Many times in my adult life, I have yearned for a sort of sleepaway camp for adults. The itch is scratched occasionally, with film festivals and conventions providing a bit of that element (plus a much-needed horror vibe). Stiltbeast Studios takes that “sleepaway camp” concept to the next level with its ongoing Monster Camp workshops.
What’s Monster Camp, you ask? Well, it’s essentially a weekend-long boot camp for budding monster makers to learn how to make a mask from scratch. Monster Camp sessions begin in January, with a class offered every month through September.
Another aspect I often think about is learning new skills in my adult life, specifically tactile stuff like making masks or custom pieces for myself. I’m personally not going to pursue FX as a career, but man, it would be fun to know how to do even some of this stuff purely for my own enjoyment.
I need guidance for an endeavor like this, but it’s also not feasible for me to take up a mentorship or invest the kind of time and money it would take to learn the craft. I wish I could pick it up from video tutorials, but this is one thing in particular that I just really need an actual artist to help me with. I didn’t think there was anything in existence that fit the bill. Then, we learned about Stiltbeast Studios’ Monster Camp.
Monster Camp workshops check all the boxes for everything I listed above. Founder Allen Hopps invites attendees to spend the weekend at his studio in Plano, Texas, where they’ll receive hands-on instruction and learn to make an original mask from scratch, start to finish.
Listen, I selfishly lobbied to get myself to Monster Camp to give you a full breakdown of my Camp experience, but alas, the upcoming workshop is for advanced artists, and I wasn’t about to hold the class back with my less-than-novice grasp of the goings on. So now Monster Camp’s beginner workshop lands on my bucket list; in the meantime, I’ll show you all the cool stuff I’m missing out on, and hopefully, you can book an upcoming workshop for yourself or a loved one (because this would be one epic gift) then tell me all about it.
So, what can budding monster makers expect from a weekend at Monster Camp? Stiltbeast Studios Director of Education Shannon Hopps walked us through a breakdown of the day-to-day.
Before You Arrive
Before students leave their homes, the Stiltbeast Studios Team will guide the way. When attendees book their workshop online, Shannon Hopps is in immediate contact to get the ball rolling. “The classrooms are small, the class gatherings are small, we don’t have more than twelve students in a class. I’m very much one-on-one with people, and I’m their touchstone to getting things ready.”
Aside from getting the logistics lined up, Shannon is already helping with the “pre-production” phase. “I start talking to them about their design. The big thing with that is that when class begins Friday morning, they have to be ready to go with what they’re going to make. This is not the time to sit and say, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ So we get that done way ahead of time.”
Long days are ahead, and to make the most of the time together, pre-production and brainstorming sessions are all done in advance.
“We encourage them to do something unique, and what I mean by that is they say, ‘I want to make a Freddy Krueger mask,’ and we discourage them from that because you can buy that mask at Walgreens, at Walmart, there’s nothing original about that. We encourage them to come up with an idea, and then back it up with images.”
“As we get closer and closer to camp, I’m going to be fine-tuning that. Allen will look at their design and say, ‘This is better for that. Let’s do this.'”
Day One – Sculpting
On the first day of Monster Camp, participants will get their hands dirty within the first hour. Thanks to the time spent discussing design and the fine-tuning during the pre-production process. “There should be no uncertainty. I’m going to get rid of all of that so they feel confident and prepared to do this because this is an unusual skill, and it’s an unusual class. So being prepared, feeling confident, having their questions answered, having their design approved and ready to go, they show up, and they’re nervous and excited, but they’re not lost.“ That means Monster Camp attendees can pretty much jump right into the sculpting process.
There’s no sitting through lectures or waiting around. It’s digging right in and getting to work. Allen and the Stiltbeast Studios team are there to guide every step of the way, and thanks to small class size, nobody is going to feel lost or left to their own devices.
“Friday morning, they are immediately ready to start. Within ten minutes of meeting Allen and introducing themselves, the clay is out, and here we go. It’s a 12-hour push, that entire day they’re going to sculpt.”
Day Two- Molding
The second day of camp is slightly shorter, clocking in at roughly ten hours. The beginner class kicks off the morning with last looks. This is the time for creators to make any last-minute changes to their creations with fresh eyes. “You’re going to see you have one hour to make any changes before it’s literally set in stone.” The advanced classes skip the last look portion and move right into the mold-making process, where the clay sculptures will be encased in plaster.
“They’re going to be immediately learning the process of mixing plaster, the texture, the weight, the ratio, all of that to learn how to get the plaster onto the mold. It’s a time-sensitive skill because once that plaster starts to kick, it’s starting to harden; you’ve got to go. But they’re in a no-fail environment because Allen has two assistant instructors, and everybody’s got help. They show them how to do it, and then they have to do it themselves.”
“It takes about 20 to 30 minutes for the paster to kick and set, then they open up the mold, dig out the clay, and clean it. It’s like if you were molding jello or a Bundt cake, it will make that impression. After it is 100% cleaned out, they will pour a mask-making latex into the mold. This has a two-hour dwell time where it’s just a hard stop. That latex has to lie in the mold all the way to the top and form that skin.”
But don’t worry, that two-hour dwell time isn’t for twiddling thumbs and staring at latex as it sets. It’s field trip time!
“During that time, we give them a lights-on backstage tour of Dark Hour Haunted House and feed them.” (All meals are included in the cost of tuition.) After the lights on Dark Hour tour and some lunch, it’s time to get back to work.
“When they come back, they’re going to pour that latex out, which will create the skin of the mask. That’s all that’s left; it’s created that skin, but it also has to dry overnight. So we set it up in front of the fans, let it dry, and that’s how the day ends on Saturday.”
Day Three – Hatching
Day three is hatching day! This is when attendees get to break their creations out of the plaster molds for the big reveal. Sunday clocks in at about eight hours to finish out the weekend.
“It’s a great moment for them because they’ve worked really hard to get here, so it’s like the cake decorating part of it. The cake is baked, and now you’ll make it really cool. They start trimming off the excess latex, which is called flashing. Trim out the eyes or ears or mouth, depending on what they sculpted.”
The end of Sunday is for fine-tuning the details of their creations. “They are now painting, decorating, embellishing, detailing, and towards the end of the day. They’re making the eyes wet and glossy or the teeth bloody.”
By the end of it all, everyone is exhausted, but they have an original creation they’ve brought to life from scratch. Naturally, you’ve gotta take a class photo to capture the magic, sleepaway camp style.
“The whole weekend is very communal. Everyone’s going to work together, eat together, and create together. By the end of the class, people have bonded because they went through a siege together. They’ve had a very hands-on, creative, interactive, fully immersive experience. They came here, and they trusted us to make this happen. I think it’s way more than art, I think it’s also physically really good for people to make something mentally, health-wise and emotionally, they feel empowered and like they did something interesting.”
“I like to encourage them and say, ‘You chose to spend your weekend doing this instead of binging Netflix all weekend. Look what you did. You made something. You are a creative person. You have ideas in your head, look what you made with your own hands.'”
There is no “typical student“ in these Monster Camp workshops. Not everyone wants to pursue a career in FX. Some attendees are big into haunts and want to create original characters for those. Other folks want to up their cosplay game. There are also parents who want to ensure their kids have the best Halloween costumes in the neighborhood, and art teachers are looking to expand their craft and add more skills to their toolboxes. The possibilities are endless.
The Stiltbeast Studios team has worked hard to set up what they refer to as a no-fail environment. “They show up and they’re a bundle of nerves. By the end of the weekend, their feathers are smooth, they feel good, they’ve done something creative, and it’s just good for them. It’s good for their heart, it’s good for their head. I never really expected this class to turn into that sort of therapeutic experience for people, but I see it every time. They’re exhausted, but they’re so encouraged.”
When all is said and done, Monster Camp attendees have a completed mask to take home and the skills to make more masks on their own. If you’re looking to add a new skill to your repertoire or have always admired FX artists and wondered how they did that, this is an excellent opportunity to get some hands-on instruction and guidance without having to invest more than a weekend as you learn the ropes of mask making.
Learn more about Stiltbeast Studios Monster Camp sessions begin in January, with a class offered every month through September. View the full upcoming class schedule right here.
* Sponsored by Stiltbeast Studios
