Friday, January 7, 2011

Facial Expressions--Fear

The following is a combination of information I found on Emotional Competency and Physiology of Facial Expressions.

Fear and anxiety are closely related. Both are provoked by danger. And we all know how important danger is to a good story. Fear is the response to a specific and immediate danger. Anxiety results from a non-specific concern or threat. Translation--worry that danger is coming or will become immediate.

There are times when you will want to show your character's fear without stating it. I never thought about this before, but why do you think we make fearful expressions in the first place?

Fear expressions send a danger warning to those close by.

Synonyms for fear include: horror, fright, petrified, scared, shocked, hysterical, mortified, and terrified. The terms dread, alarm, and panic may refer to either anxiety or fear.

What does it look like?

Fear: The eyes widen and the upper lids rise, as in surprise, but the brows draw together. The lips stretch horizontally.
 

Body Language: See The Bookshelf Muse's page on Fear.

4 comments:

  1. Fascinating. Now I'm wondering about why our faces show our feelings. I'll have to check out those links.

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  2. Hmm. Interesting indeed!

    Did you know, also, when shown subliminal pictures there's more brain activity for anxiety/fear and anger expressions that happy ones? And if shown a happy and angry/scared face at the same time you're more likely to see the latter? It's believed to be something to do with the fact fear and anger require a more immediate social response so you pick up on them first.

    Sorry. I have been studying too much. Hehe. But expressions are interesting things.

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  3. Great Post! As a psychology student, I have learned about how the body is affected with anxiety/fear, but in my writing a mystery novel involving a scary spirit, these facial expressions will be great.

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  4. What an interesting blog! Glad I found you through the Crusade!

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