Character Animation - A Real Challenge

Steve K

I've always had problems in short animations with believable character actions, especially facial expressions.  I have been impressed by some pro efforts, e.g. Pixar and Rockstar Games which put a lot of effort into, e.g., L.A. Noire where they said the goal was to be able to tell when a character was lying (MotionScan with 32 facial cameras on the real actors).  I happened to switch on a station that plays old movies and immediately I saw the court martial scene from "The Caine Mutiny" (1954) where Capt. Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) loses it.  I remember why he is Humphrey Bogart and you're not  ... two minutes of more facial emotions than many actors do in a career (" ... with geometric logic ...").  A well deserved Oscar for Best Actor.  Any animations that compare with this?

stringtheory9

The blond guy with the scars; at the end. Now that's my comfort level! 

Diomede

Yeah, this guy had some good ones.

 

 

TangoAlpha

stringtheory9 said:

The blond guy with the scars; at the end. Now that's my comfort level! 

 

General Purpose Expression #1: Bored. Also works for Serious, Annoyed, Thinking, Distainful, Angry, Constipated, Displeased, Disapproving, Hungry, Lustful . . .

Otherwise known as, "if in doubt, stop acting". See also the Kuleshov Effect (the audience fills in the emotion based on the immediately preceding and following shots)

argus1000

iClone is releasing in mid-summer its plugin for the professional Faceware system.(http://facewaretech.com/products/hardware/professional-headcam/) for facial motion capture. It's not cheap: the hardware and the software system can set you back $4000-$5000. But its professional. It's exactly like the hardware used in the movie "Avatar". All you need now is good actors.

Steve K

TangoAlpha said:

stringtheory9 said:

Otherwise known as, "if in doubt, stop acting". 

Indeed.  I remember a lot of movies just by my favorite lines.  One is "Birdman", starring Michael Keaton:

Riggan (Keaton) talking to the producer about a fellow cast member:
"...It would be even better if I could get Ralph to stop, you know, acting."

As I recall, Riggan uses his apparent telekinetic power to drop a large stage fixture on Ralph's head.  

 

Steve K

argus1000 said:

All you need now is good actors.

Indeed, its always something    Even with animations, you need good voice actors ... or, for something like the 48 Hour Film contest, make it a silent film with dialogue cards ... avoid the actors AND the lip sync ... 

I've mentioned this before, I think, but this is my alltime favorite voice acting clip, 1 minute with Tim Allen and (especially) Tom Hanks (pretty good facial expressions, also):