Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
will be driven largely by the character's personality. An individual who has
perhaps become used to life in prison and the prison regime and who is no
longer fazed by the experience will behave in a very different manner from
someone who finds himself in an unfamiliar and rather scary environment.
Similarly, eating ice cream on a beach will, for some, be the most natural,
comfortable, and relaxing thing in the world; for others, even this seemingly
innocuous event could prove stressful and a completely uncomfortable
thing to do.
Any action has the potential to create tension between normal patterns of
behavior or has the potential to cross accepted behavior lines associated with
a group to which an individual belongs. The “normal” behavior may reflect the
stereotypical behavior patterns that an individual has willingly embraced or
has learned as part of a cultural heritage.
In thinking about the behavior of a character, it is as well to consider those
external incidents and situations that act as drivers for a performance and
that underpin intentional and unintentional movement (
(reflex responses
).
The mix of reflexive and thoughtful responses to external drivers (things
that happen to a character) and internal drivers (the character's emotional
response to those things) creates a very elaborate set of issues. The way
individuals respond to any given situation will vary greatly; what seems of
little significance to one individual may prove of immense importance to
a second individual. A situation that creates blind panic in one character
may well result in another individual becoming stronger and acting in
a calm and altogether more steadfast manner. You can see from this
that there is no formulaic approach an animator can rely on to create a
performance. Each one is unique. However, there are tools an animator
can use to gain a better understanding of behavior in order to build these
performances.
One of the most obvious tools is learning to read facial expressions. This is
something that we do from birth. We are probably hardwired genetically, at
least to some degree, to make and read certain expressions as part of our
communication.
Facial Motion and Expression
The most expressive part of the human figure and the one we use most to
communicate with, other than the voice, is the face. This is something that
we have in common with many animals, particularly the primates. Naturally,
the importance of the face in communication varies from species to species.
Some animals are almost incapable of any expression at all. The physicality
of human and primate faces allows for a very high level of expression. Other
species such as reptiles have a much more limited range of facial expressions.
It might be easy to recognize when a human child is happy simply by looking
at the smile on her face; however, the inscrutable grin of a crocodile is not
much of an indicator of its emotional state. Obviously, such a face remains
