A method includes receiving a facial image; receiving a facial image; and obtaining, using a multi-task convolutional neural network, a detected face location and a facial characteristic category set of a plurality of first facial characteristic categories; selecting a first face alignment model from a plurality of face alignment models based on the facial characteristic category set; and obtaining, using the first face alignment model, a plurality of facial landmarks. The first facial characteristic categories are arranged hierarchically. A hierarchy of the first facial characteristic categories includes a plurality of first levels corresponding to a plurality of corresponding facial characteristics. The facial characteristic category set includes the first facial characteristic categories of a path of the hierarchy of the first facial characteristic categories.