Creepy Cryptids

Since it is Wednsday we rejoin our weekly review of the ever stagnant season 6 of Face Off on SYFY, aren’t we the lucky ones?  So this week we trip in on a foundation challenge, why there isn’t one every week is really confusing but, maybe they sneak one in when they don’t feel the making of the spotlight creatures won’t take a whole hour. 

This challenge takes our creators to a large open field where there a few rustic army camp looking structure and special guest Howard Berger.  Mr. Berger is an award winning makeup artist known for his work on such films as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Breaking Bad.  After some gushing and oohs and awes Mr. Berger unleashes the contestants, in groups of two, onto an army of orcs.  The challenge is for each pair to produce a leader orc and 9 other supporting orcs.  That’s right folks we are making an orc production line!

What is produced by the challenge varies from bright hair to electric green with the “orcs” looking more like disgruntled trolls and dark elves.  The highlight of the challenge was Corinne’s sponge paint application.  Once again, girl can paint!  It is her knowledge of the color wheel that grants her the win and immunity from the spot light challenge.

Here this week to introduce the spot light challenge is special guest judge Doug Jones.  Mr. Jones is a creature/ character actor in such films as Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth.   This was awesome to see, every special guest judge tends to be behind the scenes which gives great insight to the creative and building process, however this week having an Actor gives our creators an insight to what is the living being behind their creations.  Mr. Jones explains the need to have it be truly organic in feel and as much as he is an actor for these creatures, if he cannot feel the creature… he’s just a man in a suit.

This week’s challenge: Cryptids, the fabulous creatures of Urban legends around the world.  From the Jersey Devil to the Bunyip, these crazy characters have haunted us from all corners of the world… and yet they are so open to interpretation that the idea’s seem to spiral forth in modeling clay.

In the lab there are cohesion, conflict and panic running rampant from all four corners of the room.  First let us check in on our immunity winner Corinne. Corinne has hooked up with Matt and the two have picked “The Jersey Devil.”  There is already a train crashing in on them as Matt panics.  It finally dawns on Matt that his partner has immunity; if they end up in bottom look then you can guess who is taking the long walk?  Add this to his inability to create animal like faces, and he becomes a quivering goo pile.  Think Tess a few episodes back and you can understand that it’s kind of annoying to watch.  He isn’t the only whiner though, Cat has taken up the whine as she buts heads with Daren the Diva.  Seriously, if he were a Broadway play, he’d be a one man show.  Cat sulks away under Daren’s uninspired ideas and is demoted quickly to glue holder.

The emotional rollercoaster keeps chugging along as Tyler and Chloe work hard on the Mapinguari, a creature that encompasses two features that the judges have always hated, fun fur and “baked – in mouths.”  The other major flaw is that there hasn’t been a “photographed sighting” of this thing.  So in the end you are working with items that are despised to create something no one has ever seen.  I’d be pretty stressed too.  However, I’d rather have inspiration problems than the mold problems George and Niko almost had.  Thankfully with four people to pry it all apart the twosome put it all together with literally seconds to spare.  In all of this the only group not stressing out is Grahm and Rashad.  I’d keep my eye on Rashad, the kid has got some talent.

After and angry last look the models head for presentation and judging:

Daren and Cat:  So the whiner and diva attempt to present El Chupacabra.  What ensues is a sad looking, emaciated, spinney Chihuahua.  My frenchie, with tear stain looks happier than this poor thing.  The chest and caul are poorly blended, much to Cat’s dismay.  Still she whines on about not finding her own voice.

Corinne and Matt: Ah, the Jersey Devil, minus the “kangaroo” and well anything really inspired at all.  What we got was a grey, splotchy, mediocre effort with homemade wings that were made from ugly drapes… Should have gone bigger!

Niko and George:  With the craziness that this mold required the Puerto Rican power couple’s Vodaynoy (a fish/frog monster) should have inspired a little more color.  Now, I really liked the sculpt of the face and chest plate however the brightness of the paint and the sculpt of the flipper seemed to just throw me off.

Rashad and Grahm:  Of all the creatures, this one clearly had the most going on and with good reason.  Your typical bunyip consists of so many parts that it’s easy to over load a makeup and find yourself with a 5000lb. creature that looks overworked and over loaded.  The beauty of this makeup was that even though there was so much going on, scales, horns, feathers and tusks, it had a true sense of being a real creature.  The painting was excellent and the scale and feather work gave it a real organic origin that the guest judge felt a real connection to.

Chloe and Tyler:  Starting with two strikes against them (fun fur and a stomach mouth) Chloe and Tyler’s Mapinguari takes the runway with a force.  First off the actor’s ability to roll the stomach and get that effect with the stomach mouth was amazing.  The color and cohesion of the fur pieces left the judges over whelmed, but in a good way.  Truly this is the best case scenario of two people working together to bring forth one creature.

In the end, it is Tyler who walks away with another win for his creep-tastic sculpt while Matt takes the fall for the less than inspiring Jersey Devil.  So long Matt, I’ll miss your hair.