Analysis of facial expressions

With facial expressions within animation, they are usually exaggerated to further emphasise emotions or feelings that a character is going through, so as to make sure the audience recognises what’s the character is feeling. With the first screenshot from Frozen, Anna is seen here after her sister summoned ice spikes from the floor. She is confused and surprised, which is seen from her open mouth, mouth corners pointing downwards, widened eyes and eyebrow positioning. Her pupils also dilate as she comes to the realisation that her sister is capable of cryokinesis. Following the 12 principles of animation, there is staging (camera being close) and exaggeration (expression).

In the second screenshot, Oaken the shopkeeper is welcoming Anna, and was happy to see a customer since he’s probably quite isolated being on a snow mountain and in the middle of a blizzard. His expression here is of happiness, but the screenshot was taken during his speech, where his eyes are wide open, eyebrows raised, and mouth is in an O shape while the corners are bending upwards to from a smile. Straight away, you can see exaggeration from the way his face looks, and there’s some appeal aspect to him as the way he expresses himself is very much like a real-life person, so the audience can relate to him.

In the third screenshot, you can see Kristoff squinting to look at something in the distance, seen from his eyes getting smaller and his eyebrows become straight, slightly going inwards at the ends closest to the nose to show his possible concern. His mouth also opens slightly, and the left corner of his mouth goes upwards slightly to show his curiosity. Meanwhile, Anna is seen shocked or in fear of the unknown as her eyes are wide open, her one visible eyebrow is straight yet lifted to show her worry and her mouth is slightly open like she’s anticipating something.

In the first screenshot, you see Yao looking overjoyed at something, shown by his huge smile, upturned mouth corners and his oversized eye. His eyebrows are in a semi-circle shape to express his happiness as he is laughing in this screenshot. Of course, his face is exaggerated in his expressions as no one usually dislocates their jaw to laugh or moves like that.

In the second screenshot, he goes from 0 to 100 when it gets hit in the face, seen mainly from his eyebrows, which are now pointing towards his nose at an angle, and his snarl seen from his mouth, showing the expression of anger. His pupil can be seen at the side of his eye like he is giving a character the stank eye. Like the first screenshot, there’s a lot of exaggeration as no one usually bares their teeth like that when angry, though the eyebrows do the downwards pointy.

In the third screenshot, Li Shang (Hanzo) is seen closing one eye when drawing back the bow to show his concentration and his aiming prowess. His eyebrows are in the same shape as Yao when he is angry, but his mouth has a smirk with one of the corners of his mouth angled upwards, nullifying the potential anger that he may have shown. There’s anticipation in his face as the smirk gives off an impression of pride and confidence.

Analysis of a swimming fish

First Video: https://giphy.com/gifs/bbcamerica-nature-bbc-america-ws103-LSKsoZvvMl92R6YZ2o/fullscreen

From the get-go, you can see a fish swimming looks pretty elegant and fluid with its movements, like a two-wheeled drive car where the front to wheels move and the back two follow through. Its pectoral fins, used for precise movements and balancing, are seen making a fanning motion, as the fish is waving from side to side. The bottom of the pectoral fins moves more than the top, indicating that the muscle or joint of the fin might be angled towards the bottom. When the fish moves the caudal fin, it tends to bend and flow, following the head, allowing it to move through the water. The top fins follow the caudal fin movements and bend along with the body. Meanwhile, the pelvic fins can be used to move down and balance the fish so it doesn’t do a barrel roll, seen moving the fish downwards by pushing them up, although they were quite static to begin with.

Second: https://giphy.com/gifs/cute-beautiful-fish-VyAwMGQB7q3oA/fullscreen

In this video are Koi fish slowly floating through the water. Its pectoral fin moves slightly like fan, fluttering slightly to propel itself forwards. The caudal fin is seen having little movement as it’s slowly moving, though it flutters a bit to keep the fish at a steady speed, and at the beginning it bends as the fish is turning. The second fish is seen with its head going in one direction first and then the rest of the body following afterwards. Its pectoral fins are fluttering slightly, and the caudal fin is seen doing a slight fanning motion, along with the pelvic fins fluttering slightly. In the top right at the beginning, the fish there is seen opening its mouth while swimming.

Third: https://giphy.com/gifs/surprise-hungry-gimme-7zKREfT7P50ISS58YY/fullscreen

Two Clownfish are seen moving here, with one eating and one joining in afterwards. The first one moves its caudal fin a lot to propel itself upwards to its food, making a big fluttering motion with the top fins following but moving a bit further and then seen resting on its right. Its pectoral fins are seen flapping a lot to keep itself upright and move yet still being relaxed, along with its anal fin. The second fish that comes in looks more frantic, using its caudal fin to propel itself towards its food. Its pectoral fins are moving rapidly in a fanning motion like the first, and its pelvic fins fold inwards to move itself down.

Is my rig suited for emotive animation?

Not really, the eyes and face are, but less for the fins since the rig is pretty compact. The fins could be more complex with more joints, I could add more to the mouth to make it move like Nemo or make it express emotion like Nemo. We could add more joints to the eyes to make it move about, some more to the mouth, some to the fins and possibly even the spine so it can make bigger and more complex movements. I wouldn’t be able to use AutoSwim if I did that, though.