As always, all good things must come to an end and nothing
could be truer than the finale show of the Jim Henson Creature Shop
Challenge. Seems like the series went a
bit fast, and in truth I think it really did because they started with ten
contestants and whittled it to 3 for the finale. Looking back however, the same was done on
face off so it somewhat made sense.
Still, as much as I liked this series, I do not think it’s because of
the show but, instead that strange connection that so many have to Henson’s
works. I just can’t see this show coming
back for a season 2, which is a total shame.
So the finalists (Melissa, Robert and Ben), got to sit down
with head judge Brian Henson as a kind of overall critique and a one on one
share of ideas moving forward. In all
Brian overly stated the need for depth and growth amongst the creatures from
everyone as well as truly utilizing both time and team. This was especially clear for Ben who has a
lot of trouble delegating activities to others.
That is something he found himself having to get over in a hurry because
for the last challenge, the shop decided to push the remaining designers to the
brink in just three days.
For the challenge the designers are asked to create a full alien
creature, capable of walking in and sitting down at the bar. After the sit the designers will be given a
chance to set them for up close looks, but as an added challenge they must
create a prop and an effect. So, essentially
what they want is something that would take months from the actually creature
shop in three days. In anticipation of
the daunting task the designers are each given two team mates and a mentor to
work with, which is good but still can take an amazing toll on the finalists
who eagerly attempt to put everything together.
The major flaw this whole season has been from a lack of
individual challenges. I understand that
this is a team industry but it seems like perhaps a format of a show like this
isn’t geared to finding a team player.
Ben is a great example, he is a clearly talented creator and has a multitude
of usable skills to throw out, however when put with another person it always
seems to hinder his work as he buries inward which drags the team down more
than his opinion that the other team mate isn’t pulling their own weight. Then again it could be his aversion to fault
that makes him truly flawed in the industry.
Another great example is from Melissa who arrived with little knowledge of
mechanism driven designs. This lack of knowledge
makes the team atmosphere a crutch, and it wasn’t until she was forced to use
the mechs in an individual challenge that she was propelled into learning to
operate the tool.
Another one of the shows flaws is that the challenges where
always very similar in conception, they always seemed to be recreating the same
type of creature with a small difference.
There were some challenges that focused on specific ideas, but to be
honest it all seemed very lose in the outline of the show.
After three days of fighting, the creatures were ready to be
revealed and there were definitely some mixed reviews about each one. First was Melissa’s creature who had a
beautiful entrance. The figure moved
very well through the room and immediately gave a great personality. It was on the up lose that she really lost
the high ground. The creature was
missing a palette which isn’t always necessary but, without it the mouth seems
black and static which can cause you to lose some of the suspension of disbelief. Her smoke blowing effect however worked very
well I though and gave the character a real sense of life. The judges pointed out however, in the back
story the creature is believed to be 100 years old but appeared to be quite
clean. This shocked me because Melissa
is usually ace of the back stories and over all creature fabrication i.e.
coloring, clothing and furs ect.
Next was ben whose creature reminded me of a kind of
turtle. His entrance wasn’t quite as
dynamic as Melissa’s and the outer shell build was not successful. It looked like a stretched out hood that gave
a horrible looking black area. The paint
also was a monochromatic green that needed to be softened and shadowed for a
more contoured face, at least in my opinion.
The judges were blown away by his weep effect and fetus in a jar prop. Personally I don’t think the tears really
read against the flat paint but the story was strong enough.
Finally there was Robert who wrote a large Russian gypsy
esque creature. The entrance really
stuck out, not as much as Melissa’s but the volume of the creature was
massively apparent from step one. What
was also very apparent was his skill for sculpting and mechanization. With his sneeze effect he pulled the face
into a very powerful sneer which was quite impressive. What was lacking was the overall placement of
fur and structure. Sadly the creature
just read ape and not really other worldly at all, as well as missing some sort
of facial hair which would have really put the greasy and grimy in perspective.
All in all the creatures where truly artfully done. I think that they couldn’t have picked a
better top three if they had tried. Each
contestant showed not only skill but the ability to grow and change. I think that the Henson team would find any
of them to be a true asset but, in the end there must be a winner. It is Robert who is crowned winner of the Jim
Henson Creature Shop Challenge and we wish him the best. I don’t have too much confidence that we will
see the show again but I do hope we at least get to see more of all of the creator’s
works in the world.
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