facial animation

i see huds for facial shapes all the time so i wanted to put my own together for the sake of practice but I can't find any discussion on the forum about it. Are the face shapes gestures or somethign else.

By face "shapes" I assume you mean animations like smiling and the like? If so, they're usually built-in anims. Here's a list of them from a Wiki.

There is a script written by Seagel Neville floating around that demonstrates the functionality.
I believe it is either in this forum or was one of the old Wikki Library or Example pages.

...and here's a very cheap and cheerful example I include as a freebie script in a demo item.

// Produced by Pale Spectre to demonstrate the application of his Universal Control Device
// What you do with this script is up to you but it's difficult to use without a menu interface :)

integer channel = 123;
string curEmote;

list mnuWords = ["afraid+", "afraid", "anger+", "anger", "bored+", "bored", "cry+", "cry", "disdain", "embarras+", "embarrass", "frown", "kiss", "laugh+", "laugh", "open_mouth", "repulsed+", "repulsed", "sad+", "sad", "shrug+", "shrug", "smile", "surprise+", "surprise", "tongue_out", "toothsmile", "wink+", "wink", "worry+", "worry"];

list mnuEmotes = ["express_afraid", "express_afraid_emote", "express_anger", "express_anger_emote", "express_bored", "express_bored_emote", "express_cry", "express_cry_emote", "express_disdain", "express_embarrased", "express_embarrassed_emote", "express_frown", "express_kiss", "express_laugh", "express_laugh_emote", "express_open_mouth", "express_repulsed", "express_repulsed_emote", "express_sad", "express_sad_emote", "express_shrug", "express_shrug_emote", "express_smile", "express_surprise", "express_surprise_emote", "express_tongue_out", "express_toothsmile", "express_wink", "express_wink_emote", "express_worry", "express_worry_emote"];

default {
    state_entry()
    {
        llListen(channel, "", llGetOwner(), "");
        llRequestPermissions(llGetOwner(), PERMISSION_TRIGGER_ANIMATION);
    }    

    on_rez(integer total_number)
    {
        llResetScript();
    }

    listen(integer channel, string name, key id, string message)
    {
    if (llListFindList(mnuWords, [message]) != -1)
        {
        curEmote = llList2String(mnuEmotes, llListFindList(mnuWords, [message]));
        llStartAnimation(curEmote);
        }
    }

/123 toothsmile