We welcome in a world of pure imagination as SyFy’s Face
Off presents “What a Dahl” an episode devoted to the unseen characters of
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We
are all familiar and have probably had our lives touched by this man at one
point or another; it is through his works we learn about greed and selfishness
and also about innocence and dreams.
Roald Dahl opened us to a world of whimsy and magic however, there was
also mention of great fears and horrors of other worlds. By now, almost everyone has seen or heard of
the Oompa Loompa, those bright orange men that help Wonka with his magical
factory and it is mentioned that these helpful, self-tanner afflicted beings,
were a main food source for many ferocious creatures such as the Hornswogglers,
Snozzwangers, Vermicious Knids, and Whangdoodles. This week’s spotlight challenge is to create
one of these never before seen characters to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In
a loving and thoughtful approach to the creator’s memory the guest judge is his
daughter Lucy Dahl. This challenge poses
something wonderful and at the same time nerve racking, you have all the whimsy
of pure imagination with the complication of no source materials. Essentially you are the product and victim of
your own imagination.
Speaking of victims, no one had a harder time this week
in the lab than Chloe. Poor Chloe sets
out to make a kind of flytrap design to her Vermicious Knid but has trouble at
first settling on a shape of the head, either on the vertical or the
horizontal. I wish I could say that
making a simple arrangement choice was the end of her woes, sadly it was
not. Due to the lack of time management,
the cowl mold was unable to be cleaned properly causing her to need an express
polymold, if that were to have come together perhaps she would have stood a
chance. Sadly, luck was not with Chloe
in the lab as the polymers’ didn’t gel at all causing a stringy goopy mess and
no cowl. With no other option Chloe is
forced to try to hide her actor in a pile of moss and fabric. Now normally I would be sympathetic, however
this is not the first mold problem she’s encountered, nor is it the first time
she’s tried to hide unfinished product with fabric. In my opinion, the sea horse dragon was proof
that this completion was slightly out of her league.
Chloe is not the only one struggling through the
challenge as Niko as well has a hard time working with his full body suit
mold. Seeing as it weighs 300 pounds he
is desperate for Rashad’s help in trying to crack open the lynch pin of his
design. Thankfully, he had more luck
than Chloe and is able to have his suit molded but he runs into a maze of seam
work that inhibits him from really punching up the creature with the intended
paint job.
Daren and George seem to stumble ever so slightly on the
idea of really what figures into the universe of Dahl. George fears that his killer bunny may be
going to small and decides to include an open mouth chest piece of sharp
teeth. Daren struggles with whimsy itself,
he is a horror man and in that tradition the silly and outlandish seems to be
lost in translation. Finding some
inspiration in a horned lizard, by day tow, Daren’s whimsy reservations are no
more.
On the other side of the room however, Dahl’s world seems
to be bringing out the whacky and the vicious in Rashad, Tyler, and
Graham. Between duels colored monsters,
elephant trunks and wormy fingers, it’s clear these guys are not afraid to get
silly. The truly seem to be bringing to
life this fantastic world right in front of us, and it looks like a sweet
treat.
As they head into last looks, it’s Niko and Chloe who are
in dire panic to try to pull it together.
Niko fear’s his precious body suit has transformed from T-Rex to turkey.
Chloe tries desperately for somewhat of
a finished paint job, who do you think you are girl? Corinne?
Here are my notes:
Chloe: You say you were inspired by a Venus flytrap…
Clearly you meant a cabbage that has been embedded with tooth picks.
Daran: I love the concept but it doesn’t scream Dahl
to me. I can see Seuss in the outfit and
Henson in the design of the creature, neither looks bad but it doesn’t look
Dahl.
George: This week, the Easter bunny is going to kick
your ass. There is something about this
huge pink muscly looking hopper that makes me happy and nervous… Oh yeah it’s
the gaping hole full of teeth in its chest!
Graham: This was so very special, I loved the bloody
oompa loompa skulls and the berry bait that was included but what sold it for
me, was the eyes sticking through the safari hat. Truly amazing job this week!
Niko: This looks like a birthday party mascot that
would get severely beaten by older kids if you didn’t watch out.
Rashaad: The paint job and design of this duel colored
creature was amazing to see. There were
clearly tireless hours put into the sculpt and it totally paid off… Beautiful
piece!
Tyler: This thing scared both me and my son who
stumbled out during the final reveal. The
only thing I could keep saying was kill it with fire! Oh my god I will never look at worms the same
way again. Bleh!
So in the end Tyler clenches a much deserved victory,
although Graham was really close and I would love to see these two go head to
head. In the wake of joy a bit of
sadness that Chloe must be sent home, that does it this season for girls in the
competition but, not to worry for she has resolved to keep trying in the make-up
world… Try a tad harder… Just sayin.
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