Masks and Reactions

Tinalera

Tinalera

JakeSully made a point in the Funky Film Fest thread about his reaction to my avatar, and it made me want to pose the question(because I've gotten interesting reactions from people who have watched my film shorts as well). So Jake, you deserve credit for this inspiration.


What is it about masks that affect us in the ways they do. Maybe it's because I work with them I don't see the "creep" factor that much-but I just thought it would be interesting to examine why they do what they do.

It can be as it applies to movies, art, or just general:

Why do masks unsettle so?
 
knightly said:
Lack of expression/ connection IMHO.
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Interesting point, one I've heard before. I read somewhere while doing research for my book, that we as humans look for visual cues from faces, to see what other people might be thinking, and perhaps how to act accordingly-but when we take that away, we don't know what the other person it "thinking"-so it's almost a short circuit as it were-perhaps that "creep" factor.

Good insight :)
 
I would say it's the connotation that masks have with people deliberately choosing to obscure their face. In everyday life, who wheres a mask?

The answer, according to Hollywood, is serial killers, bank robbers and creepy children in orphanages.
 
Ernest Worthing said:
which leads to the fear of unknown which is usually the root cause of most of our human fears from fear of snakes/spiders to fear of death.
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Nice to see you Ernest-how you doing? :)

Okay, so unknown-fear what don't know, understand (I know I had at least one of my friends who watched Delivery Day say they kept expecting the character to whip out a knife lol).

So, if we apply it to movies-and horror seems to be the biggest contributor-various masked killers have gone on sprees on the screen. Lack of emotion/lack of "humanity", ect. So I can see that; what's curious is the HUGE market out there for mask replicas of the various characters. People want to maybe buy the mask, wear it, try to understand the person beneath it( maybe that's why no one has asked for mask replicas of my masks-she's too boring ;) LOL).

Maybe that's part of what makes me want to explore masks-maybe there's a part of me that wants to try and show that masks don't HAVE to be worn by killers/villains-they can be worn by "ordinary" people, or used as an analogy for finding identity.
 
i would say its the connection that no longer there... between the mask wearer and the observer...

but when a mask is very detailed or has a very intense reaction... i think it substitutes a connection of something not understandable... and some times a known connection of an older feeling or reaction...

sorry i took phsyc 101 back in 2001 and i think i know everything hahahahahahahahahaha

no really thats just what i think
 
NickClapper said:
I would say it's the connotation that masks have with people deliberately choosing to obscure their face. In everyday life, who wheres a mask?

The answer, according to Hollywood, is serial killers, bank robbers and creepy children in orphanages.
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Very True Nick (and that's a big chapter in the book I'm writing)-but there are some excellent exceptions to the rule "Vanilla Sky", "The List of Adrian Messenger", and of course the plethora of Super Heroes (Spiderman, Iron Man, Batman ect) which are on the opposite side. Yet people don't get creeped out by Spiderman in a mask-yet they show just as much lack of expression-so why the difference?
 
licenseless said:
i would say its the connection that no longer there... between the mask wearer and the observer...

but when a mask is very detailed or has a very intense reaction... i think it substitutes a connection of something not understandable... and some times a known connection of an older feeling or reaction...

sorry i took phsyc 101 back in 2001 and i think i know everything hahahahahahahahahaha

no really thats just what i think
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And that's an interesting point-how "realistic" it gets, where it gets to the point of imitating life, but not quite BEING life. What's funny is I use my avatar elsewhere, and I've had a couple people actually think it WAS my real face (and maybe it is in a way lol). But yet again, that connection, possibly the brain saying "this is "real looking" but it's not real"-and perhaps that answers the earlier question of the Spiderman, it doesn't look anything human, so the brain can accomodate that.
 
Tinalera said:
Nice to see you Ernest-how you doing? :)

( maybe that's why no one has asked for mask replicas of my masks-she's too boring ;) LOL).
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Thanks, i was away for a while. Too busy. But good to see you as well!

Anyway, about selling masks. Right now, they just cause a bit of unease. Perhaps associate them with an idea in a movie or a short.

Or they should have enough character by themselves in their design so they are associated with an idea when someone sees them.

It's funny i should say this because years ago i bought a mask which is was devoid of any character whatsoever. It had a neutral expression, you couldnt call it happy or sad or angry or anything. And it had no colour, it was completely white. And then i lent it to a friend and you know where the story goes from there...
 
I used a plain white mask in my last short (in my avatar). Made the killer look more creepy since she was also wearing an "Alice in Wonderland"-style dress with long white gloves that covered her arms. You really couldn't see much of her skin, which made her more mysterious.

My use of it was to conceal the face and eyes until the very end, when you realize the killer wasn't what you expected. It also closely relates to the theme of the film.
 
Ernest Worthing said:
Thanks, i was away for a while. Too busy. But good to see you as well!

Anyway, about selling masks. Right now, they just cause a bit of unease. Perhaps associate them with an idea in a movie or a short.

Or they should have enough character by themselves in their design so they are associated with an idea when someone sees them.

It's funny i should say this because years ago i bought a mask which is was devoid of any character whatsoever. It had a neutral expression, you couldnt call it happy or sad or angry or anything. And it had no colour, it was completely white. And then i lent it to a friend and you know where the story goes from there...
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Yes, yes I do lol.

I was kidding about mask selling-yet HERE's where it's interesting. I have a few female friends, mid age, who have been ASKING me to make masks-when I asked them about, they weren't creeped out, they actually felt a kinship, felt it to be very warm looking, which was certainly interesting from that standpoint!
 
Masks hide what is real, whether that be something of beauty or something grotesque. They cover up and remove identities. Unless you're John Dillinger, who's gonna rob a bank without one. ;)

One of my favorite masked scenes...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZxgtUANXpU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHX4JLcAq5M
 
Tinalera said:
Yes, yes I do lol.

I was kidding about mask selling-yet HERE's where it's interesting. I have a few female friends, mid age, who have been ASKING me to make masks-when I asked them about, they weren't creeped out, they actually felt a kinship, felt it to be very warm looking, which was certainly interesting from that standpoint!
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Interesting.

Btw, Flicker just reminded me. Did you ever watch Eyes Wide Shut? I don't remember, but i think it was you i recommended it to a long time ago.
 
voodoogmr said:
I used a plain white mask in my last short (in my avatar). Made the killer look more creepy since she was also wearing an "Alice in Wonderland"-style dress with long white gloves that covered her arms. You really couldn't see much of her skin, which made her more mysterious.

My use of it was to conceal the face and eyes until the very end, when you realize the killer wasn't what you expected. It also closely relates to the theme of the film.
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Interesting, any way I can see the short(if it's done)? I'm usually not a huge horror (ironic I know) but your description of the killer is intriguing.

See, my shorts I've done, are the opposite-a woman going about her day and it deals with identity-If you want we can share links! ;). For a few people, watching a masked person without them killing/harming anyone was a bit of a new experience for them!

For me, the masks in the shorts were a way of trying to find her identity (which continues in a short I'm finishing called "Making Faces"). Also my shorts have no dialogue or music (the one I'm finishing will have music)
 
Ernest Worthing said:
Interesting.

Btw, Flicker just reminded me. Did you ever watch Eyes Wide Shut? I don't remember, but i think it was you i recommended it to a long time ago.
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Yes I have, and I believe it was!

Thanks for the links, Flicker! It's neat seeing those scenes again (another movie where masks were used in a "non horror" type setting :) )
 
I think that is that pesky uncanny valley again.
A mask tries to aproach the look of a human face, but fails, somehow. Might be the size of the eyes or the nostris, the skin color, or the lack of pores...soemthing makes it look dead, and dead things shouldn't be either moving around, or in someones face.
I bet that if your killer had a bunny mask (or a monster one for that matter) , it wouldn't be half as creepy.\
Also, our whole way of living turns around being aware of your sourrundings, and that includes knowing who is around you. By hiding someones identity, you make him or her stand out in a crowd, and the viewer, as a human, is always afraid of the unknown.
 
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JakeSully said:
I think that is that pesky uncanny valley again.
A mask tries to aproach the look of a human face, but fails, somehow. Might be the size of the eyes or the nostris, the skin color, or the lack of pores...soemthing makes it look dead, and dead things shouldn't be either moving around, or in someones face.
I bet that if your killer had a bunny mask (or a monster one for that matter) , it wouldn't be half as creepy.
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Again, the "something not right" that the brain is trying to figure it out-and the more 'realistic' it gets, the more "not right' flicks on in the brain.

I am sure SOMEWHERE someone has done a horror movie with a bunny mask:lol: (I know "Stage Fright" the killer wore an Owl mascot type mask, which got more unnerving as it became blood spattered and torn.)
 
Yeah I'm under the same impression... Someone, somewhere, made a movie about it.
And someone, somehere, masturbated to it. :lol:
 
Tinalera said:
I am sure SOMEWHERE someone has done a horror movie with a bunny mask
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Not a horror movie, but this bunny is pretty creepy.

Louis_Vuitton_SlackerChic_87146_Donnie_Darko_bunny.jpg
 
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