Post-Match
Emotional Analysis
How EchoDepth analyses football manager press conferences using FACS Action Units to produce Confidence, Instability, and Net Confidence scores. Full methodology reference.
The pipeline
EchoDepth's post-match emotional analysis system processes publicly broadcast press conference footage through a five-stage pipeline: video ingestion, frame extraction, Action Unit detection, VAD scoring, and metric derivation. Each stage is auditable — the AU evidence that produces every score is recorded and queryable.
Video ingestion
Publicly broadcast footage ingested at source resolution. Timestamps anchored to ISO 8601 standard. No raw video retained after analysis.
Frame extraction
Up to 30fps frame extraction. Face detection and landmark normalisation. Frames with occlusion (head turns, water bottle coverage) flagged and excluded from AU scoring.
AU detection
44 FACS Action Units detected per frame using EchoDepth's trained convolutional model. Each AU assigned an intensity score (0–5 FACS standard scale). Cultural calibration applied from 14-cohort training data.
VAD scoring
AU combination patterns mapped to VAD (Valence, Arousal, Dominance) dimensional scores via learned mapping. Per-frame triples produced. Session-level aggregates calculated with confidence weighting.
Metric derivation
Genuine Confidence, Instability Index, and Net Confidence derived from VAD scores and AU combination evidence. Output produced as structured JSON with per-frame AU logs and session aggregates.
Key Action Units
Not all 44 Action Units are equally relevant for manager emotional analysis. The following ten AUs account for the majority of the signal in the Confidence, Instability, and Net Confidence metrics.
| AU | Muscle | Movement | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU1 | Medial frontalis | Inner brow raiser | Worry, concern, surprise |
| AU4 | Corrugator supercilii | Brow lowerer | Anger, concentration, distress |
| AU6 | Orbicularis oculi (orbital) | Cheek raiser | Genuine positive affect (Duchenne marker) |
| AU7 | Orbicularis oculi (palpebral) | Lid tightener | Scrutiny, controlled anger |
| AU12 | Zygomaticus major | Lip corner puller | Smile (genuine with AU6; social without) |
| AU14 | Buccinator | Dimpler | Contempt or suppressed amusement |
| AU15 | Depressor anguli oris | Lip corner depressor | Suppressed distress, sadness |
| AU17 | Mentalis | Chin raiser | Doubt, suppressed emotion |
| AU23 | Orbicularis oris | Lip tightener | Controlled determination, suppressed anger |
| AU24 | Orbicularis oris | Lip pressor | Controlled frustration, anger suppression |
Metric definitions
Derived from sustained AU6+AU12 co-activation with positive Dominance signals. Measures genuine positive affect — the Duchenne marker of authentic confidence. AU12 without AU6 contributes negatively (performed vs genuine). Higher = more authentic confidence.
Derived from AU1+AU4 combinations (worry/concern pattern) and AU15+AU17 co-activation (suppressed distress). Persistent activation above intensity threshold scores progressively. Higher = greater suppressed anxiety or doubt beneath the surface presentation.
Genuine Confidence minus Instability Index, normalised. Positive values indicate the confident signal dominates; negative values indicate the instability signal dominates. The most predictive single metric for subsequent team communication quality and match outcome correlation.
Output format
Each analysis session produces a structured JSON output with per-frame AU logs, session-level aggregates, and the three composite metrics. Example structure:
{
"session_id": "mgr_pmc_20260507_001",
"manager": "[ANONYMISED]",
"event": "post_match_press_conference",
"timestamp": "2026-05-07T17:45:00.000Z",
"duration_seconds": 847,
"frames_analysed": 23410,
"frames_excluded": 312,
"metrics": {
"genuine_confidence": 0.58,
"instability_index": 0.22,
"net_confidence": 0.36,
"confidence": 0.87
},
"vad_session": {
"valence_mean": 0.41,
"arousal_mean": 0.38,
"dominance_mean": 0.61
},
"top_aus": [
{ "au": "AU6", "mean_intensity": 2.1, "activation_rate": 0.34 },
{ "au": "AU12", "mean_intensity": 2.4, "activation_rate": 0.41 },
{ "au": "AU1", "mean_intensity": 0.8, "activation_rate": 0.12 }
]
}FAQ
How does EchoDepth analyse post-match manager emotion?+
What AU combinations indicate manager confidence?+
What is the Instability Index in EchoDepth manager scoring?+
Is post-match press conference analysis legal under GDPR?+
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