Meet Your Face:
The Animator's Guide to How Your Face Speaks
Format: Lecture/Class exercises Venue: In-Studio or Zoom Class Duration: Half-Day
This course is designed to empower animators with a comprehensive understanding of their own facial expressions.
Utilizing the innovative concept of 'facial resonators', this course guides attention to distinct facial regions. The vibrational energy in these resonators aids in pinpointing, isolating, and authentically triggering muscle groups associated with specific emotions.
By mastering this unique approach, animators will not only be able to elicit and understand specific feelings and emotions, but also bring a new level of authenticity and depth to their animated characters.
- Acquire the tools and information to activate and isolate the individual emotional muscle groups.
- Learn what specific emotions look and feel like on your own face.
- Learn how to adjust the intensity level of emotional expression.
- Experience how the emotion grows from the most subtle to the full expression.
- Learn how to pinpoint and connect to a trigger with the appropriate timing.
Course Schedule
Introduction and Course Overview (30 min)
- Understanding the importance of facial expressions in animation. - Course objectives and expectations.
Emotion and Facial Expression (1 hour)
- Understanding the link between emotions and facial expressions.
- Exercises to elicit specific emotions and observe corresponding facial expressions.
Understanding Facial Anatomy (1 hour)
- Introduction to facial muscle groups.
- Understanding how different muscles contribute to facial expressions.
Creating a Truthful Response (30 minutes)
- Techniques for creating truthful emotional responses.
- Understanding the importance of authenticity in animation.
Activating Facial Muscles (1 hour)
- Exercises to locate and activate specific facial muscle groups.
- Understanding how different muscle activations contribute to different emotions.
Course Wrap-up and Q&A (30 minutes)
- Review of key course concepts.
- Open discussion and Q&A .
What Students Have To Say...
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand the anatomy of the face and how different muscle groups contribute to facial expressions.
- Activate specific facial muscle groups to elicit specific emotions.
- Understand the link between emotions and facial expressions.
- Create truthful emotional responses for their animated characters.
Materials Needed:
Notebook and pen for note-taking, laptop or tablet for online resources (if applicable).
Assessment:
Participation in class exercises, demonstration of understanding through Q&A.
Please note that this is just a sample syllabus and the actual course content and structure may vary based on your specific teaching methods and the needs of your students.
The animator who knows how to explore a character’s internal life and express it accurately through their body, voice and face will be better prepared to make a more detailed and useful reference which, translates into a more believable and interesting character.
To learn more about this class and others offered, click the button below and set up a time for us to chat.
