Full body mask
A full-body mask is a mask that covers the entire body of its wearer, in contrast to a "face mask", without the difference between mask and costume being recognizable.
term
The theater scholar Gerda Baumbach considers the expression full-body mask to be a “ tautology ” because the expression mask in the sense of a role originally encompassed the whole body and was only subsequently limited to parts of this body such as the face. In common parlance, full-body mask is used in the sense of a visible and removable covering of the body, also as a make-up mask.
variants
Sometimes full-body masks are also a kind of marionette or stick puppet, in which the wearer controls distant limbs or movable parts of the face using sticks, trains or control electronics. Very large full-body masks can also be provided for several actors. Full-body masks have been used since the baroque theater to depict animals, for example.
Abstract full body masks like geometric bodies since Triadic Ballet by Oskar Schlemmer in use (1920s). The Swiss pantomime troupe Mummenschanz was in the 1970s with abstract, z. B. Spiral full body masks have become famous.
Areas of application
In pantomime and ballet , today also in musicals , full-body masks were and are used to achieve fairy-tale, eerie or comical effects, for example the carnivorous plant in The Little Horror Shop (1982) or some of the animals in the stage version of The Lion King ( 1997).
An important field for full-body masks are the special effects in film, especially in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Robots , monsters and mythical creatures are often performed by actors in full body masks. These sometimes have to meet special physical requirements, e.g. B. be short stature like Tamara De Treaux or Warwick Davis . A full-body mask as the main role is, for example, Steven Spielberg's E.T. Numerous full-body masks appear in the Star Wars films.
outlook
The digitization of special effects ( visual effects ) has made full-body masks less common. But if the mask offers enough possibilities of expression and the actor masters it well, such a character can react more spontaneously to scene partners than a cartoon character. Also masks that cover the whole body, are effective and come in the film occasionally.
Visualized identities in cyberspace have also been referred to as “full body masks”.
literature
- Klaus Hoffmann, Uwe Krieger, Hans-Wolfgang Nickel (eds.): Masks - an inventory: with contributions from education, history, religion, theater, therapy , Uckerland: Schibri-Verlag, 2004. ISBN 9783937895031
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Andreas Kotte : Theater Studies: An Introduction. Böhlau, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-8252-2665-4 , p. 236.
- ↑ Gerda Baumbach: tightrope walkers and deceivers ?: parody and no end. A contribution to the history and theory of theater. (= Mainz research on drama and theater, vol. 13), Tübingen: Francke 1995, p. 119. ISBN 9783772018411
- ↑ Udo Thiedeke: Program yourself! The persona as a form of socialization in cyberspace , in: Michael Jäckel, Manfred Mai (ed.): Online Vergesellschaftung? Media-sociological perspectives on new communication technologies , Wiesbaden: Vlg. Für Sozialwissenschaften 2005, p. 82. ISBN 3-531-14583-5