Making A Mask (1951)

[Music] believe it or not paper and paste underneath its gay paint decoration. It's solid and strong is all you need. newspaper, paste, perhaps clay, a box of scraps, a tray, bowl, spoon, and scissors. You begin by making a mold the shape of your face. And make sure that hers fits by rolling up a newspaper and measuring around her face. Bob will make a mask to cover his whole head. He begins by stuffing a big bag with paper. John stuffed a bag about the size of his head and now he sticks on a nose. An filled in her paper circle and now she puts on bulging eyes. Bob finishes his face with a big open mouth. Alec molds the shape for his mask in clay. It's going to be a pig. To prevent the clay from sticking to the newspaper mask, he must use of wax paper. Now the molds are finished and they begin the real masks. Anne mixes up the paste while the others tear up newspaper in inch wide strips and soak it in water. The strips of wet newspaper are laid over the after one layer of wet paper. A layer of paste is smeared over the whole thing. Then another layer of paper is put over the paste. Bob uses colored comics this time to make sure that he doesn't miss any spots. Four layers of paper are put on and four layers of paste. Then extras such as ears can added. These are stuck on with more wet paper and paste. To make it look like skin on his pig, Alec puts on the last layer with wet strips of paper toweling. Then the molds are set on a shelf to dry. After two days comes the exciting moment when the masks are to be taken off the molds. It works. The mask comes off clean and dry and the mold is left behind. It's really hard and strong. gets right to work with the scissors, cutting out a mouth. Next comes the painting. The children use thick tempera color. Each mask gets its own particular character and lines. Here's a chance for imagination. To bring out the color and preserve the finish, the masks are coated all over with white shellac. The final touches are added from the scrap box. And there they are. Who would guess that they're just last week's papers with a little paste and paint added? You can make a mask for a play like this rooster or for a fancy dress party. Or you can make it just for the fun of making it. And you can keep it just because you like it. [Music]