Changing Facial Expressions
You ever notice how simply changing the facial expression of a character in a certain pose can completely change the meaning of the pose?
Think about this – take this image for example:
Baloo’s face is concerned, and his body language says it too — He’s leaning in, and his hands are lightly placed on Mowgli for comfort.
Now what if we were to just change the face and nothing else? Such as a snarl, scared wide-eyed look, or laughing face. Even with the body in the exact same comforting position, the change in face would completely change the tone and story that the image is telling.
So now I wonder ~ is the face what ultimately sells the tone of a shot? From this, the face seems to outweigh the story the body pose alone tells.