Smile effect

A posed row of neutral faces all break into smiles together. a wide shot of four people posed in a row on a garden bench with flat neutral expressions, then every face breaks into a smile at once, cheeks rounding, eyes creasing and shoulders easing down, the posture, the bench, the hedge behind and the soft overcast light unchanged so the row of faces is the only thing that moves, slow push in from wide to medium

A laugh starts at one end of a table and passes along it face by face. a wide shot of six people seated along a plain dining table under a single hanging lamp, all composed and still, then the face at the near end opens into a laugh with creased eyes and a moving chest, and the laugh passes along the table one face at a time until every mouth is open, the plates, the lamp and the light unchanged, locked wide camera

Three faces in a row and only the middle one changes. three adults stand shoulder to shoulder in a plain lift lobby facing camera with flat neutral expressions, the middle face slowly breaks into a wide smile with rounded cheeks and creased eyes while the two faces beside it hold the same flat expression for the whole clip, the coats, the lobby panelling and the even light unchanged, so the difference between the three faces carries the shot, locked camera

A quiet smile builds over the whole clip with no other movement. a close side-lit portrait of an adult looking out of a rain-streaked window, the expression starting completely flat, then the mouth corners lifting a few millimetres at a time, the cheek nearest camera rounding, one eye creasing, and a small closed-lip smile settling by the end of the clip, the rain, the glass and the grey light unchanged, camera holding perfectly still

A flat expression becomes a full smile with the eyes joining in. a close portrait of an adult holding a completely flat neutral expression against a plain pale wall, then the corners of the mouth lift, the cheeks round, small creases open at the outer corners of the eyes and the lips part to show teeth, the smile settling and holding for the last beat, the hair, collar and even window light unchanged so only the face moves, locked camera at eye level

A printed portrait on a shelf breaks into a smile while the room stays still. a framed printed portrait of an adult stands on a plain shelf in soft lamp light, the printed face is flat and unsmiling, then inside the frame the mouth lifts, the cheeks round and the eyes crease into a warm smile while the frame, the glass reflection, the shelf and the wall stay completely still, so the only motion on screen is the face inside the print, slow push in

A wall of printed portraits begins smiling one frame at a time. a wide shot of a wall of framed printed portraits in a hallway in cool daylight, each printed face flat and unsmiling, then one after another the printed faces lift into smiles with rounded cheeks and creased eyes, the frames, the glass and the hallway staying completely still, so the motion is only ever inside the prints, camera tracking slowly along the wall

A composed face runs all the way through to a head-back laugh. a medium portrait of an adult in a plain shirt seated in a bare office chair, the face composed and still, then the mouth opens, the eyes narrow to creases, the shoulders rise once and the head tips back into an open laugh with the chest moving, then eases back toward a soft grin, the chair, the blank wall behind and the flat ceiling light identical throughout, static camera

A row of waiting strangers stays neutral while one face smiles wide. a wide shot of five people sitting along a plain waiting room bench with flat neutral faces, the second person from the left slowly smiling until the cheeks round and the eyes crease, the other four holding exactly the same expression for the whole clip, the bench, the magazines and the flat strip lighting unchanged so the single smiling face is the only change, static camera

The reflection smiles a beat before the face in the room does. an adult stands close to a plain hallway mirror under warm light, the face in the room holding flat and neutral, the reflection breaking into a smile first with lifted corners, rounded cheeks and creased eyes, then the face in the room following a beat later until both are smiling together, the hallway, the coat and the light identical, camera over the shoulder