Jump to content

How To Make a Monster

Homepage - Exhibitions - How To Make a Monster

Monster Programs

To coincide with the How to Make a Monster exhibition the Western Australian Museum is presenting a series of programs to help visitors further explore the magic of special creature effects in movies.

Programs include public lectures by speakers in the movie industry, a cult monster movie festival, holiday activities in the Discovery Centre and Little Monster activities for children. There is also a Monster Schools Program for visiting school groups to the Museum.

Public Lectures

Leading experts from the Museum, film, television and theatre industry will share their secrets of monster making in this fascinating series. Topics include animatronics, animation, soundscapes, puppetry and much more.

Mondays, 12pm-1pm, Courtroom in the Old Gaol, FREE.

Lecture Program

Monday 20 March
John Cox
John is the creator of the How to Make a Monster exhibition and runs the John Cox Creature Workshop based in Queensland. John has created animatronic models for movies such as Peter Pan, Pitch Black, Inspector Gadget 2 and Babe. He will discuss animatronics in the film industry and what it takes to bring monsters to life in the movies.

Monday 27 March
Alan Murphy
Alan is an animatronics expert whose credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Braveheart and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Alan currently works at Hale Senior High School as a theatre technician. Alan will discuss his work as Animatronic Fabrication Supervisor on the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Monday 3 April
Kirsten Tullis
Kirsten is the senior preparator and taxidermist at the Western Australian Museum and has worked with the Museum for twenty-three years. Kirsten will discuss the construction of one of the Museum’s largest and most iconic model dinosaurs, the Carnotaurus sastrei.

 Animated 'Gilman' figure from the 'How to Make a Monster' Exhibition


Monday 10 April
Ian Tregonning
Ian is a senior puppeteer who has worked on films such as Dr Dolittle, Babe, Pinocchio, and Muppets Treasure Island. Ian has also worked with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre and with Barking Gecko Theatre Company. Ian will discuss puppetry in cinema.

Monday 17 April
Break – no lecture

Monday 24 April
KT Crocker
KT is a make-up artist currently working on Tim Winton’s Lockie Leonard series shooting in Albany. She has 20 years experience in film and television working for the BBC, Disney and Warners. KT will discuss the art of special effects make-up in cinema and TV.

Monday 1 May
Grant Stone
Grant is a lecturer at Murdoch University and a presenter on the long-running Faster Than Light science fiction radio program on RTR-FM. Grant will discuss sound and soundscapes in cinema, how sounds are created and where they come from.

Monday 8 May
Break – no lecture

Monday 15 May
Dr Ken McNamara
Ken is the senior curator of invertebrate palaeontology at the Western Australian Museum. Because of his interest in evolution he sometimes ventures into the world of fossils and bones. In his lecture Ken will discuss dinosaurs and how these animals achieved their monstrous size and monstrous habits.

Monday 22 May
Dr Euan Lindsay
Euan is a lecturer in mechatronic engineering at Curtin University of Technology. His research focuses on the integration of computers with electronics to produce animatronic puppetry. Euan’s presentation will showcase work by students at Curtin University involved in designing and constructing animatronic puppetry.

Monday 29 May
Tom Lubin
Tom has a long history with the Australian Film Television and Radio School and is currently the Manager of WA – Continuing Professional Education AFTRS. Tom established WAnimate, an organisation for people working or interested in the WA animation industry. Tom will discuss animation and show a variety of WA animation, including works in progress.

Monday 5 June
Pierce Davison
Pierce is the director, writer and animator of short films in WA.

For more information call 9427 2792