Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Reader's Question: Are Facial Expressions as Important as the Body on Acting Shots?

I feel like you can sort of break down the performance into four categories of exponentially decreasing importance: the body, then the eyes, then the face, then the lip-sync.

Most animators would agree that the body language and pantomime is by far the most important aspect of the overall acting performance in a medium shot or wider. (i.e. not a close up on the face). Unless we are face to face with someone, the body is the first place we unconsciously read in order to communicate with someone. Why? I'm not sure, but it might be because our body language often betrays our true feelings, our true mood or personality, our true intentions and desires, etc. When we consider that, it isn't surprising that we would pay at least some amount of attention to the body language of the person we are approaching.

In short, if you can get the emotions and ideas to read in the body, then the audience is going to understand what's going on and feel those emotions.

Next on our list of descending importance is the eyes. If the body is 90% of the acting performance, the eyes are 90% of the facial performance. After considering what the body will be doing, the next most important thing is definitely your eye performance. As always, the most important (and sadly, the most often skipped) aspect of doing eye animation is to know WHY you are animating the eyes. I see a lot of demo reels with randomly floaty eyeballs, and it can really kill a performance. Know exactly when and how and (most importantly) why you are going to move the eyes before you dive into your animation. Blinks go along with this, and are just as important for communicating thought process and emotion, and in certain instances I'd include the brows in this category as well.

After the eyes, we've got the overall facial expressions, including mouth emotions (smiles, hanging jaw, frowns, etc).

Obviously the eyes are a part of a facial expression, and the whole face should be thought of as one cohesive unit, but for the sake of this talk, we can think about it as a separate entity -- only because the rest of the face, while very important to the overall communication of the character, is simply not quite as important as the eyes themselves. If you animate a great body performance with great eye animation, that performance is going to read perfectly, regardless of whether or not you have a full facial rig to work with. This shows the importance of the eyes over the rest of the face, but that's not to say that you shouldn't take great care in the creation and choice of your facial expressions.

Last, and certainly least, is the lip-sync. Great body acting paired up with expressive and alive eyes, combined with well-timed facial expressions -- that combination is going to look terrific, even without the lip-sync. This is why you'll hear a lot of people say that lip-sync is the icing on the cake of the overall animation. It's that last extra little bit of "wow" you can add to your scene, and by far the least important aspect of your acting performance.

None of this is to say that any of these four categories are unimportant, some are just more important than others. Really terrible lip sync will certainly ruin a shot on a demo reel, but my point is that mediocre lip sync combined with otherwise great animation will probably go unnoticed, and the recruiter will be left with a feeling that the overall shot was great, even though the lip-sync itself might not have been fantastic.

So, I guess as far as which is the icing on the cake, it sounds like the eyes are the icing on the body language cake, the facial expressions are the icing on the eyes, and the lip-sync is the icing on the face.

In vaguely related news, I love cake but really dislike frosting/icing, which my wife thinks is completely insane, but she doesn't mind as it leaves more icing for her...

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the great question Fernando!

Shawn :)

|

46 comments:

sdembel said...

Hello,here a nice article about facial animation.
However i have a little request,we as animator almost all known how to animate pose to pose in the computer,but it would be cool to have an article how cg animator approach straigh ahead scene or much more simply,do you animation action the same way as you animate acting.

sdembel said...

Most animator nowadays tend to separate action from acting,for example i often heard generic walk?
can a walk be generic,can we have action without action or emotion?

farhaad said...

it was fantastic...thanks. i'v changed a lot in looking at the facial jobs..

Thomas Yu said...

Thanks Shawn! THis helps a lot

Fernando Herrera said...

Awesome!!

Thanks Shawn, you rock

Unknown said...

it was an article very interesting i remember, thanks Shawn :)!

Nilabh said...

It was cool. But I am a starter, and many of my colleagues are, so I have a little doubt.
Here, if we have a prerecorded dialogs on which we have to make our character act. And as I read, the body is animated in the first pass and then the Face is done. So how do know, or how do you TIME the face with an already animated body below exactly to the dialogue? isn't there a huge possibility that the lip sync when done in the second pass will not match the body movement which was already done?
maybe this question sounds stupid, but I am really wondering. please help me out.
thanx

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

These posts just keep getting better and better. All Ive done this summer is an animation internship and read this blog and watch the webinars, and its the best summer Ive ever had.
I was wondering about the blocking stage and how far you go on each pass, blocking 1, blocking 2, etc. How much posing should one apply to say an action shot in the first phase of blocking. Should it include anticipations or squash and stretch poses? What about the other stages?

Organic Skincare said...

The eyes are a part of a facial expression, and the whole face should be thought of as one cohesive unit, but for the sake of this talk, we can think about it as a separate entity -- only because the rest of the face, while very important to the overall communication of the character, is simply not quite as important as the eyes themselves.... Very nice and helpful informative post....read more

teguh wibowo said...

obat kutil kelamin
cara mengobati kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
cara mengobati kutil kelamin
obat wasir
cara mengobati wasir
obat sipilis
cara mengobati sipilis
cara mengobati sipilis
obat sipilis

Unknown said...

Kondiloma akuminatum ialah vegetasi oleh Human Papiloma Virus tipe tertentu, bertangkai, dan permukaannya berjonjot. Tipe HPV tertentu mempunyai potensi onkogenik yang tinggi, yaitu tipe 16 dan 18. tipe ini merupakan jenis virus yang paling sering dijumpai pada kanker serviks. Sedangkan tipe 6 dan 11 lebih sering dijumpai pada kondiloma akuminatum dan neoplasia intraepitelial serviks derajat ringan. Kondiloma akuminatum ialah vegetasi oleh Human Papiloma Virus tipe tertentu, bertangkai, dan permukaannya berjonjot. Tipe HPV tertentu mempunyai potensi onkogenik yang tinggi, yaitu tipe 16 dan 18. tipe ini merupakan jenis virus yang paling sering dijumpai pada kanker serviks. Sedangkan tipe 6 dan 11 lebih sering dijumpai pada kondiloma akuminatum dan neoplasia intraepitelial serviks derajat ringan segera kontak kami untuk mendapatkan obat kutil kelamin manjur

Unknown said...

Obat ambeien herbal de nature
Cara mengobati wasir dan ambeien
obat tradisional wasir dan aman
cara alami mengobati wasir ambeien
obat herbal wasir atau ambien
cara mengatasi wasir ambeien saat hamil
cara tradisional mengobati wasir/ambeien
obat tradisional wasir atau ambeien
obat kutil kelamin ampuh tanpa operasi
obat kutil kelamin mujarab
obat kutil kelamin medis
obat kutil kelamin paling murah
obat menghilangkan kutil kelamin
obat menyembuhkan kutil kelamin
obat tradisional menyembuhkan kutil kelamin
obat minum untuk kutil kelamin
Obat kencing nanah atau sipilis
obat tradisional buat kencing nanah
obat buat penyakit kencing nanah
obat antibiotik buat kencing nanah
obat herbal buat kencing nanah
obat apotik buat kencing nanah
obat kencing nanah gonore
obat gonorrhea kencing nanah

Reseller De Nature said...

obat kutil kelamin
Pengobatan Wasir
Pengobatan Wasir Tanpa Operasi
Pengobatan Wasir Dengan Propolis
Pengobatan Wasir Secara Alami
Pengobatan Wasir Bafar
Pengobatan Wasir Stadium 2
Pengobatan kutil kelamin dengan cuka apel
Pengobatan kutil kelamin di anus
Pengobatan kutil kelamin di bandung
Obat kutil kelamin
Obat kutil kelamin di apotik
Obat Sipilis Instan atasi gonore dengan cepat
Obat Sipilis Apotik
Obat Sipilis Di Apotik K24
Obat Sipilis Di Apotik Terdekat
Obat Sipilis Paling Ampuh
Obat Sipilis Ampuh
obat kencing nanah selain ace maxs
obat kencing nanah apa
obat kencing nanah apa ya
obat kencing nanah atau gonore
obat kencing nanah akut
obat kencing nanah amoxicillin
pengobatan herbal penyakit kencing nanah atau sipilis
obat dari penyakit kencing nanah
obat alami penyakit kencing nanah
obat apotik penyakit kencing nanah
obat apotik untuk penyakit kencing nanah
obat kencing nanah
obat dokter untuk penyakit kencing nanah
obat resep dokter untuk penyakit kencing nanah

World Goverment said...

Verify it's you Something seems a bit different about the way you're trying to sign in. Complete the step below to let us know it's you and not someone pretending to be you. Learn more. Select a verification method Enter the verification code sent to your phone ••••••••••70. Tell us your phone number •••••••••••70 That doesn't match the number on file. Try again. Having trouble? Ask Google for help to get back into your account. gueh ky gue bae koh

World Goverment said...

Obat Wasir Berbentuk Salep
Obat Wasir Bagi Wanita Hamil
Obat Wasir ampuh stadium 4
Obat Wasir Berak Darah
Obat Wasir Buat Sendiri
Pengobatan Wasir Cirebon
Pengobatan Wasir Cibubur
Pengobatan Wasir Stadium 4
Pengobatan Wasir Cara Tradisional
Pengobatan Wasir Cara Hembing
Pengobatan Wasir Cara Injeksi
Pengobatan Wasir Cara Islam
Obat Wasir Ciflon
Obat Wasir Cabe Rawit
Obat Wasir Cepat
Obat Wasir Cara Hembing
Obat Wasir Century
Obat Wasir Cair
Pengobatan Wasir Di Cirebon
Pengobatan Wasir Dengan Cara Di Ikat
Pengobatan Wasir Di Cibubur
Pengobatan Alternatif Wasir Di Cibubur

Unknown said...

I love your post because I like the way you collaborate and share your opinions, great blog, carry on. emotion recognition software

Unknown said...

obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin
obat kutil kelamin

Unknown said...

true religion
mont blanc pens
pandora charms
ysl handbags
fitflops sale clearance
fila shoes
nike roshe
hermes handbags
jordan outlet
new balance sneakers
20173.8wengdongdong

John said...

burberry sale
nike air max 95
ed hardy uk
ghd straighteners sale
polo ralph lauren outle
michael kors outlet online
jordans
mlb jerseys
harden shoes
pandora charms sale clearance
20170322yuanyuan

chenlina said...

chenlina20170516
clarks shoes
gucci handbags
christian louboutin shoes
christian louboutin
ugg boots
spurs jerseys
toms outlet
pittsburgh steelers jerseys
ugg boots clearance
boston celtics jerseys

Unknown said...

20170523 junda
lebron shoes
prada sunglasses for women
ralph lauren uk
cheap jordans for sale
mlb jerseys
ralph lauren shirts
rolex uk
christian louboutin shoes
cartier watches
coach outlet

raybanoutlet001 said...

coach factory outlet
coach outlet online
coach factory outlet
chicago bulls
michael kors outlet
cheap uggs
oakley sunglasses wholesale
fitflop shoes
cheap ray ban sunglasses
cheap oakley sunglasses

raybanoutlet001 said...

coach outlet
tory burch outlet
true religion outlet
chargers jerseys
miami heat
michael kors handbags
new york knicks
clippers jersey
michael kors handbags
ray ban sunglasses outlet

QQQQQQQQQ said...

balenciaga
louboutin shoes uk
yeezy boost 700
links of london
hogan outlet online
yeezy boost 350
curry 5
adidas gazelle
michael kors outlet
vans outlet

Unknown said...

cheap oakley sunglasses
lebron shoes
yeezy shoes
nike air force 1 low
adidas stan smith women
supreme hoodie
nike free run
hermes handbags
nike air max 90
balenciaga sneakers

Unknown said...

zzzzz2018.7.16
polo ralph lauren outlet
kate spade outlet
giuseppe zanotti sneakers
ugg boots
air max 90
ray ban eyeglasses
football soldes
oakley sunglasses
basket nike femme
manolo blahnik

5689 said...

zzzzz2018.8.7
pandora jewelry
coach outlet
golden goose sneakers
maillot football pas cher
pandora
issey miyake
true religion outlet
basket nike
michael kors outlet clearance
ralph lauren uk

Unknown said...

lebron soldier 11
hermes belts
kobe 9
kobe byrant shoes
adidas ultra boost
hermes handbags
links of london
crazy explosive
caterpillar boots
nike mercurial

Solusi Sehat dengan Herbal said...

The article is very interesting. And I also want to share articles about health, I'm sure this will be useful. Read and share it. Thank you very much :)

Khasiat dan manfaat QnC Jelly Gamat
Obat Benjolan Di Ketiak
Solusi Sehat Alami
Obat Scabies Herbal
Obat Usus Buntu Tanpa Operasi
Jamu Tradisional Penyubur Kandungan/Herbal Khusus Wanita

yanmaneee said...

yeezy boost 350
yeezy boost 350
hermes belt
michael kors
adidas zx flux
nike polo shirts
michael kors uk
adidas yeezy
jordan retro
curry 4

CB said...

By reading the article material very very well and this is very useful.
cara menggugurkan hamil
kalkulator masa subur wanita
aktivitas penyebab keguguran
penyebab telat haid dan solusinya
tanda tanda kehamilan
masa subur wanita

Rosie said...

That's very nice and useful tips. Thanks author for sharing this post. I know a lot of interesting things from your blog.
instagram search

yanmaneee said...

golden goose sneakers
kyrie 6 shoes
nike air max 270
balenciaga shoes
hermes
100% real jordans for cheap
jordans
supreme clothing
jordan 1 off white
hermes handbags

Brukkevin said...

This blog was very nicely formatted; it maintained a flow from the first word to the last. NCR Ranger Coat

eddielydon said...

I really appreciate the kind of topics you post here. Thanks for sharing us a great information that is actually helpful. James Dean Red Jacket

mrbobystone said...

Hi , Thank you so much for writing such an informational blog. For more information Click on Attack on Titan Coat

George Mark said...

Thank you very much for this great post. Scarface Jacket

Alen said...

Facial expressions are just as important as body language when it comes to acting shots. If you can convincingly project emotion through your face, it will help sell your performance and make the shot more believable.

For more visit! beth dutton season 05 pink printed coat

Insta Info said...

If you decide to deactivate, Instagram might ask you why. Choose a solution from a menu or offer your own defence. After you give your defence, Instagram will ask for your password to confirm your identity and make sure that only the account owner has the power to remove the account.

Readmore
Instaguide.Info

Android 13 is predicted for Motorola

released a formal update timetable

Snab Info said...

It is convenient and educational to study and appreciate various cultures, histories, and architectural wonders from the comfort of your own smartphone by taking virtual tours of historic locations on Google Maps. It can be quite useful for those who wish to study or plan upcoming vacations as well as for those who are unable to travel straight to these locations.

Microsoft’s ergonomic keyboard and mouse

stopped making its boards and mouse

40 years of unbroken production

Snubix said...

Asus just unveiled the TUF Gaming F15 range of laptops, which is curiously made in Brazil. This is a significant step forward for the company. The rising eSports business in addition to the local market's growth have both had an impact on this substantial development. The Brazilian-made TUF Gaming F15 differs from its 2022 counterpart in more ways than just looks. It has a screen edge that is less pronounced, a touchpad that is 26% bigger, and four new keyboard shortcuts. An improved gaming experience is guaranteed by these improvements. The 14 cores and 20 threads of the 12th generation Intel Core i7 12700H CPU are what give it exceptional performance. With the help of MUX Switch technology to maximise system capacity, the notebook's graphics are powered by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU.

Read More,


Google's Pixel 7a

Artificial Intelligence in Android

Facebook Pages and Malware Distribution

Brad Holl said...

The James Webb Space Telescope has recently made a ground-breaking discovery in unravelling the secrets of the universe. It discovered the presence of water for the first time on a main-belt comet in our solar system that is situated halfway between Mars and Jupiter. The finding of comet water by the Webb Telescope came after 15 years of diligent work utilising a range of observational methods. The telescope focused on Comet Read, revealing the existence of water vapour surrounding it. This important discovery raises the prospect of ice preservation even in the solar system's hotter areas. This information from the Webb Telescope's comet water discovery could support hypotheses about how our planet acquired its plentiful water reserves early in its history.

Read More,


New Andriod 13 Update

Discord's username change

Telegram counters allegations

Tech Counsellor said...

There are concerns over the possibility of a 200-meter asteroid passing within a few hundred miles of Earth, but NASA assures us there is no need for concern. The "NEO Earth Close Approaches" programme of NASA, which constantly tracks celestial bodies wandering close to our planet, detects the appearance of this cosmic traveller, designated "2023 CL3", on May 24. The size of "2023 CL3" is more than double that of the iconic Statue of Liberty, which is a sharp contrast. However, it is anticipated to maintain a safe separation of less than 7.2 million kilometres from Earth. This amount may seem large, yet in terms of distance from other objects, it is only a short distance away.

Read More,


Super Mario Bros on Prime Video

New Whatsapp's animated emojis

IBM Watsonx AI Platform

The Snap Hub said...

A security upgrade for the Galaxy A22 5G was made available by the tech giant Samsung in May 2023, demonstrating its dedication to the safety of its products. Although it doesn't bring any new features or alter the device's appearance, this release, which aims to fix some 70 software problems in the Galaxy series, is expected to increase consumer security and confidence. If you have an Android device, open the "Settings" app and select "Software update" to see if it is prepared for the May 2023 update. Click "Download and update," adhere to the prompts on the screen, and wait for the procedure to finish. Prior to starting the update process, always check to make sure your Wi-Fi is reliable and your battery has enough power.

johnson said...

Even without the lip-sync, the combination of great body acting, expressive and lively eyes, and well-timed facial expressions will look fantastic. This is why many people argue that lip-sync is the frosting on the cake of overall animation. I appreciate the time and effort you put into writing this content. I find the subject fascinating and am eager to learn more about it. I loved how you provided many opinions on the topic and highlighted different points of view. The quantity of research you put into this post has me impressed.
how long does a uncontested divorce take in virginia