Burlap-Sack Practical

Making a Mask Practical

Our practical task was to make a burlap sack mask from scratch, we were given a burlap sack and were told to produce it into something used in horror movies. While the task itself was hard becuase it all handwork meaning that you were limited to your abilities as a craftsmen you could still incorporate many great ideas to conform to the horror genre.

I began by cutting the sack in half, the inital sack was too big to use and so i measured out my face and how much I should cut out. One critiscm I would give myself is not using the other half of the sack, completely wasting material, I couldve thought harder and possibly use for some other feature but I did not.

I then procceded to measure out where my eyes would be on the mask, this was done by getting a red sharpie and marking out the spot. I tried to cut the eyes sort of in a disordely fashion, all jaggedy and unclean, this was to add an element of unstability to the mask representing how unstable the person behind it was.

By marking out a mouth location, I cut it out and added thread to peice together the mouth. This is a very common feature of burlap sack masks, the use of a thread has always been very striking. If you look closely you can see that there is tape holding the first part of the thread together, this is beacuse the holes in the mask were too big to hold the thread in. However I could've used clear tape, but at the time of making the mask I did unfortunely not have access to them.

I used red nailpolish to add an effect of blood near the eyes and the other cut I made near the left of the mask, this further emphasies how rugged and bloodthristy the person behind the mask is. By mixing the blue and green acrylic pain I used a sponge to pat on the colour to the eyes, this meant that it gave an effect of brusing, adding realism to the mask.

This was the final outcome of my mask, overall I am pleased with what I have produced as I have never been good at using my hands to build something. Making the burlap sack mask has made me heightein my apprecation for costume designers and how much trouble they go through to ensure the movie looks professional and high budget. I will use the experience used for the burlap sack mask to make sure I make good props for my final movie.