Keep In Mind

Appeal:

# play with straights and curves, playing one off the other

# assymetry

# tend to have half of the face squashed and the other half stretched.

# make sure all the parts of the face work together to form a clear expression

# have the eye lids mimic the brows and direct the eye line

Timing:

# break up the timing on the parts of the face, have something lead as the other part follow

# break up the timing on the areas of the parts ( sides of the mouth, or face)

# use eases and overshoots for the parts of the face

# have the brows lead the action of the head and eyes

Contrast:

# try to add in contrast with opposing squash and stretch

Readability:

# Rule #1, make sure your emotion reads clearly.

# Do all aspects of the face support that emotion, do the different parts work as a whole? Are you hitting the necessary markers/indicators for the emotion you're trying to portray?

# What leads what: offset keyframes to tell the story. For example: the brows almost always lead the emotion, so after selling the thought in the eyes, start the tranformation of the face with the brows.

# Spot Light your emotion: Help your emotion read by

1.) Expression Changes get lost in motion, Never stage an important face change to take place in mid-motion, make the change before or after the motion

2.) As a rule of thumb, no expression change in the first or last 8 frames of the scene. It takes about this long for the audience to get oriented.