Engagement Paper for the Animated Film MASK

Abstract

Mask is a stop motion animation film that aims to discuss the impact of emigration on the newcomer as a subject within established societies. The story takes place within an imagined setting, in which a mask is the only official signifier of one’s identity. However, the story still reflects my personal experience in terms of language proficiency and a newcomer’s adjustments to living in Canada. Because of the film’s allegorical characteristics, one of my expectations was to have a diversity of interpretations of the film depending on the viewers’ personal background and experience, rather than the meaning being derived just from my experiences as an international student. In other words, this film’s plot emphasizes a newcomer’s arrival into a strange environment, but how one interprets the environment and character’s suffering changes based on the viewer’s experience. As a result, this paper only provides one way to discuss Mask’s multicultural and postmodern features that takes it beyond the boundary of the real into fantasy. This paper will also discuss how the main character, Puppet, is suffering a transformation from having a fear of being an unmasked puppet to having self abjection toward its own body because of an imagined national myth. Moreover, this paper will elaborate on the production process with the use of the 3D printer and explain several artistic and creative decisions that shaped the animation throughout the production.