In plain sight: A Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge Recap

Welcome back to the Jim Henson Creature shop for another week of building the monsters you grew up with, no this doesn’t seem like they are building the same idea’s over and over again, what are you thinking?!  Okay yes, the idea for this week seemed oddly familiar.  So this week the artists were given a choice of swamp flora and fauna to pick from and must create a character that uses it to “hide in plain sight.”  Hey, wait a moment; didn’t they do that with the junk?!  I mean, a hidden predator, a busy location… The only really difference was this time instead of a cage, they are hunting swamp scrats or balls of puffy hair.

 

So, as far as the construction and lab days there was not too much drama, in fact I kept watching the episode waiting for something to go horribly wrong.  What did transpire were the same old complaints.  Melissa had trouble with the servos, the mentor was conserned with Russ’s choice of paint and the brightness of his creation and Jake’s creature having a huge lack of movement.  What I did like however was the Russ used an old school method in his monster’s eyes of controlling it on a cable which gives it a freer range of motion.  At the creature shop they tend to smile upon using classic techniques and you can’t really blame them because older methods tend to be more dependable.

 

After the construction phase, it was during rehearsal where the problems seem to come tumbling out all over the place.  The biggest malfunction happened when Russ became overzealous with his puppet and broke off “Green Gene’s” arm.  Best that those things happen in rehearsal and with a quick screw gun the monster is saved.  What is evident and perhaps not salvageable is Jake’s lack of movement in his “Root Breaker,” which could cost him a lot seeing as being able to animate seems to be a big concern for the creature shop.

 

As for the reveal there were a lot of hits and misses this week as they opened with Russ and his “Green Gene,” based on juniper branches.  First, the eyes were really spectacular and the interaction with the puff ball was adorable however the brightness of the paint made it hard for him to hide in plain sight.  I just wish he had done more in the color and contour of the creation because the sculpt in the face was adorable and the idea had such great promise.

 

Next up was Robert’s lily pad inspired creation “Mildred.”  This thing was amazing, starting out with a functional eye in the flower of the lily pad to the reveal of the Cyclopes underneath.  Robert took the time to dress his character so completely with hanging vines and roots that she just seemed so supernaturally real.  The wet look to the paint job really sold the idea of a mud dwelling monster and just brought out so much vibrancy to her.

 

Melissa had an amazing task of using the local grasses in her creation and put forth a grass covered bush shape that turned into a little dragon looking creature.  The face and the eyes were so expressive and they pulled from both reptile and bird in the shape and movement of the little guy.  With a few accent reeds he just dominated the screen and really brought the idea of in plain sight to another level.

 

Now Ben’s creature was a real conundrum.  He had chosen a rock and that is what he delivered.  A rock that opened up to a head and then using it’s tongue ate the scrat.  Now is that good enough for the challenge?  I don’t personally think so.  I see it as a rock that houses a creature, not a creature hiding in a world.  The face was also a big problem due to its cartoon esque features that were reminiscent of the show Dinosaurs.  So while it was imaginative, I don’t see how it really rose to the challenge requirements. 

 

Finally we come to Jake.  Poor Jake found himself on long on idea’s and just short of connecting that with the audience.  His overall lack of movement really hurt him in the long run because it was very hard to get a read on his creature at all.  The thing that saves this poor guy is that Jake is an amazing sculptor and in that the look of his creature seemed so much more life-like than someone like Russ.

 

In the end it was another win for Melissa, and I couldn’t agree more.  Her creature really did have a sense of wonder in its face and proportion, awesome work.  But, with every winner there is a loser and it was time for Russ to head home.  He definitely fought the good fight and it will be hard to see him go, he just couldn’t seem to ever get the plane off the ground.  Goodbye Russ, and good luck out there!