subject for Bloomsbury, Methuen and Red Globe Press.
Gareth Taylor is speaking at the following session/s
How to Enhance your Mocap/P-Cap Shoot: A Collaborative Guide for Game Devs and Performers
This talk centres around the collaboration between the Game Developer and the Performer. For almost 25 wonderful years I’ve been working in Motion and Performance Capture. I’ve been fortunate to have performed in over 50 AAA titles as well as multiple feature films. I have transitioned to Performance Directing and 1st AD roles for Mocap and Performance Capture shoots and as such, I assist in the collaboration between Game Developers and Performers to prepare for and deliver a shoot, harnessing passion, precision and performance. In this talk, I share my experience on how developers and actors alike can get the most out of their time in the volume. From choosing their actors and auditioning, to preparing shot-lists and streamlining their schedules to ensure an environment in which both can thrive. This talk aims to unite the two creative worlds, and doubles as a talk for Performers, Casting Directors and Agents to include techniques for auditioning, building digital characters, working in digital environments; as well as common questions and fears that come with stepping into the volume. This is useful for the dev teams and casting directors to witness, to improve communication and expectations, and understand better how to prepare the actor for their days in Lycra. |
Session Takeaway
- How to prepare for/as an actor on a Motion or Performance Capture shoot, to achieve the best data; aligned to the creative vision.
- How to prepare a shoot that is both actor friendly and more efficient.
- Acting in the digital realm. How casting directors/performers can help Game Devs achieve the most out of their time in the volume; acting techniques for games.
Session speakers
