Zodai Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 So, we have an artist for our VN project finally, and he's been running a bunch of tests on art style, aesthetic and whatnot using the protagonist as a base. I noticed most of the mouths were closed during the style tests, which makes sense since the character is rather restrained or reserved, but it got me thinking about whether or not having the mouth closed when the text is having a character speak would be a little bit strange - having it closed makes it easier to use it to express emotion but I wasn't sure what to take. So, I opened up Majikoi to take a look, and to my surprise when I loaded up my save, early in the common route when the old man first shows up on the bridge and Momoyo chases Capt. around, that the mouths are actually closed while speaking at a rather alarming rate. They open their mouths quite a bit but it doesn't seem to be based around whether or not they're speaking at the moment at all, though I don't know the design logic behind it yet myself. Capt. seemed to have his mouth open to some degree more than the others as well. So, I ask you - when a character is speaking, should the mouth on their sprite usually be open, or is there some other logic to this? Do you know of any VNs where the sprite design almost always has a character's mouth open while they're speaking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadeotic Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 I think it should be based on how "open" a characters personality is For example Capt, an extremely extroverted personality should have his mouth open Moro, an itrovereted character should have his mouth closed almost always Well, that's how I think at least, to bring their personalities out more LoganW 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zodai Posted April 3, 2016 Author Share Posted April 3, 2016 2 minutes ago, Arcadeotic said: I think it should be based on how "open" a characters personality is For example Capt, an extremely extroverted personality should have his mouth open Moro, an itrovereted character should have his mouth closed almost always Well, that's how I think at least, to bring their personalities out more If I remember correctly, Moro actually has his mouth open in a small circle-ish shape sometimes - I remember seeing that so I pulled a reference from the net. Though it's still taking up a small amount of space and everyone in this scene has their mouths open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadeotic Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Just now, Zodai said: If I remember correctly, Moro actually has his mouth open in a small circle-ish shape sometimes - I remember seeing that so I pulled a reference from the net. Though it's still taking up a small amount of space and everyone in this scene has their mouths open. Reveal hidden contents I roughly rmemeber the same thing, but it was just an example of an extroverted character Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flutterz Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 I think the mouth being open is more a part of the facial expression than displaying that they're talking. atorq, Rose, Tay and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Flut is right, the expression is more important than whether the mouth is open or not. The lips won't move anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Blue Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 having a character mouth open just because it's talking would look weird, characters should exteriorize expressions with their sprites, including the mouth, not what they are "actually doing", having the mouth open should mean something like being angry, expressing happiness or surprise but not the reflect of an action they are normally doing. Asonn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silvz Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 I like when more serious subjects get closed mouths, but the character operns it when is relaxad/happ and excited. Closed mouths should be only for very serious things Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barktooth Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Unless you are going to have animated sprites with the mouths moving, I'd say it's better to have them closed while the character is speaking. Having it open would probably look unnatural, unless the character was shouting or expressing surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanbe Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Open mouth I guess. Not sure what the hell this project is but I hope it's not trash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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