Preface
After spending a good part of my high school years making masks for art class, this theme stuck to
me until today. I find masks to be an interesting subject because not only are they themselves an artwork,
but also have a deep relation to the user. How it interacts with the mask and how the mask interacts with its
surroundings is a remarkable phenomenon.
me until today. I find masks to be an interesting subject because not only are they themselves an artwork,
but also have a deep relation to the user. How it interacts with the mask and how the mask interacts with its
surroundings is a remarkable phenomenon.
For example, when one wears a mask, its original identity, the face, is hidden and separated from
the rest of its body. The person using the mask takes on a new identity suited for the mask. It is a moment of
freedom from your own self, an unstifled, unsuppressed person comes through because the user is not
afraid that his actions will be related to him. Like in the movie „The Mask“ where Jim Carrey plays a shy and
luckless character that transforms into a bizarre, cartoonish trickster after using the ancient mask he finds in
the harbor. The movie may portray the process in a hyperbolic way but it is still a fair show of its effects.
Masks are also used in times of human conflict. Some ancient masks were used to strike fear into
their adversaries, like the Japanese war masks with an angry expression, while some more modern masks
are rather simplistic, devoid of features and expressions. How the mask itself is designed is therefore a
factor. As the mask hides the biggest window of emotions of the user, the face, a person facing the mask
would be clueless as to what the user is feeling, having only as clues the expression of the mask.
For these theories, and the locations of the short film, a story was created based around masks,
human interaction with the masks and between themselves, and how masks are as symbolic as practical.
In this movie, the Beijing Opera Masks are featured for a number of reasons. Obviously, first it's
because the shooting location is in China. But more important is the design of the masks. Their simple
design on an emotionless face, the only hint of expression comes from its color and lines. Therefore it is
simple as a way to terrorize its adversaries, but also a symbolic caricature by the use of its colors to
represent different emotions in one character.
The Short Film
The expression 丢脸 in Mandarin, directly translated to “Lose Face”, is a term used to described
embarrassment, disgrace and loss of dignity. In this short is it used in its literal meaning and according to the
expression. One being the process described above, where one loses its own face, its own identity. The
second being the regret and the facing of the responsibility of its own actions.
For this short we have a main character that is molded by the two different masks, for each mask
having a different narrative with an Action/Regret system, the act of losing face in its dual meaning. The red
mask symbolizes the taking of action, the freedom of choice without thinking in the consequences. The blue
mask on the other hand symbolizes the sudden realization of the said consequences and the feeling of
regret.
