“A Monster Calls” Monster & Ensemble

This past semester, I was a part of the production of A Monster Calls, the story follows Connor, a 13yr old, who struggles with his mother’s battle of cancer and meets an ancient tree monster, who tells him stories to help him comes to terms with his own truth.

I designed parts of the costumes in the production. 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.

The designs of the ensemble and the monster were based on Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos, and the Green Man. Herne the Hunter is depicted as a masked hunter who lived in the woods, this was used in the designs of the ensembles’ wood-like masks and the choice in ghillie ponchos for the Root/Branch systems. Cernunnos and the Green Man were the main inspiring aspects for the monster itself .

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, Lylli Cain, Emily Cluney, and Jacob Gess.

One of the masks are different from the rest but I wanted it to stay on theme. In the story Connor has nightmares and the monster within them 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.

Next for the monster, I focused on three main Mythos which were mentioned in the original text. So, the monster itself is a Yew Tree which symbolizes life, death, rebirth, protection, and transformation, reflecting its longevity, resilience, and spiritual significance, which connects back to the mother.

Tim P. as The Monster

As stated before, Cernunnos and the Green Man were the main inspiring aspects for the monster itself where Cernunnos has the head of a Stag which was the main inspiration for the Halo of branches, and The Green Man has a face made from leaves and a body made from branches and trees this inspired the make-up (done by Andy) and the rest of the costume.

The ensembles’ masks and the Monster’s costume had been created separately but was brought together in a way that reflected them as being a part of the same creature. The Monster's had a couple of iterations but ultimately the design was the same. We created a halo-like structure of branches to create a sense of height, then by sewing and cutting up some old fleece it made a vine-like texture to extend the monster's tree aspects and by incorporating the same techniques as the masks for the ensemble to tie them all together. Lastly to create the halo of branches, we took a harness with hard plastic sections and fastened the fake branches. These branches have metal wire in them so we could pose and manipulate them.