Animators Need Wide & Narrow Mouth Shapes

Mouth shapes by Cliff Nordberg

When animating dialogue and Lipsync, animators should always look for a strong contrast between the wide and narrow mouth shapes.

Without this, lipsync can tend to feel a bit like a dustbin lid opening and shutting.

The key is to find flexibility, especially between the wide shapes, such as "ee" shapes, and narrow shapes, such as "oo" or "w" shapes. 

Try saying the word "weed" and you'll see what I mean.  Your lips start off forming a narrow shape on the "w" and end up going wider on the "ee" shape. 

Wide Mouth Shapes

Wide mouth shapes

Find your wide mouth shapes. Especially “ee” shapes. Get a nice contrast between wide mouth shapes and narrow mouth shapes.

Wide mouth shapes can include (depending on the context) C,D,G,K,N,R and S shapes. Always act out the line of dialogue in a mirror so you can see yourself making the mouth shapes. Ask yourself, is this a wide or narrow mouth shape?

Narrow Mouth Shapes
Find your narrow mouth shapes. Especially “oo” shapes, and "w" shapes. Get a nice contrast between these narrow shapes and your wide mouth shapes. Once you have done this, you should find that the lipsync starts to feel a lot more flexible and a lot less stiff than before.

Lipsync & Dialogue Resources

Narrow mouth shape]

To find more resources on animating dialogue and lipsync, follow the links below:

• The Secret to Animating Dialogue and Lipsync
• Speed Lipsync - How to Animate Dialogue Fast
• Why Animators Should Open Wide on the Big Vowels
• Dialogue and Lipsync Tutorial
• Animating Lipsync - Avoid Famous Lines of Dialogue
• How to Block Out and Animate a Dialogue Shot
• Why Animators Leave Lipsync Until Last
• Lipsync Resource - The Sesame St Sound Archive
• Why Animators Need to "Hit The Accent"

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