Here is a breakdown of the lighting passes for the final animation

As I said before this was a lot of fun to do, I learned a tremendous amount about rigging and subtle animation and I'm looking forward to applying those newfound learnings into my next projects.
-Campy 

I don't like admitting it, but my reel is sorely missing some "Realism" (I use quotes, cause it's still gonna be somewhat stylized, despite what it's called.) Since I also need some new dialog, I decided to do a "realistic" face. I found a great model on TurboSquid and I set out to learn more about rigging in the process. What started as a simple idea got bigger and bigger. Eventually I got to the point of unwrapping & texturing the head while learning about SSS sharers. Finally I think I'm ready to start animating, but here are some screen caps of the work I've done on it.

My original bone structure for the head (I started with the misguided notion I would be able to drive the entire mouth with a spline.)

I also decided to try using more "Intuitive" controllers by putting them on the face, instead of using sliders.

After discovering the wire deformer wasn't going to cut it and I needed to use bones, I wrote out all the weights I wanted for each vertex.

Nearing completion of the base head joint weights he begins to look like a Juggalo (Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

"Completed" face rig, although as I write this I realize I forgot to add a controller for his Adam's apple and his three tongue controllers.

First pass at the texture, went way overboard on the scattering.

After getting advice from friends I toned back the scattering (Ended up painting maps for each level) and cooled down his face a bit.
So, that's where I'm at, I throw those last controllers on there and then start animating this weekend, if all goes well I'll have some blocking to post next week.
-Campy