FINAL 2/28 Update: Model + Controls + Vague Idea-ing

I finished my final model and have most of my controls working. The things I still need to work on are the tongue control, hair, and more tweaking in general (especially with the mouth area). I used a combination of clusters, blend shapes, and joints for the head, jaw, and nose. Right now I have set driven keys which works for expressions like basic smiling and basic frowning, but I am still having some issues when getting into more complex and asymmetrical expressions.

I plan on remodeling the hair so I can have the edge flow follow how hair actually attaches to the head so I can create my nHair more easily. I’m leaning more towards using nHair over polygonal hair because I just want to learn how to use it in general, but I’ll take any advice if it doesn’t seem to mesh with the overall style I’m going with (which isn’t clear yet). Anyways, here’s a horrible hair test.

I tweaked the ending of the line to be more ambiguous so someone wouldn’t necessarily have to know the story the character is from to get the situation (which will be explained by the background, which I’ll explain later in this post). So now it’s “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times……I hope I’ve got something named in my memory at least.”

I don’t have an audio recording yet, but I do have a video where I set the dialogue I had from last time to some expressions that I would be going for if I were to use those lines. The timing isn’t accurate to anything right now, although the animation itself is currently 10 seconds.

I based of the expressions on some Milo Thatch character art:

As for the environment to give context to my character (who is supposed to be Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities, and the dialogue is supposed to reference the famous first lines of the book and Sydney internal monologue before his beheading), I was thinking of have a background like this:

like with French-y buildings and a guillotine (probably drawn), a blurry mass representing a crowd with simple movements (maybe some fire too), and possibly a (blurry) head flying overhead when Sydney trails off mid-sentence.

Next week I hope to have vastly improved hair, a tongue control, and a storyboard + an audio recording.

Final: Dialogue

My final facial model will be Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities.
I currently have a model, but I don’t really like the current design I have so I’m probably gonna have it redone by the next update.

Reference (for this temporary model):

He ended up looking way goofier than I anticipated when actually modeling so….
Reference I’ll probably base the new model off of (so far, still needs tweaking):

Model (the temporary model):

Super WIP of new model:

The prompt was (either) “What did you do with the body?” or “What is the last thing you remember”?
Answer: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” [looks up at guillotine and sighs] “…I hope I’ve got a kid named after me at least.”

I wanted to keep the answer kind of vague enough to be a valid answer for both of the prompts (so I can just stick with it), but I’ll take any feedback for a better answer (especially after the official prompt is finalized).

Lighting exercise

These are the references for the three facial postures I’m using: “happy”, “wary”, and “suave/model-esque posing”.

Happy

Wary

Suave/Model-esque posing

So the basic things I was shooting for in each pose was
For “happy”: High key lighting schemes, facial features are fully exposed and the shadows are more or less natural-looking.
For “wary”: Low key lighting schemes, lights that tell more of a “narrative” (aka light with more of a clear direction)
For “suave”: Studio portraiture-esque lighting, more light than shadow though still maintaining a medium amount of shadow to showcase form
I will also provide additional commentary on why I chose certain poses on each individual still.

Light high above viewpoint – Wary

Reason: Darkened eyesockets, more hollowed looking cheekbones give a more solemn feeling which fits the “wary” expression the best.

Light above viewpoint – Happy

Reason: Face is completely lit and the light is at a naturalistic position which helps aids the “happy” expression in looking like a genuine smile.

Light at viewpoint – Happy

Reason: High key with face few shadows which would emphasize a fuller expression like the “happy” posture.

Light below viewpoint – Wary

Reason: Air of mystery adds a narrative to the “wary” gaze, both lighting scheme and “wary” expression give a feeling of unease.

Light 45 degrees to the side and above – Suave

Reason: A pretty standard portrait photoshoot scheme that emphasizes the cheekbones/facial curvature and therefore the charisma of the face.

Light directly to the side – Wary

Reason: It was a debate between the “wary” and “suave” expression, but ultimately the “wary” expression won out because the brow, inner cheek, and inner eye shadows on the lit side aided the solemn feeling that the “wary” expression gives out.

Short lighting – Suave

Reason: Though there is a lot of shadow, a good amount of it is soft and flatters rather than obscure.

Butterfly lighting – Happy

Reason: High key with light that fits a fuller expression that the “happy” posture offers.

Broad Lighting – Wary

Reason: Half the face is in hard shadow which adds a more negative/cautionary tone.

Light on side, camera on side – Happy

Reason: High key, illuminates expression in a fittingly positive way.

Light on front, camera on side – Suave

Reason: Deep shadows that emphasize the curvature of the face while still keeping the expression visible and flattering.

Partial backlight – Wary

Reason: Darker look that adds interest in the direction of the light over flattering the face.

Silhouette profile – Happy

Reason: The most important aspect is the silhouette rather than any surface details, and the smiling curve of the “happy” posture is the most recognizable emotion out of the three postures. The lit background also helps in creating a more positive feeling that suits the smile.

Multiple source lighting – Suave

Reason: It was a debate between the “suave” and “happy”, but ultimately “suave” won out because the lighting set up is very much like a standard portrait photoshoot set up which would fit the more posed “suave” look.