“A Monster Calls” Masks
When I was helping on the production of A Monster Calls, the story follows Connor, a 13yr old, whose mother has cancer and meets a tree monster who tells him stories as he comes to terms with himself.
I designed parts of the costumes in the production at Augusta University. I started with meeting with the director, Douglas Joiner, and we discussing what all was needed for the production. We decided that wood-like masks for the ensemble, who most of them embodies the root system of the monster, would be great to visually show the audience that the monster is telling the stories since the roots becomes the various side characters throughout the story.
I decided to do a digital sketch over a photo of each actor/actress with concepts of each mask being different and incorporating a variety of shapes to create unique and uniformed cast. below are some of the sketches created for the cast. (Actors in photos from first to last: Roman Reynolds, Benjamin Roberts, Andy Nelson, Mia Pemberton, Nadia Perez, Trinitie Parker, Emily Cluney, and Lylli Cain
One of the masks are different from the rest but I wanted it to stay on theme. in the story Connor has a nightmare and the monster in that nightmare has red glowing eyes but later in the story both the nightmare and the tree monster would be connected in a way, so I wanted the nightmare to have a similar texture to the ensemble.
Once the director gave me feedback, I began working on the physical masks. I measured different masks to the actors/actresses and by using customizable masks for a base, EVA foam clay along with a variety of tools for the wood texture and lastly using twin to create small vines and paint to create a realistic look & seal the foam to prevent damage to the mask during the performance.
Below shows the process of working on the masks.
