[a night out with the Monsters]

Very early in my career I had the privilege of making a few props for video production, and enjoyed every moment of working on set. I'm fascinated by all the amazing things that go into behind the scenes of film and animation, and know that what we see on screen is just the 'tip of the iceberg' to what really goes on.

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of meeting one of Australia's most talented artists in the film industry, John Cox. He was at the opening of his regional touring exhibition of 'How to Make a Monster' at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum at Petrie (located adjacent to North Pine Country Park, where they have the markets).

All I can say is, "Wow!" He has been a pioneer in the industry of animatronics, and sculpture, and his credits include an Academy Award for his work on 'Babe'. 

As you enter the Museum building you are greeted by a motion-sensor animatronic eye that blinks and looks you up and down ... which is a little bit unnerving. Full-size Gorillas from 'George of the Jungle 2' stand guard at your side, and a fibreglass dinosaur sits on a table with clay for the kids (and big kids like me) to sculpt and make your own monster. There are two other exhibition spaces, including a couple of video presentations on how they made the props for 'Racing Stripes', 'Komodo' and 'Peter Pan' — we didn't get time to see everything Friday night, so we'll definitely be back for a another look.

The one-legged animatronic parrot from the movie 'Peter Pan'.

If you have an opportunity to go to this exhibition, I would highly recommend it, it's FREE and on until 29 January, and perfect for the kids on school holidays as there are lots in interactive activities. 

To find out more about the monsters at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum, check out this link.

(Also, you'll see some of my work at the Museum too, as I've done the Museum's external banner signage, and some of the internal exhibition signage on their regular displays.)