Alien: Isolation actor Kezia Burrows leads intensive motion capture program

Emerging actors in Berlin recently completed a motion capture module, culminating in a live assessment using full-body Mo-cap suits to bring original digital characters to life.

As part of the Motion Capture module within the BA Acting for Stage, Screen and Digital Media course at BIMM University Berlin and MetFilm School, 2nd year students were required to undertake an intense week-long period to plan and rehearse their motion capture skills, culminating in a final assessment.

Leading this truly unique module was Welsh industry icon Kezia Burrows, whose motion capture and voice acting portfolio includes an impressive array of internationally successful video games like Alien: Isolation, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Destiny 2, Elden Ring, and Final Fantasy XVI.

“I think motion capture should be a really important part of actors training, along with performance capture. It’s just another string to your bow, in terms of what you can do as an actor. It’s not going away, and its grown massively, so it’s a really good part of the industry to work in” – Kezia Burrows

The on-site assessment, which took place at DOCK 11 Berlin, required students to wear full body mo-cap suits, fully tracking their movements during their chosen assessment piece and translating their movements to on-screen avatars using specialist software. 

Idle animations, physical gestures, and exaggerated movements were all put under the microscope, giving the students freedom to create their own scenes and characters with a kind of physical identity that is unique to video game productions.