Reading faces and vocal tones in films

Post Reply New Topic

Can you read facial expressions and vocal intonation when watching a film?

In the case of facial expressions, I can read happy, sad, angry or worried, but it's difficult to read more complicated emotions than that.

I'm pretty good at reading tone of voice though.

I'm alright at it. I prefer watching anime, though, because every expression you see drawn has a purpose and there are no in-betweens. It's just a lot easier than trying to figure out whether that actor is going for surprised or scared. Also, I always watch anything with subtitles because my visual processing seems to be much faster than my verbal.

I don't think so, because other people always seem to know what's going on before I do. It's a bit easier in live theater because everything is exaggerated. It's this way in some older films as well. Even though the exaggerated drama is funny sometimes, at least you get what they're trying to get across.
And yes, animation is easier as well, because they are also exaggerated.

Me too........I can't read a facial expression of surprise or fear for example but happy, sad and angry I get..............and tone of voice I'm usually okay with....................

I tend to wonder about this as whilst I can't read people well in live situations I can read them more effectively on a movie or tv programme. Films and tv tend to give more information in some ways and you can stare at them without being rude lol. Ie I once did a media studies course and did a study on horror films (one of my favourite genres back then as I once had a thing for collecting dvds and films) and found that they are highly formulaic. Ergo you can tell what is going to happen based on that formula.

Lighting, sound track and certain camera angles will also give things away (a close up is usually used to imply that the character is either in deep thought or experiencing some kind of emotion that is relevant to the story line). They also use cut ins and flash backs in some movies to indicate what the character is thinking about. You are also provided with information you normally would not have such as the characters history (in the case of batman his parents were murdered...so if it cuts to a flash back of that you can assume he is processing some emotion in relation to it) as well as being told what the characters intentions are sometimes (Ie in the film Cruel Intentions you actually see the characters conspiring to trick another girl (they make a bet about it) so you know that when they approach her later in the movie in the guise of friendship that they are not being honest with her).

I am ok with reading tone of voice and can watch an entire programme without looking at it and know what is going on based on tone of voice, what is said and soundtrack/background noise (certain types of music are often played during certain events or in relation to certain emotions). Even television programmes are highly formulaic in how they present themselves. I do need to have the tv quite loud though lol which is a pain when the background noise is louder than the speech lol.