The Grafton Monster
When I learned that a nearby town was hosting its inaugural festival celebrating its local cryptid, the Grafton Monster, I volunteered to be the monster. Problem was, as a rank amateur, I possessed more enthusiasm than I did knowledge and had no idea how to build a creature suit of this scale. Fortunately, I found everything I needed to execute through the online creature suit courses at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts! The design is partly based on the depiction of the monster in the videogame Fallout 76, which itself is an interpretation of the headless brute’s description in local lore. To bring the beast to fruition, I opted for a “wire-frame” design with EVA endoskeleton covered in upholstery foam. Several pool noodles were sacrificed as well. The majority of the suit hangs directly or indirectly from a bicycle helmet and weighs just 11 pounds total. Eleven months and about 500 hours later, the Grafton Monster suit made its timely debut and has since appeared at a number of fairs, parades and children’s events. As a physical therapist, I really enjoyed sculpting the musculature and figuring out how the monster would move. I've included video links so you can see it in action. Thanks for looking.
https://youtu.be/PH3fb-RoRekhttps://youtube.com/shorts/5RlHUM4X2h4?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/SON3PQTxs90?feature=share
https://youtube.com/shorts/QXMKA29TDlI?feature=share
