Shrug

A single held pose; the shoulders lift, the hands turn out, and the head sinks a little between them. Who knows?

Use it in a cartoonOpen it in the block editorThe pack file (JSON)

What it is for

Shrug answers a question nobody can answer, or shows a character does not know or does not care. It is one clear pose, held for under half a second before it releases, which is long enough to read and short enough not to hold up a line of dialogue.

The principle it shows: staging

A shrug only works if it is instantly readable, so the whole pose changes together: both arms turn out, the head tucks down, and nothing else is going on. One strong, simple shape, held still long enough to be seen, is staging; a shrug with its arms and head changing at different moments would read as fidgeting rather than a clear answer.

The program, line by line

when it starts
  glide right arm 30, right forearm 70, left arm -30, left forearm -70, head lift -8, head 6 over 0.25 s (out)
  wait 0.45 s
  glide right arm 0, right forearm 0, left arm 0, left forearm 0, head lift 0, head 0 over 0.3 s

• when it starts — begins when the move is put on a character.
• glide right arm 30, right forearm 70, left arm -30, left forearm -70, head lift -8, head 6 over 0.25 s (out) — both arms turn out and bend, the head sinks 8 pixels down and turns 6 degrees, all easing into the pose together.
• wait 0.45 s — the shrug holds.
• glide right arm 0, right forearm 0, left arm 0, left forearm 0, head lift 0, head 0 over 0.3 s — everything returns to rest.

Try this

1. Sink the head 20 pixels instead of 8. The head tucks much further down between the shoulders, a more exaggerated "I really don't know".

   In the program: ramp · to.lift:head -8 → -20

2. Hold the shrug for 1.2 seconds instead of 0.45. The pose lingers much longer before it lets go, as if the character is still waiting for an answer.

   In the program: wait · s 0.45 → 1.2

How it differs from Point and Shake head no

Point holds a single raised arm with a lean, a confident pose rather than an uncertain one. Shake head no repeats a head turn rather than holding one pose, a clearer refusal than a shrug's "who knows".

Works on

c4c:beh:shrug · version 1.0.0 · c4c-free · by Jabbertoon