All good things...: A Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge Recap

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.  

From another planet: A Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge Recap

This week in the creature shop we join our top four creators, who are both excited and stressed with a spot in the top, and final three hanging in the balance.  Everyone is taking it to heart, and in very different ways.  The most notable reaction to the position is Ben.  Now, I like Ben and believe he is insanely talented; however he has a real problem with failure and critique.  You need to be okay with both in the arts.  In the first half of the episode all he wants to do is sulk about his bottom finishing “boldermunch” and it’s hard to feel bad for him because in the last episode’s first half he was sulking about Melissa’s win.  All in all, I think he listened closely to the idea of “If you aren’t first you’re last.”

This week’s challenge was a multiphase piece that required the designers to first create an alien and then an outer housing that works as a disguise for the alien.  So basically, an alien within an alien, in three days, no problem, oh and they must be mechanized and be able to reveal on camera.  I swear, when they said they were going to make them work for it, they were not kidding, especially when you have people like Melissa, who had no previous experience with a mech before now creating blinks and shifts.  I’m so beyond proud of her.

The person completely struggling in the shop this week was Jake, and this really was too bad because I like Jake and his want to be more cerebral in his approach.  His problem lies in his execution, and I think it comes from having a finished product and then trying to work back a story instead of designing the backstory and building off of that.  This week’s alien was no exception.  First the shell’s face was way too small for the opening, and although the judges didn’t say anything about it, I caught glimpses of the alien inside before the reveal.  Now, not to say that it was a bad piece, the mouth and eyes were quite lovely actually.  He used a kind of flat black on the eyes which really sold the other worldly appeal and the pallet on the inside really helped with the character, however it read as too much time on small nuances and not enough on the picture as a whole.

Robert’s alien was by far my favorite this week.  I really think that he brought the challenge home with the amount of finishing that was put into both phases of the character.  The outside of the alien looked in no way human, and really that’s what I want sometimes, I don’t want to feel like all life is shaped like it is on our planet.  But, when the head opened, if you are familiar at all with Farscape… The alien was a tug on the heart strings!  It really was its own little personality that gave you a sense that there was attitude and life.  The accessories alone made me smile, as he just won me over completely.

Melissa’s adorable creation came with the plus of a well hidden head.  I love her fabrication techniques and her ability to craft a well thought out plan in fabrics and raw materials.  Also, her paints are stunning.  Still there were a few issues and those really hurt her in the strong turn out this week.  The biggest, was that her alien seemed to have a floating head in such a wide opening.  It really would have benefited from some kind of shoulder or perhaps a narrower opening.

As for Ben, the real whinner of the week, I really didn’t like his design until it came closer and I got a second look at the show.  Sometimes you just have to watch it again to really appreciate the work that someone has put into a creature piece.  The color is what put me off the most I thiunk, it read so dark and yet just dingy and gross, and not in a good way.  Still, his sculpt in the articulated mouth and the paint job on the eyes actually made this a top contender and in the end his fully puppet-ed mouth assured him another victory.

Sadly, this is a week I hate because you have to say good bye to someone talented and this week we say toodles to Jake.  While I think he has a prosperous future in the industry, I do believe that the right decisions were made and am happy about the top three.  I can’t wait for the finale next week, Go Melissa!       

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!

I like to move it move it: A Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge Recap

This week on Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge the phrase go big or go home, can’t begin to describe the creature brief. Opening with the large dark unicorn from the Lady GaGa “Born This Way” Tour, the creature creators are introduced to the massive construction and movement. Movement is key to bringing a large creature to life in a way that you lose the puppeteer and the creature takes over. To add an element of competition the creature must perform on a black lit stage with accents in UV paints.

First the contestants are divided into teams of two leaving three teams, this is the downside to the small group, I feel like we just got started and it’s already almost half over. The teams are allowed to meet with their performer and discuss the movement of their creature, which is a huge advantage when you start to fabricate, when it’s discovered that two of the groups are doing similar designs. Both Melissa and Ben and Russ and Robert have chosen to do large birds that will encompass the performer and give them long flowing motions in the necks and wings. Despite the similar designs the creatures thankfully have very distinct movements and shapes that each is refreshingly original.

In camp Melissa and Ben the word of the week is Communication, unfortunately there for the first few days, they are out of words. Ben is such a dynamic personality that it really combats Melissa’s perky attitude. For the first time, Melissa seems like she is about to snap when finally Ben’s idea folds back on himself and it’s up to her last min fix to save their lovely loons wings. So, about this loon… When it took the stage for his screen test, you would have ever known their had been any issues. The new lighter wings that Melissa built allowed the performer to extend and contract them without the threat of a static movement while diplaying the dynamic feather work. The head sculpt had a wonderful shape that gave their creature a kind of living silliness that really worked. As for the black light painting, the team chose to airbrush a light white wash on that made it glow to life and helped to hid the simplicity of the design.

Russ and Robert’s bird constructed off of a backpack took shape insanely quick and hit the ground really running. With the boom pole the ostrich looking head has a kind of character all it’s own. The bob gives her a real organic feel. The beautiful accented red paint job gives it a real pop against the initial black coloring, and I thought it was really cool how there was a dark bird and a light bird. The major flaw with the bird was that it lacked pupils which may cause a drop in focus of the animal. Still, with the size of the eyes it kind of worked and gave it an other worldly quality. The movement Robert was able to achieve was amazing, each foot placement was clearly thought out and worked around the egg props that Russ had created. Was it a better bird? Not really, but it was still a very complete build.

The unfortunate flop of the episode was tragically the team of Jake and Lex and their poor lizard. It was so daring to build a non aviary creature for the movement challenge, however with a lack of foam knowledge they were clearly overwhelmed. I wish one of them had remember that it was about movement! Jake took entirely too much time sculpting a detailed head which left poor lost Lex to do her best on the body and movement work. Yet again we get a lot of “I’ve never’s” from Lex, I may hate those but I felt bad this week. Sadly, “Tiny’s” screen test was horrendous when the feet don’t hit the ground correctly, but all is not lost as there is some good notes about his tail movement.

At the end there is always a winner and loser and this week was a bitter sweet decision for me. First the winner made me so happy with Melissa’s last min wings winning her top prize of the night and it was well earned. Melissa is proof that a good attitude can really take you places when you just kind of smile through it. As happy as I was for her, this week we have to say good bye to Lex. Her failure to create good joints sealed her fate, however I think she is so talented and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of her.

Talking Heads: A Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Recap

This week on the Jim Henson Creature shop Challenge we got to see our first individual challenge as the designers were asked to create a character that would serve as a comedic partner in a scene with a sorcerer played by Donald Faison. This character was to be based off of a real animal and was to be a mounted head in sorcerer’s trophy room. As excited as I was to see the artists being asked to work on their own, one this is for sure… creature building is definitely a team sport.

Now there are pros and cons to working alone, the cons sadly out weighing the pros in my opinion. On positive side, you do not have to worry about someone stepping on your ideas or overlooking you in an attempt at personal advancement, like Tina. You also do not have to worry about a weaker link breaking up your chain, like the shows kiss of death, Russ. However, you also don’t have the added benefit of another players expertise. Unfortunately, all of the women on the show this week seemed to be hurting from this fact, as the evils of setting up servos proved to be a formidable foe in the creature shop.

All of the ladies are very accomplished designers and fabricators, however as far as the mechanics and animatronics pieces are concerned, they seem to be quite in the weeds. Each of the three remaining women find themselves in a bind over an eye blink, but none more than Ivonne’s creature “AH!” Based on the head of a honey badger, the biggest problem was obviously size. The head was molded too small for the mechanism to fit into, causing her to have to rip the fabricated pieces and add material which can drastically change the way the creature looks in the finished product. It’s also a huge drain on her time, which might not even as the judges are quick to point out in the stage test. The end result sadly were eyes that were very small and foam exposed ears. This is a huge dilemma, turning in an unfinished product to the sound stage can show the judges that you aren’t able to pull enough weight to be an asset to the team of creature designers.

Ivonne wasn’t the one lost as Lex seemed to be having a tough time getting her large eyes to open. It seems like every challenge so far Lex has stated this isn’t what I do. I’m more or less wondering what she does do. Still her creature comes out pretty adorable but with one huge flaw, in her rush she goes with over sized eyes with stagnant pupils set closely together giving it more of a Muppet feel. Still, her cheerfully silly otter/ lion looking “chupacadabra” brings an element levity to a troubled build.

Melissa also takes a hit as the mechanisms take out it’s third victim in the build of her loch ness character. The hardest to watch, Melissa’s loveable nature and upbeat attitude wasn’t even enough to cover her massive flaws. The paint job failed Melissa this week as her sea creature lacked a slippery or slickness, perhaps if she had added a clear coat? Still the color pallet over all was flat and dull on camera making her monster seemingly uninteresting.

On the other side of the room the boys seemed to be diving into the challenge with an unmatched fervor, and with quite a bit more experience in animatronics it was easy to see that the servos were not going to cause them any issues this time. That doesn’t mean that they are completely without incident, starting with Russ. Now either Russ has the worst luck of all the contestants, or perhaps this competition is weighing on him, but this week the problem lies in the size of his project. Having chosen a large bull bust, Russ decides to create a minotaur. Now the idea is sound, save for the fact that it is supposed to be a bust, and the head of a minotaur is basically, a bull.

Robert’s “Jasper” brought a lot the back story table with his story about being the sorcerer’s official party planner. His comfy hippie and stoner vibe brought a lot of laughs and gave the actors a lot to go on, but he was defiantly not without flaws. The eyes seemed to be a little off putting to the judges and they didn’t read party animal being constantly wide open. The notes were pretty much across the board that he should have left the eyes half lidded to give him a kind of sleeper/ stoner vibe and therefore giving the actor a little more to animate on the big parts of the story. Still he was a successful character to play with.

Jake’s creation of an ice troll, while creative was hard to read. The flaw had to be the spindly, weak horns that Jake added to hold the sorcerer’s keys. When you do a horn, you want to make it strong fitting so that when the animal moves the horns remain stationary, not the case here. Now the character itself was adorable but it was really hard to over look a kind of undeveloped ideal.

And finally, my favorite of the night “Sherman Oaks” a wood creation brought to life by Ben. Ben is emerging as a huge talent in this competition, and this bust is another example of his ability to sculpt and create through both the design and mechanics. The wood texture of the creature itself was impressive and the amount of time spent in the paint paid off. Still even this creature was not without flaws, as the judges didn’t like how the creature couldn’t look at the audience. Also the placement of the eye in the design seemed to be in a place that you would have a hard time believing that it would be part of a face. Still his ability and drive definitely shown through and he is awarded another win.

As easy as it was to pick a winner, picking who created the most grievous offense was incredibly hard on the judges. In the end, however it was Ivonne’s unfinished creation that is chosen to send her home. In this world of deadlines delivering an unfinished creature can tear apart an entire production and the shop can not risk that. I wish her luck on her future and know she will be able to come back from this.

One Man's Trash: A Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge Recap

This week Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge took us into the old adage of “One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure,” with a junk yard challenge.  The remaining 8 creators were taken to Apex Electronics Scrap yard which was a preverbal gold mine of raw materials such as computer parts, construction extras, tapes and wires.  These raw materials are there to test the abilities of the creators to use the extras around them to bring to new life into the world.  Brian Henson explained that at the Creature Shop it is their mission to reuse as much as possible, even Kermit the frog was made out of reused material’s (Brian’s grandmothers coat) and it has always led them to new ground breaking creations and processes.  So, in the spirit of Jim’s using the world around them the challenge is to create a caged creature that has been living in the junk yard and has been for so long that he is in danger of being engulfed by the junk.  The group will be broken into teams of two once again and armed with 500 dollars they are loosed on the junkyard and then are sent back to the lab for a two day build.

 

The mentor for this challenge is someone a little dear to my child hood, John Criswell who was a major piece of the animatronic figures (of which there are 18) on the T.V. show Dinosaurs.  This show was huge for me, I remember being in kindergarten and screaming “Not the mama!”  and now here is the man that brought that to life… Yeah it hit me in the feels.  I have to say, I get the feeling that the creature shop is filled with type B personalities, because when the mentors get to work there is this kind of calm each of them has had, almost eerie actually.

 

So with the four teams working away on the various projects ahead of them the cages are delivered and they are massive, however the twist is that no puppeteer will be allowed inside the cage to assist with movement.  So using servos and a lift system they must give their creature movement and life, inversely to be able to use the pole arm lift the creature must also have lightness as to not overload the arm.  Something that could prove difficult if not addressed given the general weight of most scraps materials and the sheer size of the cage itself.

 

The groups, chosen at random, bring back some great qualities in team members as well as some negative traits that might run deeper than I originally thought.  This week brings back the great team work of Josh and Lex.  However, Josh seems to be falling a little and truly missing his family.  I think that he might have underestimated what being away this long would feel like.  Still with the help of Lex they soldier on as they construct a rat/ cat like   “Hungry Horace.”  I loved this creation; it filled the cage excellently while still leaving plenty of room for movement the major issue however was the knees.  It appears they may have tried to stabilize Horace as not to over load the pole arm but it made the lower half of his body seem static and clunky.  Still, the face was frightening and yet still adorable.

 

The next team would be Robert and Melissa who set to work on an ape like creation they named pickles, yes they get extra points for the name.  This creation was truly a testament to how well these two can work with others.  It seemed like a seamless process as they both worked out their strengths.  I love Melissa’s energy, if I had to work in this industry I would take an army of workers like her any day.  Robert truly flies into working with the animatronics while Melissa’s love for design brings together something that feels truly menacing.  The flaw with pickles is that while menacing he just doesn’t have enough junk to be believable.

 

The team of Ben and Ivonne, however do not have the lack of junk problem.  Their creation Swarf is so brilliantly covered in it.  Swarf comes across as a little being who over the years has constructed a kind of mecha suit for himself to become more man like.  It’s brilliant, not quite menacing but, when he moves his little gears that controls the suit it’s so reminiscent of the traditional days of Henson.  The color work was also quite inspired.  Using brighter paints he actually blends in more than if they hadn’t punched color in.  The judges really took to this little guy and it was easy to see why.

 

At last we have team disappointment, Jake and Russ.  Russ, I’m afraid may be the kiss of death on this show as every time he gets to work, he hates his project and isn’t that committed to a fix.  I felt bad for Jake whose original idea would have been great, however Russ nixed that and they came up with ZZ867, a massive alien who roars but has no moving mouth.  The creation if far too big to show any movement and just seems so stale.  The paint seems dull and even there fun eye accessory fails to really lend anything to the creature.

 

In the end, Ben takes top for his mechanical work on Swarf and the team of Jake and Russ was sent to the bottom.  As we all sat waiting for the judges to send Russ home, Josh steps in and asks to be sent home.  The time away from his family has taken enough and his brush with L.A. has proven to be something that he couldn’t see bringing his children into.  I certainly wish he could have stayed as he was a tremendous talent but, I truly believe in doing the best for my son and hope the best for his family.    

I'm Skeksi and I know it!: A Jim Henson Creature Shop Challenge Recap

This week the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge opened its doors to one of the movies that was very near and dear to my heart growing up, The Dark Crystal.  As a child this movie was on a constant play back in our house, everything from the little bugs to the giant Mystics where given a special place in my heart.  Most importantly, however and perhaps oddly my favorite, were the keepers of the crystal known as the “Skeksis.”  The Skeksis combination of bird and scales gave them an awesome creepy factor that terrified me and intrigued me, not to mention my father teasing me with the “hmmmmm’s” of the Chamberlin.   What I found to be the coolest though, was their clothing.  I loved the opulence on top of the grotesque.  The ideals of a ruff collar on a shriveled body, just gives an awesome design element when pair with the tiny hands and hunched over way of almost scuttling around.

So this week, the creators were asked to make a functioning Skeksis, keep in mind that it took the studio weeks to design and fabricate even just a few of the original Skeksis, our designers put in groups of three and given three days.  I love how this show asks for miracles, and the hits keep coming when they are given the added element of a banished Skeksis that is being called back from a harsh climate, oh and everyone has to puppeteer something.

The teams are broken into Tina, Russ and Ivonne who represent the arid desert.  Team two was divided into Jake, Ben and Lex who were given a frozen wasteland to play in.  And finally, Robert, Melissa and Josh who chose decaying forest.  Right off the bat, I was waiting for the sparks to fly as Russ’s face sunk to have to work with Tina again, but it was short lived as he wanted to opportunity to make right the mistakes of the last challenge.  The other interesting note is having top and bottom creators in one team was interesting as Josh and Robert are lumped together.  This week’s mentor was also a nice little surprise as the show introduced Julie Zobel, a fabrication supervisor for the creature shop.  To say that this woman is familiar with the Skeksis, is not doing justice to all of her work on fabulous pieces throughout my childhood.  Yeah, I geek-ed out a bit… I was already on a high from the Skeksis what do you want?

So, with the groups and climates assigned everyone goes to work on the areas where they believe their talents will shine and for the most part that is true.  Robert is relieved to be free of a foam application and feels right at home connecting the servos for his animatronics, it’s clear that this build is definitely in his wheelhouse.  I love seeing artists when they are confident in their work, there is always so much more love put into the pieces you feel good about.  Melissa also shines as she discovers that with two people trying puppet this creation, the key to a successful move will be to make the structure as light as she can without losing any of Chad’s beautiful design or Roberts well done sculpt.

In the frozen wasteland, everyone seems to be plugging away in a copasetic movement to their goal of an almost mutated kind of Skeksis.  Their take is have a Skesis that has spent hundreds of years in the waste and is now shriveled and has taken to covering himself in the carcasses of dead larger animals for warmth.  I love to watch a team this is content to do more than yell at each other.

In our third group, yelling isn’t what we find but, there is clearly aggravating circumstances as Tina may have bit off more than she can chew trying to set up the mechanics of the creation.  She is quickly overwhelmed and in the weeds because she lacks focus.  Tina isn’t untalented, she is just scattered when it comes to the project.  She’s a starter, not a finisher and with this major dead line unfortunately, she is a boot on the wheel of progress.  Russ steps in to try to put this creation back on track but, it leaves Ivonne to finish up the design and painting.  What is Tina put on?  Well she decides to make a creature to pee on the Skeksis.  Right away this thing looks ridiculous and feels somewhat sophomoric.

As the last day comes to a close the creatures head out to choreograph their Skeksis with the master puppeteer and it feels like a scramble as problems start to threaten the abilities of the frozen group to keep their creation strong for the duration of the test.  It would appear that the head has become too weighted down by the amount of servos running through it but it is remedied by placing an extra grip inside the head itself.

As the screen tests begin, they must deliver the Skeksis through the hall of the crystal to a staff at the forefront of the stage.  The crystal and props in the room?  From the movie… Yes I did geek-gasim.  So, the first was “Skeksisth” the decaying forest dweller.  I loved this look because it gave you the feel of a classic Skeksis with its layers of fabric and decaying adornments.  The addition of the “chicken bug” as a side prop was also amazingly detailed and gave Skeksisth someone to bounce a little bit of action off of.  The judges didn’t care for the ruff on the neck, but in my opinion it was really reminiscent of that bird meets frilled lizard idea.  The only issue I had with the creation was that it was very dark and, in my opinion could have used a pop more of color in the body.

The next creature up for the judges was Skekdero, of the arid desert.  As soon as this came out, I just didn’t get Skeksis, it was a beige blob that seemed to lilt to one side.  The “pee creature” seemed fake and gross all at the same time and none of the servos worked.  The eyes of the creature were set in so deep that the shadow of the lights made the mechanisms worthless anyway.  It just didn’t read right to me or the judges.

Last to go up, team frozen wasteland whose Skagath came onto the scene complete with a glowing orb.  Oooohhhh shiny!  I really loved the design in this Skeksis because it clearly screamed frozen waste, from the icy paint job on the face to the large pelt slung over his back it was such a cohesive idea.  I have to hand it to these three; if it weren’t for a few minor details they would have clenched the look of the day.  The sad fact is, however it was the minimal movements and the offset eyes that lost top spot.  Brian Henson made the excellent point that it would be hard to believe and direct a creature whose gaze was unbelievable.

In the end it was Robert’s redemption as he took the top prize for his beautiful head and range of motion.  His ultimate joy was absolutely precious to see, his confidence is restored.  On the other end however, Tina is sent home for the disastrous malfunction of the servos.  I wish her luck on all her projects and that this experience puts her back out in the world renewed and reenergized.  Bye Tina.

All the Skeksi beasts

Jim Henson Creature Shop: What Lies Beneath

Just when I thought my Tuesday evening couldn’t get any more impacted by series that I just cannot stand to miss, SyFy gives me the Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge.  To say that Jim Henson was a huge part of my childhood would be the understatement of the century.  I was brought up in a family that whole heartedly adored the Muppets, the Labyrinth, the Dark Crystal and so many others that solidified creativity and wonder as a cornerstone of my very being.  So naturally when they are going to run a challenge inside the Jim Henson Creature Shop I was practically jumping up and down with excitement.  Which quantified exponentially when I saw who would be hosting, none other than Gigi Edgley from Farscape.  My god that woman is beautiful, even without the makeup and white wig!  Damn you Chiana!

The first judge the 10 creators meet is Brian Henson, Chairmen of Henson Studio’s and he explains the premise.  These 10 creature creators will be competing in weekly challenges that will be screen tested on the Jim Henson Sound Stage and the winner of the challenge will receive employment with the Jim Henson Creature Shop.  So this is basically a long application process, how awesome is that?!

The first challenge sets off with more of a fizzle than a bang.  The 10 are split into teams of two to create under sea creatures that have never been seen before.  They must completely disguise their actor but to not hinder the actor’s movement as it travels across the floor of the sound stage.  Despite the fact that they are working in teams, in the end they are judged individually and eliminated individually.  This is a test, not only to bring a creature to live in 3 days, but to also work together because in this industry they are always going to be a part of a team.

Now as for the creators themselves, I have to say this is a very well rounded group of ten.  They all come from backgrounds that vary from Disney to machine shops to having their own creator studios.  But, that is not the only variance; they also differ greatly amongst their skill sets and comfortable mediums.  With creators who have never touched a foam piece to artists who start using tinfoil and mattress foam.

The team that was given a lot of focus this week was Tina and Russ, unfortunately for the amount of discord between the two egos.  Tina has a very dominating personality, and quickly takes the reigns of this project which wouldn’t be a knock to her if she had taken the opportunity to include Russ in the design.  I know it might be that I’m only shown one side but it really looked like whenever Russ opened his mouth Tina was more than happy to shut it for him.  These two were just hard to watch.

What was also hard to watch was Robert and Chaz struggle with an overall lack of foam construction.  They don’t seem to grasp how to mold and shape it to fit a performer while allowing him the ability to bring the character to life organically.

The most creative out of all the groups had to be Lex and Josh.  Lex seems to have a taste for the artistic which helps in overall design but, it is Josh’s knowledge of more creative mediums like tin foil and upholstery foam that bring their “baby” to level of difference that the other teams just don’t hit.  As a viewer I love to see these kinds of teams.  They clearly understand that this is greater than their own egos and they need to embrace each other’s knowledge for support and fuel of the most important part of this show, the creature.

Each week the show will provide a mentor and this week the mentor comes from the Jim Henson Creature Shop itself, Pete Brooke.  He is the mater creator for Jim Henson studios and basically who would become your future boss.  He sets to work giving out advice, not only on design but stresses working on story as much as the sculpt of the creature itself.

After the three days of creation, the teams are given an hour to work with their actors and it’s clear that there are several issues.  First off is Tina and Russ’s fish is literally falling apart in front of them as their tail begins to break apart.  Robert and Chaz have been basically suffocating their actor in a tomb of foam.  Neither looks that promising as they all line up for their first screen test.

The screen tests themselves had mixed reviews, first off the clear top looks of this build where Lex and Josh’s devil prawn and Melissa and Jake’s scuttle-slurp.  Both of them stand out by clearly hiding the actor but also bringing to life a wonderful performance training of the actor.  Giving the actor enough room to expand and grow while also giving it little tricks to be able act through.  A great example is the arm fabrication and the bright red belly of the devil prawn that gave it the ability to give the character a real sense of life.  On the other end of the spectrum is “Floyd” designed by Robert and Chaz who are critiqued as being overly cartoony, even for the people who created the Muppets.  The other massively huge mistake is the actor’s inability to breath under the design of this sluggish disaster.  At first it looked like everyone was going to take the judges words in stride but then Russ can’t keep it together any longer and unloads all of the blame for “Ethel” on Tina.  Even if I agree, pushing someone right in front of a speeding bus like that is not how you handle that kind of dysfunction.  Clearly in an environment that demands high levels of team work and low levels of ego, these two obviously don’t understand first impressions.

In the end, the obvious winning build was the devil prawn and it was incredibly well earned with Josh’s molding of tin foil taking top honors this week.  As always the next part is devastating for one hopeful as “Floyd” becomes just too “toonish” and puts an actor at risk, which is one of the biggest sins of a creator.  Thus with a heavy heart this week we say good bye to Chaz but with a strong warning to Russ and Tina to shape up.

watch the episode here

check out the stills gallery