Facial Expressions

“Expression implies a revelation about the characteristics of a person, a message about something internal to the expresser.”

-          Anon, Web.

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Facial expressions are one of the most important means of communication amongst humans and, indeed, many species of animals around the world. In 3D animation, or any animation, they are vital story telling components. This essay will explore the importance of setting up facial expressions when animating as well as looking at examples of the character of ‘Mike Wazowski’ from the Pixar film Monsters Inc. (2001) to explore and describe these ideas.

Facial expressions were first seriously studied by Charles Darwin who suggested that “the main facial expressions are universal” (Nguyen, T. 2005, pg.4), in other words that many expressions are shared over various animal species, not merely humans. More recently, Paul Ekman has done extensive research into theory of facial expressions. Most famously, he has named six basic expressions: Surprise, Fear, Disgust, Anger, Happiness and Sadness (Ekman, P. 2003). In fact, specific methods have been devised for analyzing facial expressions, most famously the “Facial Action Coding System (FACS)” which studies muscle movements on the face in determining expressions. (Anon - Web. 2011)Most importantly when studying facial expressions is to remember is that “certain facial expressions are associated with particular human emotions” (Anon - Web, 2011, pg.1).

Moving into 3D animation, it is vitally important to the animator to understand and explore the relationship between facial expressions and the emotions they supposedly inform. This is because recognizing emotions through different facial expressions in a film (be it 3D or live action) allows the viewer to identify and relate with the characters of the film which, in turn, allows for a greater emotional connection with the film as well as allowing the story to be told effectively and, when performed well, without needing words. This is referred to as “nonverbal communication” (Wikipedia, 2011, pg.1). Recognizing and identifying emotions is a very important signifying process wherein there is a “characteristic of a person that is represented”, there is a “visual configuration that represents this characteristic”, there is a physical basis of this appearance” (i.e. wrinkles, skin, muscles etc.) and there is a third party which “perceives and interprets the signs” (Anon – Web, 2011). Using varieties of different facial expressions in 3D films therefore allows these signifying processes to occur with the viewer, thus creating not only semiotic but emotional connections with different characters and the film as a whole. Due to Darwin’s belief that facial expressions transverse both human cultures and species, well deformed facial expressions give characters a global relativity to any audience and can help the audience make informed decisions regarding character bias and narrative development, thus making for greater engagement.

I will now turn to a character that I am exploring with regards to facial expressions – Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. (2001). Wazowski plays the one-eyed side kick to the story’s main character, ‘Sully’, and provides much of the comic impetus throughout the film. I specifically chose him as my own modeled 3D character, ‘Wart’, is both one-eyed and completely imaginary. The first expression I will explore of Mike’s is anger:

In both cases, there are certain overlapping features which seem to define the emotion of anger. Mainly, in my opinion, his anger is determined by the ‘frowning’ of his upper eyelid which gives his eye a stern appearance. This is coupled by the mouth, which shows two variations of anger – in the first picture it is a mouth open in shouting, complete with lips which turn it into somewhat of a snarl. The second mouth looks like clenched teeth – a very common attribute of anger. From this first example it is easy to notice how, even in a completely imagined character, certain physical deformations on the face relay universal emotional connotations.

The second emotion for Wazowski is dazy-eyed romance:

 

Such a romantic expression is interesting as it actually combines two more recognizable facial expressions into one; these are happiness and laziness. It is easy to notice both but when looked at together (as well as considering the rest of the frame), one associates these two expressions as one single expression of romance.

The third facial expression for Wazowski shows shock or surprise:

Again, the physical appearance determines the emotion conveyed. In this case, the eye is wide open (as if to try see better due to apparent disbelief) and the jaw is dropped rather low, leaving the mouth to gape open. Surprise, or shock, has been a firm favourite of animated films (especially the famous ‘jaw dropping’ sequences) because it uses very large physical deformations that can be exaggerated for comic effect, as is apparent in both of the above examples.

Lastly is the emotion of happiness or contentment (which are not necessarily the same, but are relative).

The first screenshot clearly shows happiness (a rather eager type too). Once again, the eye is wide open but the expression here is in the mouth. It is also wide open but what defines it depicting happiness is the upward slant of the two corners of the mouth. A very upstanding body helps exaggerate the confidence which is brought on by happiness.  The second example shows contentment, a somewhat more relaxed form of happiness. Here, Mike’s eyelid rests easily over his eye, an upper push on the top eyelid giving him a sense of quiet confidence. The mouth works in the same way – it is not open therefore it is not eager but, again, the upward slant of the corners makes the obvious signifying process towards the emotion of happiness. The body here is not upright as in the first picture; the happiness here is more relaxed and satisfied – content.

In conclusion, it can be seen that the use of different facial expressions is incredibly important for a 3D character. As shown by Mike Wazowski, it enables an engagement and emotional connection with characters who are neither human or real at all. As shown by Darwin, facial expressions transcend cultural, linguistic and animal boundaries and are understood by any viewer, even without a single word being said.

Works Cited:

1.       Anonymous. Emotion and Facial Expression. Web. 2011. http://face-and-emotion.com/dataface/emotion/expression.jsp

2.       Anonymous. Facial Expression : A Primary Communication System. Web. 2011. http://face-and-emotion.com/dataface/expression/expression.jsp

3.       Doctor, Lee (dir.). Monsters Inc. Pixar Films, Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. 2001.

4.       Ekman, Paul. Unmasking the Face : A guide to recognizing emotions from facial clues. Cambridge, MA : Malor Books, 2003.

5.       Nguyen, Thuy. Universals in Facial Expression. Druck und Bindung : Books on Demand. Norderstedt, Germany. 2005

6.       Wikipedia. Facial Expression. Web. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_expression