Animated Faces

(courtesy of Gabriel)

It's All in the Eyes

The National Film Board of Canada presents the stop-motion animated film, Madame Tutli-Putli:

The special visual effects were produced in collaboration with acclaimed portrait artist Jason Walker. The puppet eye effects demonstrate a first in the field of animation: a seamless, unnerving integration of human and puppet performance. This innovative process, created by Walker for the film, required meticulous precision and involved the placement of real human eyes onto individual puppets. For each scene, the puppet's animation was analyzed and corresponding human facial expressions were filmed in order to match the puppet's motion. The eye performances required long rehearsal time, great patience and precise notes. Once the live-action eyes were filmed, Walker then individually positioned, digitally scaled, painted and re-timed the footage for nuance and believability of gesture. The extraordinary result of this process is a new kind of puppet: one with the soul and memories of a living being.

Before & After (From Walker's website):



The Trailer:

No Need for Dialog

Norma Desmond agrees:

From Sunset Blvd.:

Faced With Death

The Long Good Friday:

Wow.

I haven't even seen this movie, but the ending has incredible emotion. It's not told through dialog, but rather it's told through close-ups! Bob Hoskins' face tells it all.

Here it is:

Persona, 1966

From Strictly Film School:

Ingmar Bergman uses minimal composition and extremely tight close-ups to illustrate the theme of psychological deconstruction. Note the prevalent use of single camera shots throughout the duration of a scene. The lack of camera movement forces us to study the characters' faces. Persona, after all, as the title suggests, is not about who the person actually is, but the different identities, or facades, that the person projects. Figuratively, Elisabeth Vogler, having played the role of celebrity, wife, and mother, has decided to abandon her persona and walk off the stage. A variation on the idea of duality provides an essential ingredient to the plot development. The themes of experience, children, and romantic relationships take on very different meanings for the two women. Alma seems to covet what Elisabeth has, but she has deliberately chosen other paths. Note the monologue that is shown twice: one showing a close-up of Alma, and the other of Elisabeth. It is a scene about regret, frustration, and denial. The effect illustrates how different, and yet similar, these two women are... and how cruel and destructive the human will can be.

Here is the clip from the movie: