Week 11’s Class with Alec and Aodhan had us looking at the eyes and how they move relative to the rest of the head. We typically move our eyes in small, sharp movements.

Move, stop for a couple frames, move again. That’s how to create realistic eye movements and to get a subtle effect.

Our eyelids tend to move as well, the eye lids get stretched up to add character. Since eyes move in subtle, sharp movements, I have to make sure not to overanimate them or it will be distracting from the rest of the animation.

Smaller eyes hare harder to read, which is why Disney and Pixar use big eyes on their characters to express emotion to the audience better. Very subtly the eyes guide the head movement, and lead the anticipation of what the head is going to.