The theme presented in my animation is that of identity. Identity plays such a huge role in The Nose in that Kovalev and the nose itself are affected by it. Kovalev, in a way, loses his identity by not having a nose. He is a well-respected Collegiate Assessor prior to the losing of his nose. After that, most people refuse to believe anything that he says. He loses his respect, thus losing his identity. In terms of the nose, it assumes many different identities. Once separated from Kovalev, it leads its own life, away from being “Kovalev’s nose” and being of a higher rank than Kovalev himself. All in all, identity is questioned throughout the libretto. It forces us to ask ourselves, what is our own identity? What determines our identity? Do we all have an identity?
These questions are relatable to my animation in that we all question who we are. The masks are the different faces we all have. They flash because our identities change everyday. Some days we may be a nose on someone’s face, the next day we may be a doctor. We can never be sure of our own identity. However, there are some things that never change, like our fingerprints, which is marked all over the animation. In relation to The Nose, the nose will always be a nose, no matter what other identities it may hold. Kovalev will always be a man, whether he loses or gains respect from others. The figure of the man presented at the end illustrates how humanity itself changes everyday, going back to the idea of the masks being faces.
The destruction of my collage relates to the theme of identity in that it relates to the final loss of identity. The scribbling colors represent all the different identities, changing each day. But then, eraser marks come in, after all of the “hard work” (relating to Kovalev’s years of building up his own reputation and everything he stood for), illustrating the loss of identity. Through my animation, I have displayed the theme of identity. First being the question of who we are in terms of identity, then being the loss of it all.
Janice Fong
Your GIF was very well done. I can definitely see that you put a lot of work into it.
You brought up a great point about his identity. The fact that the second he lost his nose he lost his respect raises the a question of whether he has his own worth as a person or his all his worth comes from his nose.
I wonder how you chose the masks you did. Did you randomly choose? They are very interesting though.
I really enjoyed your animation especially since it not only relates to The Nose but also ourselves. Your GIF is well executed and I can definitely see the theme of identity. When Kovaloff lost his nose, he essentially loses his own identity. In addition, his nose becomes its own person with its own identity when it leaves Kovaloff. My favorite part of animation are the fingerprints. Fingerprints are our identity because fingerprints are unique to each individual. I also enjoyed the destruction aspect of your animation. The different color scribbles add a level of disorder and chaos that comes with a loss of identity.