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We discussed a bit about faceless characters in our last post. And if you are an old-time user of Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you must have seen an entire collection of faceless characters – all in the same style. These were called Screen Beans, and they were so frequently used in PowerPoint slides that audiences actually got over-familiar with them to the extent that they did not want to see yet another slide with a Screen Bean character! No. We are not blaming the Screen Beans themselves — just that these were probably the only faceless characters available at that time, and everyone used them!
Do you want to know how the Screen Bean characters looked like. Figure 1, below, may refresh your memory!
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Imagine you’re casting for a movie called Planet Earth: The People Edition. But you only get one actor — and they need to represent every single human out there. Tricky, right? That’s where faceless characters come in — the ultimate stand-ins for anyone and everyone.
Why no face? Because once you add facial features, things get specific. Is it a man? A woman? Young? Old? Smiling? Frowning? Suddenly, we’re telling a story that might not match the audience. Instead, faceless figures are like blank canvases or unbranded mannequins—neutral, versatile, and relatable. They’re the Swiss Army knife of visual communication: ready to represent a kid in Kenya, a senior in Sweden, or an executive in Ecuador without picking sides.
Faceless characters have appeared in everything from street signage to user manuals. Ever seen the bathroom sign stick figures? Yep, they’re part of the faceless family too — keeping things simple, universal, and easy to recognize across cultures. Faceless characters are like avatars in a multiplayer game where you haven’t customized yours yet. They signal: “This person could be you — or anyone else.” Gender, age, ethnicity? Irrelevant. What matters is their human-ness, not their appearance.
Think faceless characters are a modern PowerPoint thing? Nope — they’re old. Like, really old. We’re talking “grandparent of civilization” old.
Long before humans got artsy with stick figures and abstract avatars, they were busy decorating cave walls — not with selfies or family portraits, but with faceless animals!
Where can you find these paintings? One location is a famous cave in Lascaux, France. It’s basically the Louvre of the Stone Age. What’s drawn there? Lots of animals. Horses, deer, bulls — all outlined like shadows cast on a campfire-lit wall. No eyeballs. No snouts. No happy little smiles. Just silhouette-style creatures, as shown in Figure 1, below. These are like nature’s version of cardboard cutouts.
Figure 1: A painting of the Giant Deer from Lascaux
Read the rest of this entry »
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Tagged as: Characters, Faceless, Media, Pictures
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TIME and LIFE are both respected publications that have been renowned for many, many years. LIFE magazine has always used some amazing pictures, even back in the days of black and white photography. Black and white photography may be seeing a revival now, but in those days color photography was not the norm, and digital photography may not even have been imagined.
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muvee’s Shwup online video platform has now been reborn with a new name: muvee Cloud. Not surprisingly, muvee Cloud integrates well with the new muvee programs. muvee Cloud lets you upload unlimited photos and videos and invite others to contribute to your albums. Also, your existing Shwup albums will automatically carry over if you choose muvee Cloud’s new priced options. They still do have a free level of membership, but that level no longer allows you to create any new albums. So, the free option is almost completely unusable now!
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Shwup, a site promoted by Muvee has now added direct YouTube export that’s essentially a one-click affair. Facebook export continues to be available along with many other new features.
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Photobucket, an online photo site has reduced its Pro subscription cost to a new low price: $24.95 per year. This Pro subscription gets you more features, as shown in Figure 1, below.
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Tagged as: Flickr, Photobucket, Photos
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