"Surprise"

The fourth asset for this research study is the emotion of surprise on the 3D animated character. For inspiration I looked at traditional animation principles coupled with the advice Jason Osipa gives in his book Stop Staring in order to gain a few more emotive morph targets on the model. While studying both firsthand exploration and film/animation/photographic study, I found that surprise is a challenging emotion to show without it being mistaken for fear.

I had to settle with using the markers for what a surprised face would be like. However, some people show surprise differently, and the level of surprise can also effect the facial features - from a simple semi-closed mouth pout “oooh” to a wider mouthed “aargh, you made me jump”. For this asset I decided to try to find a middle range, a mouth more pout than a wide mouthed shriek, and eyes wide, eyebrows raised, eyelids open.

I still felt surprise, as an emotion resembles fear so much in characteristics that unless producing the body’s emotive response the difference between the two emotions is blurred. By adding the body movements, both, fear and surprise, gain more distinction as a separate emotive expression.

This asset I feel is a strong candidate for the need of a body to help exaggerate the difference between what is fearful and what is surprise. With a fearful response bringing hands in to defend the body or face, a surprise seems to reverse and the arms and body seem more open as the body decides whether the fight or flight option is the better choice. It is my belief with regards to fear and surprise that you need more information than just a facial expression. In this instance, the body along with the head to allow the message of emotive expression to be clearly delivered upon a 3d animated model.

(Above) Old Asset Surprise Head