The choreographer's rehearsal room long before any filming starts
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A choreographer's actual creative work happens largely in a rehearsal room long before a single camera is ever present, developing and refining steps with dancers over repeated sessions until a routine feels genuinely polished and ready for the pressures of an actual film shoot, however many times it has already been watched before.
This rehearsal process typically moves through distinct stages, developing core movement alone, then teaching it to lead performers, then finally integrating a full ensemble of background dancers, each stage building carefully on the groundwork established during the one immediately before it, well past the point where anyone still remembers exactly how it began.
Choreographers also use this rehearsal period to test how a routine will actually work with the planned camera setup, adjusting steps and formations if early feedback from the cinematographer suggests certain movements will not read clearly once the sequence is finally filmed, even for audiences who could not easily explain the reason.
By the time actual filming begins, a well-rehearsed routine should feel effortless to dancers despite considerable underlying complexity, evidence of how much invisible groundwork typically underpins even a few minutes of polished, seemingly spontaneous screen choreography, however quietly that influence continues to operate in practice.