The Depiction of Emotion through Character Animation To Intensify Player Immersion
By: Mark Flieg Jr.
Supervisor: Chris Jagers
Masters of Interactive Technology degree conferred March 23, 2007
Thesis / Project completed: March 21st, 2007

This project examines the use of facial expressions, camera composition, and dynamic versus passive actions to better engage players through games. These techniques provide critical feedback to players in regards to their surroundings, and demonstrate their power to illicit emotion. The use of facial animation emphasizes how to help players respond to their environment. A variety of dynamic and passive actions demonstrate when and how to best utilize movement to demonstrate emotion. Several camera techniques explore ways to enhance how players perceive action through presentation.

The research goes further to show that other factors, such as the balance between fluidity of motion and player response, influence the characters’ animations. The results suggest that, ultimately, the movement should cater to the player to increase immersion. Since a passive game needs less player response than an action game, this relationship varies by project, and therefore needs adequate play testing to find the best fit for the intended game.

Additionally, the project delves into model construction for animation, and the importance of a strong character model to emphasize personality. The results show that solid construction provides the animator greater flexibility with which to animate the character, and enables a more believable range of motion. 

Download entire thesis (.pdf)